Westbrook Season 2

[Winona]

Ava


"Right. Streamers. I love putting up streamers." Ava mumbled as she picked up a roll of... yep, total JJ. It was pink. She looked at the roll in disgust for a second, before looking back towards her friend.

"I forgot to say happy birthday. So uh.... happy birthday." She tossed one of the streamers towards JJ and then picked another one up for herself. "Where do you wanna hang these?" Ava hated parties. Ava hated birthdays. Ava hated streamers. Okay, so she basically hated everything, which also meant that she had absolutely no idea of what you even did with streamers. Or where was a good place to hang them.

"Did you invite Tatum?" To be honest, she could've cared less, but Ava was desperately trying to distract herself and make this feel like a normal friendship again. The kiss, the baby, Toby... it had all kind of left Ava feeling like she was on the sidelines looking in, and could do absolutely nothing to help her friend.

Right. Friend. JJ was just a friend.

Soap​

 

[mogy]

Dante Novello

​

Dante liked the cockiness of the brunette, and it really suited her. Dante was the same, however, she didn't show her cockiness as much as Raven did. She would put her confidence into her walk or just the way she held herself, but she wouldn't ever say something like that out loud. This was largely to the fact that her parents raised her to be a normal person, not a spoiled brat who thinks she is better than everybody even though she isn't.

"I'm new. The coats are just a big plus." She joked.

Dante felt something vibrate inside her pocket. Her phone, obviously. She took it out only to see seven messages from Mrs. Stewart, Noah's mom, who sent her a shopping list, like 3 Baby Groot memes and about 3 messages saying that she hopes Dante didn't forget to go to the store, which were obviously sarcastic, but the irony of it was that Dante did forget to go to the store.

"Shit. I have to go. It was nice meeting you, Raven Rivera." Dante put the two coats in her hands on a nearby hanger before leaving the store in a rush. Through the glass door, she winked at the brunette and left for the nearby supermarket, a big smile on her face—she made a new friend, a new friend who was a girl.

Interactions: Soap (Raven)​

 

[Winona]

Ash


Sebastian following after her was kind of a surprise, and his little speech left her... well... speechless. Ash didn't respond and, instead, she just threw her arms around Sebastian and hugged him. After a moment, she let go, a smile on her face. "Thanks, Sebastian. But don't worry too much about me, alright? I want you to have fun."

She smiled at him, waved goodbye to Ian and Tatum, and then headed out the door. After she was away from the cafe, Ash leaned against a nearby building, closing her eyes for a moment and running her fingers over her bracelet. As much as she wanted to pretend that she was alright, that everything was good... she couldn't.

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

After spending a horrible day away in the mansion hiding out in her room, it was finally time to go and meet back up with her friends at the cafe. Ash was ready to go to JJ's stupid party... even if, well, she'd already started the whole "partying" thing on her own. Clutched between her hands was her familiar water bottle filled to the brim with vodka. Or it had been filled to the brim, but now it was nearly a fourth of the way gone. She held it close to her, taking a small sip every few steps on her way.

Once she finally got there, a huge smile erupted on her face as she pushed her way into the cafe, catching sight of Sebastian. Tatum and Ian hadn't shown up yet, but she was sure it wouldn't be long. Which meant that it wouldn't be long until Ash was in the backseat of a car, going down the same road that had thrown Grace into her coma...

Another sip, but this time more of a chug. She pulled the bottle away from her, her face twisting up into one of disgust for a moment before it faded and she was back to smiling.

"Sebastian! Hi!" Her words were drawn out, and maybe she was a little loud, but fuck it. Ash was ready to get to the party and drink until she could forget everything. "You look handsome. Beautiful. Amazing. Good job, buddy." She said, giving him a thumbs up.

0k_mang0 PenguinFox Elf_Ruler​

 

[mogy]

Noah Stewart

​

If you asked the people of Westbrook, the ones who knew Noah, to describe Noah in one word, that one word would either have something with the word 'smart', or something with the word 'nice', except of course Mason, who would describe Noah as 'a pain in the ass' which would also be correct.

Ignoring Mason and his bitchy attitude to his friends, if he even has any, we can see that Noah is a pretty smart guy. However, one thing that cannot be explained would be his unconditional and irrational love for stupid and/or morbid jokes. The baby in the oven joke is the one that kills him every single time, as well as the girl on the swing one, and this guy's elbow one was so stupid that it was just hilarious to Noah. The irony. The awkwardness. The grin of the guy. Everything was so perfect for the joke, but seeing that Noah just ran into the mentioned elbow of the mentioned guy, and that it hurt like hell, he couldn't really laugh.

He kept calm as the guy looked at any bruising or bumps or whatever else could've been on the side of Noah's head after a painful hit, but as it appeared, there wasn't anything of significance.

"I'll put it on the calendar, just in case." He joked, but one part of him knew that that statement was probably going to come true.

Taking the boy's hand, Noah got up from the ground. "Well, Chase, it's nice to meet you. I'm Noah."

Interactions: a z u l a (Chase)​

 

[a z u l a]

Alaska

As Alaska got into Sawyer's car, she was careful not to sit on the hoodie crumpled up in the front seat, especially careful to fold it up and set it on her lap as she noticed the familiar name scrawled on the tag. It was easy to see that Sawyer was nowhere near okay. When she had first seen her in detention she had looked rough, but now she looked even more like a zombie and less like the prank loving friend she'd left behind. The brunette had never really understood her friend's relationship, Grace and Sawyer were the only happy couple she had ever met. Every other couple at Westbrook was toxic, even her own parents had divorced and it seemed to be a common theme among the families of Westbrook. Maybe there was a secret curse on Westbrook couples. Of course, Alaska had been happy that Sawyer was happy, but she hadn't realized just how much Grace meant to her friend until now. Throughout the years she'd seen Sawyer go through varying emotions, mostly anger, but she had never seen Sawyer this devastatingly sad.

"No worries, the less time I have to spend in close proximity to JJ, probably the better." She joked, knowing that it was probably very true. The brunette had only met Sawyer's grandmother a handful of times, and she knew that the older woman was a lot to handle. Mr. Andrews was a good dad, but she wasn't surprised he'd called in reinforcements to help with the clearly distressed girl in front of her. Sawyer wasn't delicate like a flower, she was delicate like a bomb. Usually, Alaska would leave her alone until she calmed down, let her vent, and everything would go back to normal, but she didn't think it would be that easy this time around.

"We're going to have fun tonight, okay?" Alaska spoke softly, reaching over the center console to grab Sawyer's hand, squeezing it lightly before removing it. She knew Sawyer didn't like pity, so she wasn't going to do the whole "I'm always here for you" speech, because she already knew that. If Sawyer wanted to talk about it, she would. And if Sawyer wanted to get black out drunk, Alaska would take care of her.

"So, what's new in Westbrook?" Alaska asked, trying to change the subject and keep her friend's mind off the heavy subject.

KingofAesir ​

 

[Dede]

Stu

​

Now this was unusual.

He didn’t even like parties to begin with – after all, his first one landed him in the emergency room, and in the other one he ended up crying alone in the restroom when he tried to call his mum. It didn’t bode well for him to attend any party going by statistics and past experiences alone. So why was Stu looking forward to this one so much?

Probably the mere fact that he was going to sneak away from home had gotten him so hyped. Yes, our neck tie boy was going through that rebellious phase of teenhood where every little act of disobedience felt like a great triumph. It was the best feeling in the world to go behind Elise’s back and do the things she specifically told him NOT to do. Such as run away to a party when he was supposed to be grounded for missing detention.

Of course he’d told big beanie brother Jace what he was doing, so he could cover for him. As the hour drew near, Stu spent an eternity putting on his good clothes and asking Jace if he looked better in this or that colour. ‘How’s the red?’ ‘What if... what if I rolled up the sleeves?’ ‘Do you think I should I button up the jacket?’ Perhaps getting fashion advice from Jace wasn’t such a good idea but where else was he going to get it from? He had to make sure he looked good, right? You know, in case she was there. She who? Why, Audra, of course!

More importantly he’d asked Jace if he could borrow his beanie because… well, that girl at the hospital commenting on his new hair had sucked all the confidence out of him.

Now he was climbing over the hedge and dodging the Wests’ security cameras and of course, being Stu, he took a hard tumble and ruined his clothes amid the twigs and branches. Now he was covered in leaves of grass, which was a lot less poetic than it sounded. He’d have to deal with it all later. Mason was waiting.

He went as fast as he could, expecting to see a car. Instead, Mason was just standing there -- with Drake. What use was ‘OK I’ll pick you up’ if he didn’t even bring a ride?

‘Are we gonna walk there or what?’ he said as he came up to the pair, panting. ‘We’ll be lucky to get there before the party’s over.’

Winona mikaluvkitties

 

[Soap]

Evie

Evie wasn't sure how to answer Stu's question. If she was being honest, the girl always watched from afar, she never actually felt the need to go in there. Besides, what would she even do in the first place? Talk to her? She'd get more replies from a brick wall than from Grace. It'd be so boring. But the people and attention she drew in, especially the two people that kept visiting. Well, It peaked her interest, and a lot of things in this hospital had started to become dull. A skateboard and a few white halls just wasn't fun anymore.

Evie just wanted to know what was so special about this chick that made people want to watch her sleep? Whatever the case was, she wasn't about to make this dude think she was a definite stalker. "Totally, you're just never around when I visit." A lie? Yeah, no doubt about it. But a nugget hater like this guy wasn't about to pick up on it.

When she said she was her neighbor, she wasn't joking. Evie's sad, depressing room was right across from the annoyingly pretty blonde's. This is technically the first time in months when she actually talked to someone she wasn't yelling at. So... basically just someone who wasn't a nurse or her parents. Nodding in agreement with Stu's statement. Her mother was a intimidating looking woman,

but in Evie's opinion, nothing to be afraid of. There were far worse things than someone's mother. Unless her mother is like, a serial killer. But she probably wasn't. "Who cares what she wants, though? If you wanna visit the sleepy girl, visit her. And... if you don't wanna go home, well... don't go home." The brunette shrugged and threw a napkin at his face. Home sounded nice though. She wondered why he didn't like his, but she wasn't going to push. Sounded serious and seriousness was stupid.

"You got ketchup on your chin, red isn't your color."

...hmm a secret makeover would be fun. But alas, it was an idea for another time. Right now Evie was just enjoying the time away from literally everyone else.

--

But of course, the random boy couldn't stay forever and as usual, Evie ended up alone.

Instead of following a 'routine' of sorts, she found herself wandering into the surprisingly empty hospital room.

Well, sort of empty.

She stood there for a while in silence, but Evie hated silence so who was she to not break it?

"You've got a lot of friends." She stated and her gaze roamed around the room awkwardly before she eyed the chair off to the side and hesitated for moment before deciding to plop down into it. "We're not friends though, so don't think that we are. I'm just your neighbor, doing a normal neighborly thing." She totally wasn't hiding from a certain nurse or two. There were so many flowers in here, it looked so...

ugly.

"Genevieve! Where did that girl even go?"

"Shh. You rat me out, you die." The brunette said as if the girl would magically wake up and snitch. She looked like a snitch. But since that wasn't happening, it seemed like Grace's room proved to be a good hiding place. She made herself comfortable in the chair and lowered her voice as she continued.

"Be honest, is that British dude more than just your friend? I totally see the heart eyes you give him."

So, maybe this was a little better than talking to a brick wall.

Dede
​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Hazel​

Hazel was just having the time of her life right now, with Laurel as aggressively chipper as ever in the driver’s seat. She’d cheerfully informed Hazel that she’d have to give up her seat in the front when they picked up her boyfriend and his… friend, and to tell you the truth, Hazel had wanted to tell her to eat shit and die right there.

However, Laurel being an absolute rat bastard sadly did not stop Hazel from needing a ride to this shitty party. Thank god she’d be able to start working on her license soon.

Hazel paid no attention to the houses the pair passed as she texted away idly on her phone, Laurel blasting ‘Toxic’. At least she had a decent taste in music for once. In fact, Hazel couldn’t help but mumble along with a melodic head tilt as Laurel belt that shit out. It was… nice, though Hazel would wear a magenta colored tube top to school before she admitted it, and magenta was so not her color. Granted, she wasn’t enough of a slut to wear a tube top, either, but hey. For the sake of the metaphor it worked.

They started to slow, and Hazel fought the urge to groan as Laurel told her in that barely contained way of hers to hop out before she made her. The ‘before I make you’ was implied, sure, but that didn’t stop it from being there.

She hopped out, snatching up the two small boxes the girls had wrapped earlier that day, a quiet competition of skill, and finally looked up from her phone. Her frown deepened as she looked at the gaudy mansion before her, only to deepen as her eyes landed on that stupid Stu kid. She knew him, yeah, and to be honest, she kind of hated him, though not in a personal way. She just hated losers.

And now she’d probably have to sit next to one.

“I get the window seat,” she announced as she opened the door to the back seat, not bothering to slide further in- What if it messed up her dress? They could just go around.

As always, Laurel ignored her, and as Hazel buckled back in, she gave her boyfriend- and Hazel still couldn’t understand why she’d date someone so beneath her- a smile. “Hey, babe. You ready to go?”

Winona Dede​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer
​

Sawyer managed a real smile at Alaska and tapped her fingers idly on the steering wheel as they drove along. The playlist flowing through the radio was just soft enough the hear and Sawyer's fingers were tapping in tune until she realized what song it was. Her smile fell and her eyebrows dropped. She was quick to hit skip on her steering wheel before the song she'd used to ask Grace to be her girlfriend continued any longer. Sawyer shook her head, trying to push her less savory thoughts to the back of her mind and focus on Alaska. She hadn't seen her in a while and she was determined to not let anything get in the way of tonight. But Alaska's question kind of stumped her. Sawyer hadn't been paying any particular attention to the gown as of late. She was too busy at the hospital after all. So what was new in Westbrook? Besides a bunch of total train wrecks walking around, not much.


"Not too much, really." Sawyer shrugged, flicking her blinker as she turned down another street. Another car drove past dangerously close to then and Sawyer let out an angry grunt, "Dumbass." She shook her head, but continued speaking, "Uh, Stu dyed his hair brown. That's a thing. And Kanen's on like this weird redemption thing. I'm pretty sure Ash is like a whole new person, she's all out of wack." Sawyer's hands tightened on the steering wheel at the mention of Ash. She still harbored a bit of resentment toward the girl. After all, if it wasn't for Ash, Grace wouldn't be in a coma right now. If it wasn't for Ash being a complete mess, maybe she wouldn't have been drugged up and the wreck wouldn't have happened in the first place.


"Fights have gone down considerably." Sawyer chuckled, "Probably cause you weren't here." Sr didn't really have much else to say and they were getting pretty close to JJ's house anyway so Sawyer glanced over at Alaska with a mischievous grin. For a moment she seemed herself, save for the dark rings under her eyes.


"Check it out." Sawyer pointed to the console and motioned for Alaska to open it up. Inside she would find an entire bottle of Basil Hayden's bourbon. "I was poking around in Ryan's old garage and found that tucked away. Don't know why he didn't take it, but better for us." She grinned a real grin again.

a z u l a

 

[a z u l a]

Chase

It was a relief that the boy wasn't angry, and at least a little amused by his stupid joke. It seemed the Vaughn's were always injuring people, even if it wasn't on purpose. At least since his younger siblings had been in New York the amount of fist fights at Westbrook High had significantly decreased, though the drama certainly hadn't. It was nice being away from all of the constant high school drama, but he had to admit that not knowing anyone at his new school was quite lonely. Of course he still had a few friends in Westbrook that hadn't gone away to college, but he was more than looking forward to making new friends this year.

"Nice to meet you, Noah. Sorry about that again." He spoke, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to recover from the embarrassment of elbowing a perfect stranger in the face. "Do you go to school around here?" He asked, hoping that maybe despite the slight physical harassment he could make a friend out of this. Perhaps elbowing people in the face wasn't the best way to make friends, but Chase was willing to try anything.

mogy

Alaska

"Stu dyed his hair?" Alaska exclaimed, looking over to Sawyer with shock painted on her face. Even though she really hadn't been friends with the little kit-kat lover for long, she was very surprised to hear that he had felt the need to dye his little blonde head. Maybe it was to impress a girl. She'd interrogate him about it later, right now her focus was on Sawyer. "Well, Ryder and I are back for good so there will be plenty of fights to make up for how boring Westbrook must've been without us. I already punched Mason." The brunette joked, she'd really been hoping for a drama free year, but her first week back had already been full of drama and she knew it was only bound to get worse. She hoped that at least tonight would go okay so she could let Sawyer relax and have a good time without worrying about the constant drama.

It was nice to see her best friend smile, she almost looked the the fun, familiar Sawyer she was used to for a moment. She reached into the console between them and pulled out the bottle, grinning as she inspected the alcohol content. "Good for us is right. I missed Westbrook parties." The parties in New York had been full of stuck up rich kids, much too pretentious and boring for the Vaughns. Westbrook parties were crazy and full of drama, but it was familiar and Alaska always managed to have a good time.

"So, can I claim this as my gift for JJ?" Alaska laughed as she got out of Sawyer's car, carrying the bottle with her and following behind her friend into the giant house before them. In hind-sight, it was probably rude to show up to JJ's birthday party without a gift, but it wasn't like the two were friends. She was only here for Sawyer, and maybe to get a little drunk. She'd been bored out of her mind without her friends, she couldn't wait to see what chaos would ensue tonight.

By the time the two walked in there was already quite a few people there. The whole house was decorated in pink and Alaska couldn't help but cringe at the sight of the little dog running around in a dress. She wouldn't expect anything less of JJ. "So, how exactly do you put up with JJ?" Alaska asked, walking over to the nearest table and grabbing cups for herself and Sawyer.

KingofAesir​

 

[Winona]

Mason & Drake

Stu's arrival at least distracted from trying to carry on conversation with his little brother. Or... not so little brother these days. Over the summer, Drake had actually grown and was now only a couple inches shorter than Mason, and he'd even managed to bulk out. It was fucking weird, to know that his little brother looked like he could actually handle himself these days. And even worse? Mason was worried that his "little brother" would end up fucking bigger than him.

"Laurel is picking us up." Mason replied, looking Stu up and down. "Jesus Christ, what the fuck did you do?" He grumbled, stepping forward and starting to brush the dirt and leaves off of Stu. His eyes fell on the yellow beanie, and he rolled his eyes, snatching it off of Stu's head. "What the fuck are you doing? Do you really want to be like fucking Jace?" He asked, shoving the yellow beanie into a back pocket of his jeans. "Okay kid, look, stay by me at the party, alright? I don't want you getting hurt."

Drake rolled his eyes and let out a little laugh. "Right, because you're going to do so much." He said sarcastically, but his brother's dark amber gaze quickly shut him up and he turned back towards the road, cat clenched in his hands. Drake was nervous, and he desperately hoped that one of his friends would be there for a pep talk.

Fuck, even Drake's voice was deeper. Mason hated it. He was going to turn back towards Stu when Laurel's car pulled up to the curb. "See? Promised I'd get you a ride. And even better, it's a ride with two cheerleaders." He flashed a grin at the kid, watching as Hazel got out and climbed into the backseat. "Thanks, Hazel." He said with a smirk, and then climbed into the front seat, leaning over to kiss Laurel before he settled back in his seat. "So ready to go." Even if it was JJ's party.

Drake looked at the car, then at Stu, then at Hazel, and decided that the answer was simple. He opened up the door that Hazel had just closed and squeezed in, pushing her over into the middle before he climbed the rest of the way in, closing the door after him. The little cat rested on his lap and he gestured for Stu to get in on the other side.

"I'm ready to go," Drake announced, trying to sit up straighter but he banged his head against the roof of Laurel's stupid tiny clown car. Grumbling, he slouched down in the seat to try and give himself more room.

Dede mikaluvkitties​

 

[Dede]

Stu

Stu scrunched up his face at the mention of Laurel. Yeah, if he’d known he’d have to sit in a car with Laurel, AND also with Drake, he’d probably have passed on this whole party outing thing. What did Mason see in that girl anyway that he couldn’t? She sounded so uptight earlier, and bitter, and obnoxious, and pretentious, and-- well, he could go on but he’d probably need a thesaurus for that.

Now this boring damp sidewalk was no place for opening old wounds, but lest we forget, it was Drake’s old best friend who had not so long ago smashed Stu’s face into a sink. Drake himself had said nothing about it, or even asked how Stu was after the incident. So much for being his first ever friend at Westbrook! Since then, as everybody found out from Twitter, Mason had gone and beaten Aaron up, despite Stu telling him specifically not to. He didn’t agree with what Mason did, but he would be lying if he said Aaron didn’t deserve it, because he did.

As for Mason, he surely didn’t deserve to have to repeat his senior year and stay in this stupid school. He had had a pretty rough year, come to think of it, first losing his chances of getting a scholarship, and now this. It sucked. Elise sucked.

Stu wasn’t much in the present when the beanie was snatched from his head. He panicked. Now he knew what Jace must have felt whenever that happened to him. Resistance was futile: Mason had already stuffed the precious beanie into his back pocket!

Their ride arrived eventually. When he saw the car was already quite full, he had his hopes up because maybe he wouldn’t have to ride with them after all. He could probably call an Uber and— well, Mason was beckoning and herding everyone inside like cattle. Next thing he knew he was squeezed onto the backseat and sat next to this girl he didn’t really know. It was all very awkward, even by his standards.

He smiled in greeting, before relaxing into the seat, not saying much. Then Drake hit his head; he was too tall for this tiny little car.

Stu held back his laugh and shifted in his seat. Now what was that smell? Did he… did he land in something that was not grass when he was coming down from that hedge? He surely hoped not. He turned around and smiled nervously at the girl to his side, then looked over to the front.

‘...Mason… um... can I have the beanie back?’ he muttered.

mikaluvkitties Winona

 

[mogy]

Noah Stewart

​

"Yeah, uh, I'm a senior at Westbrook High." It took Noah a moment to remember what school he went to. He knew which school he went to, but it was just one of those moments where you're put on the spot, much like when somebody asks you how old you are, or what your favorite book is, and all the books you ever have read just disappear from your memory for those few seconds before you awkwardly answer the question, looking like the dumbest little fortune cookie on the planet. Well, you might not look like the dumbest fortune cookie on the planet, but Noah certainly does when something like that happens.

The start of the year had gone extremely well for Noah. He wanted to make friends, and he made two friends the first day of school; the blue-haired Gianna who compared Noah to a fortune cookie, and the anxious Casper whom Noah got in trouble, but has hoped Casper wasn't mad about that. He was yet to see or hear from Mason or Dani for that matter, but seeing that she's in college, that probably wouldn't happen any time soon. Mason was being Mason, not caring about their friendship at all, but that was fine. Now, the first weekend of the school year, he crashed into a guy's elbow, but at least he hopefully made a friend.

"What about you? Where do you go to college?" He asked.

Interactions: a z u l a (Chase)​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Laurel & Hazel​

Hazel's frown deepened at the sound of Mason's voice. She hated him. Why couldn't he just drop dead? She was already pulling out her phone as Laurel hummed into what sounded like a kiss- Gross- and, well. She just hadn't been expecting to be pushed into the center.

She let out a disgruntled squawk, turning to Drake with fire in her eyes just in time to watch him bang his head into the ceiling. She straightened up haughtily. "You deserved that, you know, for being an asshole. Chivalry's fucking dead, and you and your brother killed it." She looked at the cat, a sneer growing on her face. "What the fuck is that?"

Laurel sighed long-sufferingly as she turned away from giving Stu a smile in turn, making sure everyone had buckled their seatbelts before pulling into motion. For a long second, she was silent, debating if she should even respond, but it was harder with Hazel- She was supposed to set an example for the girl. "Jesus, Hazel, don't be rude- Our parents taught you better than that."

The dipshit just rolled her eyes and looked to her phone, and it was almost enough to make Laurel see red. Just focus on driving, she said to herself, turning up TiK ToK and keeping her eyes on the road.

Hazel very carefully avoided looking to Stu, embarrassed to even be in the same car as him as she typed away on her phone, trying to ignore whatever that awful fucking smell coming off of him. After all, it wasn't any of her business, right?

Laurel tapped the wheel of the car for a moment, just focused on driving, before she added lamely, "I think the cat's cute, Drake... As long as it's not for JJ. She's seeing someone. At least, I think she's seeing him? They at least have a thing. And even if they didn't, it'd be weird if you were going out with your brother's girlfriend's best friend, you know?" She was quiet a long second, content in what she'd said, and then she had a realization.

"Who's that even for? Are you just bringing some girl other than JJ a present to her birthday party? That's kind of weird." She shrugged it off. "Oh well. I'm sure you won't mind as long as you two got her a decent present."

Winona Dede​

 

[Winona]

Mason & Drake

Drake glared at Hazel. This girl was obviously the devil reincarnate, and he intended to make her suffer for the ride to the party. "It's not for JJ. It's for Maisie. As like, an apology for the whole Aaron thing and then going off to residential for three months and not being able to talk to her." He looked down at the little cat in his lap, worry starting to fill him. He'd even gotten one that had mismatched eyes, just like Maisie. Because other than being adorable and sweet and perfect, Drake loved her eyes.

He looked up from the cat as Laurel started talking, and his eyes widened. "We were supposed to give her a present? Mason!" Drake yelled, leaning over so he was basically in Hazel's lap so he could look at his brother better. "Is this her birthday party? I was a the mall! Why didn't you tell me?!" Granted, Drake had barely had enough money for the cat. Actually, a nice person behind him had paid the last dollar for him. But still. He could've gotten her like a key chain or something.

"JJ's a... look, why would I get her a birthday present? She's got everything in the fucking world, and we can't even afford to eat. I'm not giving her shit." Mason had wanted to say much harsher, but his thoughts flicked back to what had happened earlier at Ari's school. Fuck, it was true, though. There was nothing you could give someone after that.

"And I am not giving you the beanie, Stu." Mason snapped. And then, a weird smell reached the front. Mason was about to say something, but his little brother beat him to it.

"Oh my god, what the hell is that smell?" Drake recoiled back to his seat -- and off of Hazel -- and looked at her as if she was the one that smelled... well, like whatever that was.

mikaluvkitties Dede​

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Tatum had waved goodbye as Ash left the café and hugged Seb. She hung out with Ian for only a little longer before she herself had left the café to get ready. She was nervous because she was finally going to see Caleb. She had missed him, but she still feared that if he found what she did he wouldn’t want to see her. She had struggled to put together an outfit or even do most anything with the headache that had begun to form. She reached under her bed to grab her full glass bottle of vodka. Sure, she knew if she got busted with it her parents would be furious, but she needed it. The alcohol brought her comfort and numbed her feelings. Once she felt relaxed, she busted through Brayden’s door, “You’re going to be my DD tonight.” It was a full-on demand and she knew he was going to be annoyed but it didn’t matter. She needed some fun after her week. So, she dragged Brayden from his room and to the car and drove them to the café. She wasn’t drunk she had only had enough to take away her headache, and she would never condone anyone else doing this, but she was fine, and she had been doing this almost her whole summer.

When she arrived to the cafe she parked the car and handed the keys to Brayden, “I’ll give you directions when everyone gets here.” She strolled up to where she saw both Ash and Seb and smiled at both of them, “Well if it isn’t two of my favorite people to see. The man who can wield a pan, and my favorite blonde bitch.” She wrapped her arms around Ash in a huge, “You ready for some fun?” she looked to both Ash and Seb. Her eyes darted around, “Still waiting on Ian, that’s fine. Well this is Brayden. He’s driving tonight.” Tatum pushed her attention to Brayden who looked less than enthused to be with them.

-

Brayden had already been annoyed that Tatum had pulled him not only out of his room but out of his comfort and now he was standing in front of two people he knew. It was the last thing he wanted. His friend had become someone he couldn’t really stand to be around, but he also knew what would happen if he wasn’t around to watch over her, so he was going to be the DD for the night. Going to a party he had no idea about or what it was even for. He lifted his hand in a greeting as to say hi to both Ash and Sebastian.

He rubbed the back of his head, “I promise I’m a good driver. Well at least better than our dear old Tatum.” He tried to make a joke but really, he wasn’t sure what to do in the situation. He just didn’t want to stand awkwardly with people he barely knew. “So, who’s party are we going to? Tatum didn’t really say anything to me about it. She just dragged me in joining.” He figured if these two were friends with Tatum then they knew she could be less than good at communicating what was happening or what the plan really was.

Winona PenguinFox 0k_mang0

 

[PenguinFox]

Audra chuckled and ran a hand through her hair before explaining herself. "A meet cute is when two people in a movie or something who will eventually become romantically involved meet for the first time. The stereotype is often the two literally running into each other. I suppose if you haven't heard of a meet cute before then you probably weren't trying to do one. You're off the hook, for now." she shot him a joking smirk as he explained he was talking to himself because he was nervous about something. She arched her brow but said nothing for the moment.

There was a moment of awkward silence and then the guy was offering to buy a replacement gift for JJ. Audra tried to protest but he was insistent and to be honest she was grateful. You could always count on the kindness of strangers when you needed it most. Sure the blonde could have paid for another one herself but she wasn't exactly well off. "Thank you, I really appreciate you doing this." she said over her shoulder as she made her way to the back with the figurines.

Audra's eyes swept over the menagerie back and forth looking for more dolphins, but had no luck. She had the pieces of the last dolphin figurines in her pocket. Well, now she had a decision to make. Did JJ seem like a horse girl? She couldn't say for certain. "Well now what?" she said to herself with a small huff. She bit her lip and her eyes landed on a tiny bunny figurine. It was absolutely adorable, but was it something JJ would like? Well she sure hoped so because that was the best option Audra had. She gingerly picked up the glass and handed over to the boy who just introduced himself as Grey. "The circumstances of our meeting could have been better yes." she agreed. "But, they could have also been worse. I'm just glad you were kind of enough to make sure I was okay and not rush off. I think most people would have. Shows something about your character. Something good." she gave him a bright smile as they headed to the register together. "My name is Audra. You don't happen to go to Westbrook do you?" Soap

"Me? Cheesy? Well, I guess it's good you're not lactose intolerant." Toby gave his girlfriend another lopsided grin as they both looked back over to the work that needed to be done before the party started. He had called on his little brother Zander to help and he was pretty sure JJ called some people up to help set up as well, but they weren't here yet. It was just boyfriend and girlfriend standing there, alone-well mostly. The staff was there but they weren't going to comment if the couple shared a bit of affection. Getting caught up in JJ's mischievous look a smirk rested on Toby's face. "More efficient..." he echoed leaning in close to her. "Well I'm all about doing things...efficiently." he said in as suggestive as a tone as someone could for the sentence that was said. He mentally kicked himself for the terrible line he just used as the pair shared another kiss. A kiss cut short by the sound of the door opening.

Toby pulled away from JJ a little as he heard a voice behind him. It was Ava. Impeccable timing as always. And, in a moment, his little brother Zander came barging through the door too. Both of the two had comments about him and JJ and Toby rolled his eyes. "Oh great, Zander you're earlier than you needed to be. That's...awesome." his tone dripped with sarcasm but he did flash a small smile to his brother so he knew he wasn't really mad. He loved his brother dearly but calling him a handful was more than an understatement. He gave a polite nod to Ava. Toby always felt weirdly uncomfortable around the fiery redhead. He appreciated how blunt she was and not caring about what the world thought but there was just something he couldn't place about her that was...uncomfortable. Maybe it was the glares, but she glared at everyone. She didn't have a special glare for Toby right? Surely that wasn't a thing.

JJ gave out instructions for the Knight brothers and then went off with Ava to set up streamers. Once out of earshot Toby turned to Zander and spoke in a hushed tone. "You brought my gift for JJ right?" He would worry about setting up the party in a moment, he had to make sure Zander didn't forget the gift at home. He'd have to rush home and get it if he did. Winona Soap

 

[Dede]

Stu

Ah yes, Aaron. It was very considerate of Drake to bring someone a gift to apologise for Aaron, especially when Stu was sitting RIGHT THERE. Yes, what a great friend he was, 10/10 would totally befriend again.

By now he’d figured that Hazel was a little unhinged. And he figured that he liked that about her. She was someone who wasn’t afraid to speak their mind, or wasn’t speaking it so pretentiously like that new girlfriend of Mason’s, whom Mason had just kissed. Ew. Where was the chemistry even? Mason would have been better off dating Hazel; at least she would have matched his wit and loud mouth.

'Oh... It's JJ's birthday?' Stu sounded as surprised as Drake to learn that they were going to a birthday party. If he had known in advance he would have brought a bag of Kit Kats or something for her. Aside from having worked with JJ once or twice as Westbrook Wolf, he didn't really know her that well. Granted Stu didn't know a lot of things, about anything...

Stu slumped back into his seat when Mason told him he wasn't getting that beanie back. With Mason, no meant no and it was as simple as that. He did feel bad though. Jace loved that beanie, it was like treasure to him. Stu would never have borrowed it if he knew it was going to end up in Mason’s back pocket for the rest of the night! Also, how was he going to hide his hair now? He let out a disappointed sigh.

In the time that it had taken them to get onto the main road the smell had gotten worse, and he now fumbled for the window switch to get some circulation going. God, whatever was that smell? Fertiliser, perhaps? Pray it wasn't anything worse than that. Of course no one had suspected that the smell was coming from him. Except maybe Hazel. She was the smart one.

Not to risk eye contact with her he looked out the window and watched the houses and trees pass him by. Everyone was talking over each other in the car so it was natural that Stu stayed quiet and enjoyed the view...

mikaluvkitties Winona aka wife

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Laurel & Hazel​

Hazel’s sneer deepened as Drake spoke. “I really didn’t need to know all that,” she informed him before allowing the conversation to die.

So he’d gotten Maisie- Fucking Maisie- a stupid cat. Despite herself, she thought about how no one had ever gotten her a stupid cat… Granted, she doubted she’d want a stupid cat from any of the boys at her school, anyways. It seemed like they were all Drakes or Stus or, god forbid, Masons sometimes.

She was pulled from her moping when Drake started talking again, and as soon as she registered what he was talking about, her eyebrows shot up, and she slowly looked to him, voice already several decibels too high.

“You two didn’t get JJ a present? Oh my god.”

Of course, then Mason was speaking, and she was speaking before he was even done. “It’s her fucking birthday party, and you have the gall to show up without a present? What the fuck’s wrong with you???”

Already biting back her disgust at the idea, Laurel joined the conversation, ignoring Mason’s words to who was perhaps her favorite sophomore in the backseat- She wasn’t just dropping this. “I’ve got to agree with Hazel on this one, Mason. What-”

The smell intensified, finally reaching Laurel, who had already been feeling the itch of tension begging to be released in her lower back, and pushing her over the edge.

As Drake spoke, she shot Mason an accusatory glare before quickly looking back to the road.

She just needed to focus on what was going on on the road, and ignore the smell, and figure out how the hell she was going to get her dumbass of a boyfriend and his two charges into this party they had all agreed to go to.

What was wrong with him? If he’d really needed help with a gift, he could’ve just asked her.

She clenched the wheel tighter, sucking her lips in deeper and deeper as Hazel continued caterwauling in the backseat as she reminded her it was fine, that this wouldn’t last forever.

Hazel pulled away from Drake, glaring at him as he spoke to her, only to remember who and what was to her back and grimace, flopping against the middle seat petulantly as she sank into it.

“If it were me, the smell would’ve been here as soon as you got in, dipshit.”

Winona Dede​

 

[Winona]

Zander

"Please, big brother." Zander said with a casual smile that didn't at all give away the fact that JJ's present was in his shirt, soaking some fancy wine probably older than him into his shirt and his skin. "Have I ever let you down? I brought it and it's safely hidden away until you want to surprise her." And hopefully with better pickup lines than what he'd just tried to lay on her because bleh.

"But wow, you know, I'd really love to put that banner up for the princess. But like, I really need to go to the bathroom." Wine was starting to drip down from the carefully decorated pages into his pants -- and, well, Zander was not in the mood to be walking around with wine-covered clothes for the rest of the night.

"You know what, I think I see one over there. I will be right back, big brother. But don't you worry. Tonight is going to be amazing and that princess of yours will just melt when she sees your present."

And then Zander was off, hurrying down the hall to try and find a bathroom.

PenguinFox​

 

[Winona]

Mason & Drake

He already had a headache and the night had barely even started.

Mason was beyond relieved when the car finally showed up at JJ's house. He waited impatiently for Laurel to park, and then he was out, closing the door and trapping whatever that horrific smell was inside. Handling Laurel alone was fine, handling Stu alone was fine, handling Drake alone was fine, handling Hazel... well, no, he always hated dealing with her.

But together, it had been enough bickering, yelling, and talking over one another to leave Mason with his head swimming and wishing that they were just at the party already. And of course, also deeply craving a cigarette. Seriously. Mason was close to killing someone if he meant he'd get one, but no. He had to keep his fucking cool.

Mason watched as Drake got out of the car, slamming the door and glaring at Hazel before he looked at his brother. "So now I brought a gift for a different girl to JJ's party. She's going to kill me."

"She's not going to--"

"Yes she is."

Mason just rolled his eyes, stepping away from Drake and going to meet Stu. "Alright, kid. Look alive in there, alright? Don't drink because you can't handle it and don't get involved in any of those dumb party games. No truth or dare, none of that spin the bottle or 7 minutes of heaven. Got it? It's all just a way to humiliate you."

What? It was true.

And then that horrible smell hit him again, and Mason glared down at Stu. "Dude, what the fuck?"

mikaluvkitties Dede​

 

[Dede]

Stu

Thanks Hazel. Suddenly he felt like the worst person in the world, showing up at a birthday party without a present. What heartless monster would do such a thing?! Now now, it wasn’t the end of the world... yet. With any luck, he could probably avoid JJ for the whole night… maybe just try and keep his head low and—wow, if only he’d brought something to cover his face with… like a beanie.

The ride was thankfully over. By the end of it his ears were clogged from sitting beside the loud-mouthed girl for too long, and he had to pop them to even get half his hearing back. Still the damage might have been permanent.

Out of nowhere Mason was giving him a lecture. Why did he sound like Dad all of a sudden?

‘Bloody hell, I’m not gonna drink anything!’ Stu replied irritably. ‘… Wait, what’s 7 minutes of heaven?’

Whatever it was it sure sounded fun.

‘... I’d be more worried about him if I were you,’ he said nodding in Drake’s direction.

And then the smell rose again, and Mason noticed. Stu shrugged.

‘Well I shat myself, didn’t I, Mason? When we hit that bump in the road, obviously,’ he said. ‘God, why do you have to rub it in like that? Fine, I'll go wash up now, Jesus… You're always so pushy.’

He chuckled and turned away from Mason with one foot up the front steps.

‘…and then maybe I'll look around for a bottle of something...’ were his trailing words. ’... something Russian.’

Winona mikaluvkitties
now open for interactions

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer
​

"Yeah, sure." Sawyer answered Alaska's question about the whiskey offhandedly as they climbed out of the car, "All yours." She shoved her keys into her jacket pocket after locking her car and walked with Alaska up to the door. The inside made her want to puke there was such pink everywhere, but Sawyer knew that this was likely the most JJ thing she'd ever seen in her life. She watched as Precious scampered by them in a dress and sighed loudly. That poor dog. Sometimes Sawyer wondered if JJ was aware he was a dude or if she just forgot. Her eyes scanned the room haphazardly, looking for anyone that might be trouble. The last thing JJ needed was someone being an asshole at her birthday party. She knew Alaska wasn't going to do anything, or else she forfeited tacos, but she wasn't friends with people like Ash or even Tatum really that might mess it all up. When she spotted no one of interest, Sawyer turned back to Alaska and hummed a thank you for the alcohol she was being handed.


"I don't." Sawyer grinned, taking a slow drink, "She annoys the shit out of me, I annoy the shit out of her. It's a win-win." She shrugged. There was more to it than that, of course, but Sawyer wasn't going to tell Alaska that. Sawyer knew that she actually really liked JJ, even if a lot of people didn't. Alaska didn't need to know Sawyer actually had positive feelings for someone other than Grace. There was a kind of carefree attitude about her when it came to friends, which was why she and Alaska had managed to remain friends when she moved away, and she wasn't about to tarnish that. There wasn't anything wrong with that was there?


"It's the same sort of question for everybody with friends really." Sawyer shoved a hand in her jacket pocket and pointed at Alaska with the hand still holding her cup, "Like how do you put up with me?" She raised an eyebrow in questioning.

a z u l a

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Laurel & Hazel​

As soon as the group was finally parked, Drake out of his stupid fucking seat, Hazel followed, only pausing to give Laurel her present before she marched towards the door, handing over her present- Beautifully wrapped- before heading inside.

Laurel frowned after her.

Somehow, the ride hadn’t been very helpful for deciding how to handle this problem. Still, after parking and pulling out her keys, she watched her boys, arms crossed.

Well, there was only one way this could go, wasn’t there?

She walked briskly by Drake, snatching the cat from his hands. “Mason, Drake. Follow.” As she reached the present collector at the door, she smiled, handing the presents over cordially. “The wrapped one’s mine. The cat’s from-” she gestured to Mason and Drake- “those two. Thanks!”

And then she headed inside, completely forgetting about Stu.

Winona​

 

[PenguinFox]

The abrupt loss of warmth as Ash stood up actually brought a wince to Ian's face. It wasn't that it was cold in the cafe, but sudden changes in temperature brought bad memories. She stuttered a goodbye to the pair sitting at the table and made her way to the door. Ian shot Tatum a sad look. He knew exactly what was happening and wondered if the other blonde had caught on as well. It was unlikely Ash had very much to do before the party and was just looking for an excuse to leave. There wasn't a whole lot he could do to stop her though. Chasing after people wasn't easy any more, especially people who didn't want to talk. Ian knew all to well the struggle with thoughts that you weren't good enough for people; he lived through it- was still living through it.

Thankfully Sebastian stepped up to the plate where Ian couldn't and talked to Ash. He couldn't hear what was said but she hugged him and that was enough to reassure Ian she would be good until the party at least. Well not good but, good enough. He wasn't worried someone would find her body between now and that night. He was starting to really like that Sebastian guy. Once his best friend had left Ian's green gaze landed back on Tatum. She seemed like someone with a good heart. A little broken perhaps, but that was a commonality in that little group. Hopefully they could all be a good influence on each other. The two chatted for a little bit longer before she said her own goodbye's and headed off to get ready. Ian however remained.

Sitting there in the cafe alone gave Ian some time to ponder. He looked down into his empty cup as he started fall down into his own dark thoughts. He considered not going to this party at all. He didn't have a whole lot of reasons to actually go. Ash had Tatum and Sebastian to look after her, hell maybe even Kanen. He didn't really know JJ. He couldn't drink like most everyone else could. The more he thought about it the more he wondered why he agreed to go. His excuse was so that he could feel normal, but that was a lie. There was no way to feel normal anymore. He forfeited being able to feel like a normal teen earlier that year on prom night. He should've just said that he had other plans, but now he was committed. Ash would be absolutely devastated if he didn't show, and Ian refused to not be there for her again. Everything else in Ian's life may be pointless or a lie, but if there was one thing that wasn't it was his love for his best friend. He would be there for her and support her no matter what. He'd put on a brave face and go wherever she asked him to. Who knows maybe he'd have a small amount of fun at this party. Yeah, just keep lying until you hear the truth. That would work right?

Begrudgingly Ian eventually found the strength to pull himself up from his seat and headed home to get ready. He showered, put on a dark blue polo and a nice pair of jeans and made his way back to the cafe. He wasn't wearing anything fancy but he was a bit more dressed up than how he normally looked. When he stepped into the groups meeting place he saw he was the last to arrive. Probably due to his gait. He forced a smile onto his face and joined the small group that had an addition he didn't recognize. "Hey guys. Sorry I'm late. Traffic was terrible." he gave a dry chuckle knowing that they all knew he walked there. It was a poor attempt at a joke, but hey it was an attempt. No one could say he wasn't trying. Winona Elf_Ruler 0k_mang0