Westbrook Season 2

[0k_mang0]

sebastian

Raven Soap​

This weekend sucked. He didn’t want to talk about homecoming. When his aunt asked what happened after she arrived to pick him up and gave him a worried, protective-mother hug, Sebastian just shook his head and got in the car. He wanted to forget everything that happened that night.

Sebastian had been avoiding social media all week. Honestly, he had been thinking of deleting his Twitter account since Ash was the one to suggest he’d use it more. Maybe. He couldn’t remember, it happened months ago. The best he could do on Twitter now was to avoid it, as well as his apparently now-disbanded Misfits. They were all busy doing other stuff, anyway. And now Seb was too, after learning he got on the boy’s basketball team. Too bad he didn’t have anyone to announce it to besides his aunt, his boss at Sleeping Hedgehog (to help him rearrange his schedule for after-school practice days), and perhaps Toby, who’s the team, too.

Now, that tiny good part of his post-homecoming week was about to get interrupted with robot babies. Seb didn’t have an excessive, hyperbolic-like disdain towards babies. His baby cousin wasn’t so bad and he loved her. But it didn’t mean he’d plan on having his own kids in the future. He already established that plan a long time ago. Some people just aren’t meant to be parents.

Sebastian picked up the car seat with the robot baby after his and his partner’s names were called together. “New girl at the cafe, right?” He didn’t know much about Raven, except her being part of the school newspaper. She was recently hired at Sleeping Hedgehog cafe, but even though they worked in the same place now, she and Seb still haven’t interacted with each other a lot since then.

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer
Ouch. Sawyer flinched away as JJ spat at her. That hurt a little. Okay, maybe it hurt a lot. Of course, it was something Sawyer had been afraid of ever since Grace woke up, but to hear it from another person really hit a nerve. That twisted sense of hope Sawyer had built up over the last few weeks took a huge blow and threatened to fall. She tried to reassure herself with things like JJ was just emotional, she didn't mean any of that but it didn't seem to be working. Maybe that was because she did mean it and it was very true. Sawyer was stricken silent and motionless, just staring at JJ with a look all too similar to the attention-starved dog JJ had just compared her too. The second she overcame her sudden inability to move and opened her mouth to speak, JJ blew past her without a second thought and Sawyer's hope finally fell. Sawyer's jaw clenched and she sucked in a ragged breath. Fuck her. What did JJ have to say about anything? Toby didn't love her either, that much was obvious. JJ was the exact same. They both wanted the same thing, love from someone who didn't love them. Fuck JJ. Fuck everything. Sawyer just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. Her fists curled into tight balls as she turned around and came face to face with a newly formed line of impatient girls. They all just stood there. Looking at her. Whispering. Sawyer's nostrils flared, fuck them too and their drama mongering. Fuck what was it with people at this school and gossip? It was like they were fucking tabloids or something.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" Sawyer growled, "Fuck off. Soap opera's over." She pushed through them and back towards the doors of the building. She stopped just short of them and cursed. Grace. Sawyer was her ride. At this point, Sawyer wanted nothing more than to just go home and sleep but she couldn't just leave Grace. Even if what JJ said was true, that didn't change the fact that Sawyer most definitely still loved Grace. So, she turned back around and forced her anger back down into her stomach as she went off in search of Grace. Forget JJ. If she wanted to be a bitch, Sawyer would let her be a bitch by herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twenty minutes later
Evie had taken Sawyer's stupid froyo and left Sawyer with this practically unedible swill. Peanut Butter Swirl. What the fuck was that? Sawyer didn't even know what it was swirled with. It didn't matter though because they were away from that godforsaken dance and they were alone. No evil anonymous gossip spillers or bitchy JJ's in sight. That very intense feeling of fear that had been growing in her gut since JJ had said those words was only growing larger as they sat there in silence on the roof of Sawyer's car. Sawyer felt quite like everything would be better if she just tossed herself off the overlook. But that would be a little dramatic, even for her. After all, Sawyer wasn't supposed to be emotional. She was supposed to be some kind of tank, right? Right. Except maybe not right now because right now really sucked. Her best friend had just told her that Grace didn't love her and basically just spat her concern for JJ right back in her face. She didn't particularly feel like being tough right now.

God. JJ was her best friend? Where had that come from? Fuck that. No. Alaska was her best friend. Alaska hadn't spit at her when she'd tried to help her. Fuck her. She didn't need JJ. She had other friends...like Alaska, and Grace, and maybe Ash, Noah....Ryder? Okay maybe she didn't have that many friends, but still, she didn't need JJ. Sawyer swirled the spoon around in the completely uneaten froyo that Evie had given her and with a groan, chunked the whole thing over the edge of the overlook and leaned back against the roof with a resounding thump. Couldn't this place just be normal for one fucking second? Sawyer was beginning to feel like there was a curse over the entire town to forever be in turmoil. Maybe it had started that first day they'd all met Elise at the college tour? Or maybe it was the ski trip? Maybe Elise was a witch and everything was her fault? Yeah, that seemed like a likely cause. Elise was just an evil witch with a vendetta against high schoolers. They should all just kill Elise.

"This is all Elise's fault." Sawyer spoke up into the sky, more to herself than to Grace, "She's some kind of ancient evil witch and we should just kill her." She turned her head toward Grace and made an "O" shape with her mouth, "I bet she'd Wolves. Who else would know all the drama but the principal? It would also make it easier to make people like Beau and Ezio listen to her, with like threats of expulsion or something if they didn't." Sawyer knocked on the top of the car, "Yup, Ash's evil mother is the cause of all of our problems. She's cursed us, Grace."

Soap​

 

[Coyote Hart]

​

At first glance, Kandi seemed like the worst possible influence to be around. It was immediately obvious that she hadn't outgrown her emo phase, much like Nils' Twitter handle. And her aggressive demands took Nils aback. She did not seem like the type to be a responsible mother, so honestly, Nils would've assumed she'd be more likely to 'dump this baby' than Nils.

Nils adjusted his grip so that he was holding the baby by the torso-- it kinda hurt his hand, but if Kandi cared about how he held the robot even while it was not turned on, this was probably an improvement to dangling it by a leg. Not that it mattered. It wasn't even turned on yet.

"If you pull your own weight, I promise to pull mine," Nils said to Kandi, "Neither of us chose to be in this shithole."

"And don't worry," Nils said as he awkwardly tried to find a position with his hand that didn't cramp up, "I wouldn't hit on you. You're not my type."

There really wasn't a point to being blunt about it, but Nils did it anyways. There honestly would be no way Nils would hit on Kandi-- emo people were not his type, especially the type who would tear your asshole wider if you displeased them. Back home, Jackson already said on several occasions that Nils was an asshole. He didn't need to be more of one.

"So who's house are we going to do this?" Nils asked. He decided to take initiative since he didn't know how the people housing him would feel about the baby on the first day of school, "Any chance it could be at your house? I don't think my folks would react well to waking up every hour or so in the middle of the night."

Knowing what he did from Kandi, Nils doubted that she'd be okay with such an arrangement. Well, some of it was based from assumptions from her appearance, and Nils had to mentally remind himself that assuming things was rude and wrong. But, if she was okay with it, it'd be great. It was worth a shot.

Twin Fantasy

 

[lion.]

Red​

Life in the running shoes of Red Donovan was not running, but slow walking. Biking over swishing red-orange leaves, chewing pencils over music notes, and listening to his mother’s daily podcasts on the recipe of the day from the dining room was beginning to get a little boring.

A stir of flavor. Yes, and add a bucket of sea salt for taste.

Over three times now, he found himself actually reading his history textbook, highlighter in mouth, whilst laying stomach down on his carpeted living room. His golden retriever- the four-legged prancing friend of his- would wag his tail, drool out his tongue for a watery and wet kiss, and smoosh his tuft of yellow-golden fur and weight against him.

Okay, Ollie was the true man.

His brotha from another motha.

Shaking his head in an internal cringe, he’d return to reading the mindful paragraphs on some long treaty across the shore.

Friday came around and he was half-asleep with Ms.Ainsley’s voice at the base of his ears, when Bella bumbled out of the blue. Dressed to kill even at eight in the morning with her heart woven in the locus of her dark pupils, she flung out a robot baby from behind her back.

“Horrible news? I-what-” he found himself saying, until she explained.

“Woah! No way. Get out here!” Red emitted, his mouth curving up.

He was a dad baby. A baby dad. A baby’s dad. A dad of-

“Not like actually go away,” he cheesily narrated, a little too hurriedly in case she misunderstood, his feet shifting closer.

Shly locking eyes with Bella while she fidgeted with the robot baby, he found himself speaking again.

“Bella, this is going to be fun, I’m already really excited. I will be more than happy to be your baby’s daddy. Potentially, anyone would be lucky to make babies with you...You’d make pretty babies because your DNA is pretty crazy.”

Because complimenting a girl means talking about their DNA. Couldn’t have said it better, Red.

“Not wack like a serial killer,” he over thought aloud, “But this robot baby. It does look like it has some scary genes. It might kill us in our sleep.”

Mentions: geminiy

 

[PenguinFox]

The night of homecoming was a complete disaster for Toby. It had started out fine, he attempted to teach Zander how to tie a tie like a good brother. Offered to drive him there even though he declined. He even left a few minutes ahead of schedule. But fate as it would have it, had other ideas. In addition to hitting every red light he possibly could, the traffic was terrible. By the time he got to JJ's house he was five minutes late and she was already gone. Ugh this was terrible. Why had she already left? He was five minutes late! Of course it was JJ and he should know his girlfriend better than that by now.

So Toby drove to homecoming. Alone. Even though he had a date. Whatever it was just a minor setback. Everything was still fine. Except it wasn't. Before Toby even got the chance to go searching for JJ in the crowd the king and queen were being announced. He excitedly waited for her to be called up, but she wasn't. Toby was honestly shocked. Why would anyone not vote for JJ? Okay, he could admit some of the other choices had some sympathy votes, and probably some crush votes. But wasn't JJ the only one that really wanted it? It was cruel to both JJ and the winner if you voted for someone who didn't even want the crown. Toby sure went to school with some dumb kids.

Toby's thoughts couldn't linger on JJ's loss for very long however. The speakers crackled and a voice came on and began spilling people's secrets. For the most part he couldn't really care less. Sure that really sucked for everyone and he did feel a little bad, but he didn't really know these people. It was like hearing of a volcano erupting in a far off nation. He felt bad but couldn't really empathize. That is until it was made personal. They targeted JJ. Toby was ready to fight someone but was stopped in his tracks when he actually heard her secret. His mouth hung open and he stood there in shock for what felt like an eternity...how...when...his head was spinning.

He wasn't sure if he could believe it or not, but either way Toby needed to talk to his girlfriend. Why had she kept this from him? Did she not trust him? He tried searching the crowd but couldn't see her anywhere. Had she bailed already? Unlikely, the pinging of his phone notifying him of JJ's tweets meant that at the very least she wasn't driving. Finally he noticed her leaving out of the corner of his eye. "JJ, there you are!" he called out to her as he pushed his way past people. "I've been looking for you all night! Can we talk about what just happened?"

~~

A week had passed and Toby was still mostly in denial. He hadn't told anyone yet, not even Zander. Someone as popular as JJ the whole school would find out eventually. He'd stayed mostly silent at home and become more reserved than normal. Things had less meaning now since homecoming, and really Toby had no one to blame but himself. JJ was right. God what was wrong with him?!

Apparently Toby had been selected for some baby program because of course he was. He wasn't allowed any sort of break from life, from his parents, from school. Everything always just piled on didn't it? Yet still he knew he needed to do well on this project or else his parents would just be even more upset. As long as he wasn't paired with a moron he'd be fine right?

Toby nearly choked when he heard who he was partnered with. Again, the world seemed against him. His chest tightened, his throat went dry, and his stomach churned. He made his way to get the stupid baby and avoided making eye contact with his partner. This weekend was either going to be hell, or rejuvenating considering his partner was JJ. Maybe, just maybe he could convince her to take him back? Soap

 

[0k_mang0]

colby

Ash Winona , mention Tatum @Elf_Ruler, Ewijah WeirdPrincess​

Baby master? Oy vey, she was putting too much faith in him. Colby still considered himself more like a baby novice than an expert. Then again, a lot of people who never had a kid were hardly experts.

“Yeah, you’ll definitely nail the basics with me in no idea. How about we trade? You get the bag and I’ll just, y’know, help carry little Junior for you” While holding the baby bag to his partner, Colby reached out for the car seat handle to carefully take it out of her hands. Did he not trust Ash to be careful with the robot baby? Well, yeah. He didn’t want her to kill it in less than 5 minutes. Babies are extremely fragile, after all.

“Let’s go to your place. It’s much bigger than mine," he said. "I’m sure Tatum won’t mind. I’ll message her in a bit.” Honestly, Colby didn’t believe his girlfriend should be worried about him hanging out at Ash’s place. Ash was just an old middle school friend, she knew this. He was hardly concerned with Tatum being partnered with some guy named Elijah. He didn’t know who this guy was, but he trusted Tatum to handle herself if Elijah does something he shouldn’t.

 

[Soap]

Juliette

Oh. So, look who finally decided to show up. Juliette didn't care much for this conversation at all-- but if she's being honest, she was a little more than nervous about it. What if Toby saw her as this whore who just went around the school? Who even wanted a girlfriend that would do that? But maybe it was better off. Maybe Beau was right. Toby was unlikely to stay after the whole baby thing, but that wasn't the thing that was bothering her the most. "No, I don't want to talk about it. I'm sorry if it's something you don't want to hear, but it happened." It was just another thing she couldn't have. Whether or not Juliette was going to keep the baby or not, after prom, by then it was already too late for an abortion. And adoption? Well... she didn't really know what she was going to do.

But JJ would rather have the choice than not, and Toby wasn't going to understand that. Why would he? He wasn't the father. And he definitely wasn't someone who even cared enough. "So, you're off the hook. You don't have to be with the school's raging bitch anymore, so... go live your life and date someone a little more you." Her tone was filled with spite, but that didn't stop the tears forming in Jules's eyes and this time it was difficult to blink them away. "Which is, let me just say. The total opposite of me. That's what you want right? A nice, sweet girl like Ash, or fuck, even Tatum. Someone who's a lot less jealous, or needy, someone who doesn't rack their brain over and over searching for a reason why their boyfriend didn't say it back when you were out there with your heart on your sleeve looking like a complete idiot," Juliette didn't just look it. She knew it. She knew that she was stupid enough to give him time when it was just obvious enough.

God, she was literally standing here crying in front of him. How desperate can one person be?

"Someone willing to overlook the fact that you don't love them... right?"

Right.

Toby's silence was more than enough of an answer.

"I'm not that someone. So... I'm done, Toby. We're done."

--

These last few days were exhausting. It was full of interrogations between her mother, father, grandmother, it was a whole thing since the pregnancy got out. And her family was rushing to fix their image while Juliette was holed up in her room. Coming up with homeless shelter visits, funding to the less fortunate schools, and arranging charity benefits. But for the Jamesons? It was practically just another Friday. She hadn't showered, ate much, not to mention the knots in her hair from continuing to be unkempt. From her appearance it was clear that Juliette hasn't been going to school. But it was only for so long until her parents took notice. Or... more like the maid squealing on her because as if they'd actually pay attention to something other than themselves. "I don't want to." She didn't want to face Toby, or Sawyer, or even Ava.

Juliette just wanted to be left alone, why was that so difficult? "I don't care, you have to. The more you hide out in here, the more attention it's going to bring to you, and people are actually going to think you were pregnant." Her mother spoke, earning a glare from JJ. "It's not a secret anymore, I was. It's a real photo they know t--" She didn't get to finish her sentence before she was being dragged by the wrist out of the purple silk sheets and was dragged to the vanity. "They know nothing. Look at you. You look like a mess. I told you before, this is nothing to be so upset over. It's not a problem anymore." Her mother picked up the hairbrush and pulled at the knot in her hair as if Juliette was five again, sighing through her breath to ignore the faint hair-pulling. "Hey, look at me." The older woman tilted her chin towards her reflection in the mirror.

"You're fine. You're going to get cleaned up, and walk in there like you own the place. And make nice with the Knight boy. Your father and his were talking about the Christmas event, and without their donation, it's unlikely that the very sad starving children are going to get fed any time soon. Okay?"

"Okay."
--

Juliette wasn't stupid. She just had to say whatever so her mother would get off her back and leave her the fuck alone. Despite her mother's instructions, it wasn't very hard to notice Juliette didn't look like herself. Bags were under her eyes, minimal makeup, and dark clothes-- there wasn't any of the 'look at me' outfits today, the last thing she wanted was to draw attention to herself... and actually put in the work to looking good today. What was the point? Everyone talked their asses off about her already, so why try so hard to show that she gave a shit? It was like it was some cruel joke to take care of a fake baby, with her ex. It's like the world had it out for JJ, and the more time passed, the more she didn't even want to live through it anymore. She stared at the robot from it's car seat and eyed the pink onesie before turning to Toby.

"I can take care of it myself. I don't need your help, so you can do whatever."

PenguinFox

​

 

[Soap]

Grace

Sitting on the top of Sawyer's car wasn't extremely comfortable, no, but this one had a view-- Grace isn't being all mushy how she usually is. She means the actual view. This tiny overlook had a lot of memories but... it was really beautiful here, appreciating the little things was nice sometimes when you wanted a break from everything else. Grace twirled the strawberry flavored yogurt with her spoon, she turned to face Sawyer and her crazy claims on how Elise was the terror that had a hold on all of WestBrook. "We're not cursed, Sawyer. Don't say that." She held out the yogurt for Sawyer to share. It wasn't exactly fair that Evie stole hers, but Sawyer was sweet enough to actually let her have it. Grace placed the yogurt cup between them to insist as she continued to let her mind wander. "I don't think it's a big deal. I mean, for everyone else. Yes. But for us? I think we're okay." She shivered and for a small second she almost wished they had a blanket.

That'd be romantic. Well, er, not romantic because they totally weren't a thing. It'd be warmer. Yeah. Warmer. "Do you think Mr. Schmit's gonna get fired? He's a pretty mean guy, but It'd suck for him to get fired because of something we did." Technically, it was basically the teacher's fault-- okay, not really. But the fault of the camera, yes. On those grounds... totally. But it just didn't seem fair for someone to lose their job because they decided to-- well... never mind. "Are you okay though? Did the uh... tape bother you?" In an attempt to hide the furious blush on her cheeks, Grace shoved a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth, glancing towards the sky and Sawyer as she waited for her reply. Overall, the secrets were pretty damn bad. Ash's wasn't that bad in Grace's eyes, but... to each their own.

"It didn't show much, anyway though. So..."

KingofAesir​

 

[Winona]

Ash

Look, the last thing that Ash had wanted to do was cause any more drama in Westbrook, and Colby coming over when he was dating the other remarkably similar blonde seemed like a recipe for disaster. But Colby brushing it off and agreeing to come over made her think that perhaps this weekend would actually go well. Like, without drama. I know, I know -- surprise, surprise, Westbrook's Drama Queen wanted nothing to do with the sort anymore. She was ready to stop feeling like the main character in a really bad teen movie.

She took the bag from Colby, thankful to not have to hold the baby because like... no thanks. He was right to be worried that she might drop it because, as they started walking out of the school, the baby started making little sounds to let them know it worked or something -- and Ash jumped. If she'd had that baby, well, the booster probably would've gone through a window.

He mentioned messaging Tatum to let her know, and she briefly wondered if she should let Ryder know, but quickly decided against it. It wasn't like Ryder would care, and he was partners with Sawyer, and Alaska had Ezio. He was going to be busy enough trying to keep the two from using their robot babies as weapons to end Ezio. Plus it wasn't like he didn't know she had a guy as her partner, or that it was Colby. Look, messaging him just felt pointless.

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

The car ride gave Ash false hope at first.

The baby sat in its little booster, and made no crying sounds for the first part of the trip to her house. Which was great! Colby was driving, and Ash was in the backseat with the baby -- just in case it did start crying or something. Plus, since the accident, Ash hadn't exactly been the same when it came to cars. Riding in the back made it easier to pretend that everything was alright -- and she couldn't see the cars passing as well, so there were none of those flashes that had haunted her for so long.

Hey, at least her nightmares were mostly gone, and she had started sleeping again! So that was an upside. Ash just... couldn't do cars. So she was sunk down in the backseat, doing her best to focus on anything else but the passing trees.

And boy, that baby sure did give her something to focus on.

The demon spawn started screaming, and poor Ash was hopeless. She hadn't taken any of Colby's lessons in the art of baby raising yet, so the last of the car ride involved lots of yelling, screaming, and Ash fumbling with the the stupid baby bag. She had grabbed the bottle and tried to put it against the baby's mouth, but a bump in the road made her hand lurch and she ended up stabbing the baby in the mouth with the bottle. For a moment, the crying had seized, and Ash thought she had killed it.

And then...

It screamed LOUDER.

In all entirety, the whole screaming and crying baby debacle probably only lasted a couple minutes -- Ash didn't live far from the high school as it was, but it felt like hours. HOURS.

"It won't stop crying!" Ash yelled the obvious, because she didn't know what else to do. "Where's the off switch? I think it's broken."

Thankfully, Colby pulled into her driveway, and Ash was out of the car, baby bag in hand. They could handle the stupid baby inside, so she hopped out of the car, waiting for Colby to get the baby, and then led them into the house. Her fingers fumbled with her keys and it felt like another three hours before she managed to open the door.

Ash turned back to Colby as he came in, the baby stuff still in her hands, waiting to see if he could settle down that stupid robot. And, you know, pass him anything that he might need to shut that stupid thing up.

0k_mang0​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer
Sawyer was glad Grace was okay. With everything going on, Sawyer was relieved she didn't have to worry about Grace. This was all....a lot but at least they were alright. Suck on that Wolves. To be fair, there probably weren't many secrets you could dig up on a girl that'd been in a coma for three months. That was quite literally the only good thing about that whole incident. They'd skirted out of the Homecoming dance relatively unharmed. It was kind of a lame secret, honestly. Sawyer's entire basketball team already knew and she was less than secretive about it. Hell, she'd literally texted Alaska and told her literally the day after it happened. Hey, uh, I know you're in New York and stuff but guess fucking what? Grace and I totally, ahem, you know, in a classroom. Maybe that was kind of weird but she'd been on cloud 9 and Alaska was literally the only person she could be excited to. What? JJ would have gouged her eyes out if Sawyer had tried to tell her that. Sawyer wasn't dumb, JJ wasn't the kind of person you told about your sex life. So she really did only have Alaska. Anyway, it was more concerning that Mr. Schmidt had that tape for three months and didn't do anything with it. That they know of. Gross. That bothered her a lot more than the whole reveal to the whole school thing. Then again, he was gay. Maybe he just hadn't checked the feed or Wolves stole it a long time ago. Yeah, that second one sounded about right. Whatever, Wolves could be a perve all they wanted. Grace was okay, so Sawyer was okay.

Sawyer looked over at Grace as she sat her froyo down in between them as an offer to share. She grinned sheepishly and took a small bite before returning it to its place. She had paid for it, she deserved at least one bite, but it was Grace's so she wasn't going to take any more. As for Mr. Schmidt, Sawyer really hoped he did get fired. Fuck that guy. He had some weird vendetta against Sawyer that she never quite understood. Anyway, he could suck it. She also hoped Beau got kicked out of school or arrested. Could you get arrested for publicly showing what was basically a sex tape? Sawyer was sure there had to be some kind of law against that. Not that it really mattered anyway, Westbrook PD might as well be the fucking Useless Cop TV trope for how bad they were, no offense to Mr. West. Nevermind, she took that back, full offense to Mr. West, fuck that guy too. Sawyer didn't know what he'd done, but considering how many parent issues Ash obviously had, probably a lot. So yeah, fuck everyone. Except Grace...or well. No. No. Off-topic. Get your head out of the gutter, Sawyer Andrews, Grace is cold. Sawyer's head perked up as she watched Grace shiver and immediately sat up and pulled her suit jacket off, leaving only the ridiculous 80s shirt she'd literally stolen from her dad's closet underneath.

"Here. You're cold." Sawyer draped the jacket over Grace's shoulders and smiled, "Your dress is pretty but it doesn't really serve for warmth." It was pretty. Sawyer had always thought Grace looked good in dresses. Sawyer thought Grace would look good in a potato sack. She looked really good right now, all windswept, the moon glinting off her-oh god, what are you a poet? Sawyer coughed awkwardly and drew her hands away from where they'd frozen of Grace's shoulders.

"Anyway, " She laughed, bringing herself back to the present, "No. It didn't bother me. Tons of people have seen me with my shirt off, it's not like I don't go swimming or something." Sawyer grinned and bumped her shoulder into Grace's, "And honestly I hope Mr. Schmidt gets fired. That guy hates me for no reason." She straightened her back and dragged her hair across her lip to imitate a mustache, "Miss Andrews," Sawyer spoke in a comically deep voice, "Go to the office immediately I will not tolerate INSUBORDINATIONNNNNN!" She dissolved into a fit of giggles on the spot.

Soap​

 

[0k_mang0]

colby

Ash Winona​

Maybe Colby shouldn’t have turned on the radio for music during the drive. The radio wasn’t even loud enough to supposedly bother a robot baby, though.

He tried staying as calm as possible when Junior started crying. He had to since he was focused on driving to Ash’s home in one piece. The only thing Colby could do while driving was calmly tell his partner over the loud crying that it was going to be all right, maybe it just needed a diaper change. What an interesting start in parenthood.

Thank goodness they made it to the mansion. While Ash fumbled with the door keys, Colby had similar trouble trying to get the car seat out of the backseat. On the way out of the car, he nearly hit his own head on the car ceiling. He was trying to make sure the baby robot didn’t get hurt, okay?

They only made a few feet inside the building before Colby set the car seat on the floor. The baby was still crying loudly during the 10 or 15 seconds it took for him to remove the buckles and pick it up from the seat. While supporting the head (yes, he actually paid attention to this stuff), Colby began gently rocking the baby in his arms, quietly soothing it in a semi-sarcastic, monotonous tone, “It’s okay, Daddy’s here.”

After about two minutes, Junior finally stopped crying and responded with a short cooing sound.

“Oh, thank god that’s over,” Colby sighed in relief, carefully adjusting the baby’s arm position lower. He was sure he felt 10 strands of his hair turned gray during those two minutes. And his arms might be a little sore from all the rocking. “I think the thing weighs more than seven pounds.” He glanced at Ash. “Ready to learn how to hold Junior?”

 

[Winona]

Ash

He was like a... baby magician.

Somehow, Colby managed to soothe the seething beast and squashed Ash's hopes that the baby was broken and they could just skip out on the project. Bummer. But with that thing calmed, Ash could finally think. Kind of. She stepped away from Colby, walking into the nearby living room -- surprisingly, no one else seemed to be home yet, but Stu had probably gone to Grace's for the project and she was sure that Jace was hiding out in his room. Her mother and Martin wouldn't come home until later.

She dropped the baby bag onto the couch, and then Colby asked about holding it. Oh no. Ash hesitated because, well, she would've been perfectly fine with never touching this robot for the entirety of the project and letting Colby handle it, but... well that would be mean. And maybe Ash did kind of secretly want kids -- like, a lot of kids. Yeah, believe it or not, she actually loved kids. Ash just... hadn't had a lot of experience, especially not with babies. Her dad's siblings had some kids that were younger than her, but she'd been like eight when they were babies, so she only remembered them as toddlers. And even then, it wasn't like she knew how to take care of them.

This was stupid to even be thinking about. Babies and kids were so far down the road for Ash, if it would ever happen. There were... so many things that she wanted to do with her life, and kids didn't exactly fit into any part of it. And Ash didn't want to end up like her mom -- pregnant young, and stuck in a relationship with some guy that she pretended to love, while her dreams crumbled before her like dust. Not that, you know, she could ever find herself being that bitter towards the world or towards Ryder. Assuming that they made it past high school and-- Oh fuck, her thoughts were a mess right now.

Anyway, inner monologue over, Ash nodded her head and walked back over to Colby. Was she terrified to hold the robot baby? Yes. Was she secretly maybe a little bit excited? ... Also yes.

"Okay, okay, I'll hold it." She said, holding her hands out for the baby, but not entirely knowing how to hold it or cradle it or whatever. Maybe it was like cradling Jeffrey. Ash may have not had a lot of experience with babies, but she had plenty of ferret experience. Maybe it was the same thing! "But if you call me its mother, I will drop it." Ash threatened, referring to Colby's earlier comment where he had called himself Daddy. She would be willing to help with the baby, but she would not be playing house.

Nope. This was all business. Getting that good grade. Maybe learning some skills along the way.

It was nice, being here with Colby. Ash had expected it to be at least a little awkward since they'd hardly had time to really talk since he'd come back to Westbrook -- especially after the awkward crush reveal way back a month ago. But instead, it was like their friendship had picked up right where it had left off three years ago. Like they hadn't skipped a beat.

"So... are you glad to be back in Westbrook?" She was sure that he was glad to see his grandpa, but the rest of it? Maybe not so much. Ash couldn't imagine getting out of here, only to be sucked right back. "Is it like... weird seeing everyone after all these years?" Everyone had changed so much from being freshmen.

Hell, Ash had changed so much from just last year. When she looked in mirrors now, Ash felt like she was looking at a stranger. She didn't recognize herself anymore.

0k_mang0​

 

[Twin Fantasy]

Kandi McCloud

Of course, the moment she gave Nils a bit of lip, suddenly she was "not his type". Kandi sneered a little. At least this wet trashbag wasn't paired with May, thank God. Men hate women who don't take shit, who know what they want. Poor May takes a whole lot of shit. That's why the worst of the lot love her so much.

"I can't keep it at nights." She paused. "I'm not really sure when I can keep it." Clearly nobody higher up thought this project through. Well, more likely, they just didn't know shit about Kandi or her family situation. Her ol' man had killed her dog for being too loud, a robot baby stood no chance. It won't leave a stain on the wallpaper when he bashes its mechanical brains in, holding it by the legs and swinging it like a baseball bat. Her face must've gone a bit pale at the thought. She didn't want to dump it all out in front of Nils, didn't need his goddamn help or nothing.

"He won't take it well." She paused. "My dad, I mean. He'll take it real bad." Real bad? He'll probably mistake the piece of shit for a real baby and punch his daughter's uterus out of her body before she can accidentally have a second one. Even though, considering how heavily she smokes, that baby would look a lot more fucked-up if it was hers. "Sometimes he's not home and I can deal with it then, I guess."

Though then she'll have to ask him whether or not he's coming home tonight. And he either won't know or will suspect her of doing something, and that's no good either. "But I can't really, uh, guess when he's coming home and when he isn't." Her mouth was dry. "I can deal with it during school, at least."

// Coyote Hart //​

 

[PenguinFox]

Ian nearly jumped when he heard someone call out to him. He hadn't expected anyone to find him that night. He had fully expected to stay in that cove all night, despite how cold it might get. The voice was soft and calming however so he remained still. There was really only one person who it likely could have been. Alaska wrapped him in a hug and Ian let himself be held. There was only so much being strong for others he could take before he himself need to be taken care of. He subtly wiped the small amount of tears on his cheek before letting his head rest on Alaska's shoulder. He didn't want anyone to see him this broken, especially not Alaska. She was witnessing some of the worst parts of him and that tended to not end well. First Caroline, then Nova, now possibly Ash too. The people he cared most about always were pushed away by this. Though they promise it won't, his history didn't lie.

For a long time Ian just sat there in Alaska's arms, trying to find the courage to say something, anything. He really liked Alaska and he wanted to be around her more, but after all that...He found it hard to believe she even liked him as a friend now. But yet, here she was. The same place they had gone every time Ian started to have a panic attack. The same place Alaska always let Ian lean on her. She had such a kind heart. She deserved the world, but here she was with him.

A new guilt began forming in Ian's chest. In addition to deserving better than Ian, Alaska deserved a dance. She is homecoming queen after all. The queen was supposed to get a dance right? She didn't get one and that just didn't sit right with Ian. She looked gorgeous, she had the crown. She had to have the dance. Slowly Ian pulled away and looked into the girl's eyes. "You didn't get a dance." he said, voice cracking a little. "That's not fair."

Ian got up and pulled his phone out. He placed it in the crook of a low tree branch and put his suit jacket back on, covering the blood that was drying. "I'm not ready to talk about what happened tonight just yet and...you deserve better my queen. So just for tonight, can we forget everything and pretend like everything's okay? Or at the very least..." he began playing Perfect by Ed Sheeran and turned back to Alaska, holding his hand out to her. "...just for one dance?"

Alaska took Ian's hand and he helped her to her feet, hand remaining in hers as his other hand went to the small of her back. He swayed with her slowly for a bit, gaining the courage to actually dance with her. He had been learning how to dance for the past few weeks now. He'd have to remember to thank Ash and Sierra for the help. As the song picked up some Ian took the lead and made careful steps. It was dark and hard to see but he'd been practicing enough that he was confident he wouldn't fall. Together the pair danced about the clearing, the song couldn't have been more Perfect. The only thing Ian could clearly make out in the low light was Alaska's face, and truth be told that's all he wanted to see right now. He smiled softly at her. This whole moment felt magical and perfect and he desperately wished for it to last forever. A few fireflies flickered about adding to the magic. It was like everything was coming together just to make this moment perfect for the two of them. Like a Disney movie. Ian was no Prince Charming, but Alaska was definitely a princess. He had to laugh a little at the idyllic scene happening. He didn't deserve a fairy tale like this, but it felt amazing to forget everything and just be with someone he was starting to really care about.

As the song climaxed Ian rested his forehead on Alaska's, the two's warmth radiating between each other. Their noses touched and Ian felt lost, both in the music and his partner's eyes. The words of the song felt so true. He had met an angel in person. The song began winding down and as the pair slowed their dancing back down to just swaying Ian let his heart take control. He leaned in all the way and kissed her.

When he pulled away Ian was glad it was dark out. Alaska probably couldn't see how red his face was. "I'm sorry... that was..." he cleared his throat awkwardly. This was not at all how he intended anything to go. He realized he was still holding on to her and he reluctantly let her go. "...Forget anything happened tonight right?..." he echoed his previous statement. What was he thinking? There was no way Alaska liked him like that. If she wasn't going to leave before, now she definitely was. He had just...gotten caught up in it all. Ian mentally prepared for his heart to hurt for a while while he tentatively looked at Alaska, almost expecting her to punch him right in the face. a z u l a

 

[Twin Fantasy]

Vered Demsky

Vered had made it clear that he wasn't looking forward to this. As much as he understood the necessity for the populace to understand the consequences of teen pregnancy, he was damn near certain this wouldn't be an issue for him. He practically had a phobia of romantic commitment, and while he could definitely understand the appeals of sex on a purely scientific level, he could never see himself doing it. Girls, boys, other people... No way. Who would even date him?

He wasn't of the camp that believed home economics was a pointless class. Sure, he wishes they'd show him how to file taxes, but learning to cook and sew was useful enough. Vered loves to sew, so he couldn't complain. He just figured that would be the extent of his studies until junior year at the earliest. Perhaps parents had been complaining for one reason or another. "My child doesn't understand the joys of parenthood", or "they don't understand the difficulties", or "they refuse to have protected sex and we're pro-life/can't afford abortion", or even "my child is gay". Parents will request all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons, whether or not those reasons are good is no matter. Vered just wasn't sure why he himself was chosen. He'd even considered putting himself in chastity just to avoid anybody even considering it.

So in short, getting somebody pregnant was out of the question. He really didn't want to even think about it. But now here he was, holding his animatronic bairn and scanning the room for a "Jen". Babies made him anxious, they seemed fragile. His dog was fragile, sure, but not in the way that, if it died, it would most likely be the handlers fault. He never felt anxious around the old boy. But a baby? One fuck-up and it's gone. Genetic disasters as they are, nobody ever talks about "sudden bulldog death syndrome". If your bulldog dies, you'll know exactly why: because its nose is bad, it has joint problems, and there's a decent chance it's overweight. (Though Vered tries his best to keep Meatloaf in good health weight-wise.) Meanwhile, a perfectly healthy, genetically average baby can just fuck off and die with no warning.

Vered wishes his parents had just gotten a shelter mutt or a border collie or something.

Ms. Ainsley had given Vered this look like she expected him to do well. Vered wasn't sure. He had no sight of his partner, and wildly feared that she wouldn't contribute much. Parenthood was one thing, single parenthood was a whole other kettle of fish. The very idea of it made Vered anxious enough to almost drop BabyTron 9000. However, at least when the baby wasn't on, Vered could admire what a marvel in electronic artistry it was. Robo Baby was one of the most well-made robots he'd ever seen, and for such a humble purpose, as well.

// geminiy //​

 

[PenguinFox]

Audra had mixed feelings about homecoming. On the one hand she felt terrible for all those kids who's lives were made miserable. On the other, she was now in a happy relationship with the sweetest guy there was. The whole school seemed tense for the week after, like at any moment someone was going to ruin their lives. She had to admit she felt guilty about being so happy when everyone else was so frightened.

One week after homecoming she was placed in a special baby project thing. This was exciting for her. She had done some babysitting before so she had a little bit of experience in handling children. She was going to be a fairly good partner for whoever she was paired with. Hopefully this would also allow her to make a new friend. While yes it was nice having a boyfriend to lean on, they couldn't be around each other all the time. They had to have their own friends and lives.

When Audra learned she was paired with Mason Rivera she was a little disappointed, even more so by the fact that he wasn't even there to claim the baby with her! After school she messaged her less than thrilled partner over twitter. It...went about as well as she was expecting it to go. Mason blowing up at her, not willing to talk with her, wanting to stay away from her as much as possible. But they were partners in this thing and so they had to work together.

Audra arrived at the diner half an hour earlier than she told Mason. She had the baby with her and she was incredibly nervous. Her palms were sweaty as she gently rocked the robot baby and waited for Mason. She had been trying to think of the best way to go about saying what she needed to say. She'd already anxiously drank three cups of water. Mason had better not be late or she was leaving and doing this project on her own. He could fail for all she cared. Winona

 

[Winona]

Mason

He had tried to be alright, okay? He had tried. But there was no one fucking left. After he had dropped Drake off at the airport, Mason had broke. Going home was a surreal experience because it felt just... empty. No Drake, no Ari, just Raven. And the worst part was that Raven wasn't even mad at him. Seeing that look of disappointment, and hurt, that was on her gaze had left it hard for Mason to breathe. Fuck, he would've preferred yelling and screaming and fighting -- Mason knew how to handle that, he knew what to expect. But silence and disappointment? That was something new to him, something that Mason hated even more.

Mason hadn't been staying at home.

Sure, he would go back every now and again to pick up some clothes, take a shower. But for the most part, Mason was bouncing from place to place. A lot of his time had been spent hanging out with Gen -- it was a nice distraction in the evenings, before he'd have to find somewhere to sleep. And he had gone to school... for the first two days, and then the days and nights had started blending into one. The drugs that he had picked up from Ronnie had been nice. A good distraction, a way to cloud his judgment and put him in a haze. Hazes were nice. He'd forgotten how good it felt -- to be numb, to not care about the world and people's opinions.

Fuck, why had he ever stopped?

And then his phone had buzzed. Bleary-eyed and half-asleep, he'd grabbed his phone to see Audra's. What the fuck did that little blonde bitch want? He had read over the message, exchanged a few more, and discovered that she wasn't lying. But by some cruel twist of fate, it wasn't a lie. The stupid school had partnered him up with Audra of all people. The only girl that would've been worse than that fake bitch would've been Alaska -- and he would've preferred that.

Fuck.

He'd agreed, though. To the meeting, so he could take the robot baby and get the fuck out of there. As if Mason would trust Audra of all people to keep anything alive over the weekend, even if it was just a robot. But part of him was excited for this. Sure, the baby was a robot, but he missed Ari, and he really missed when she had been a cute little baby. Despite the harshness to his attitude, Mason was good with babies -- he'd had to be good when he was a single dad at fourteen.

"Well, if it isn't Audra." His voice was dripping with venom as he crossed through the diner, and flopped down into the seat across from Audra. Mason's eyes shifted to the baby in her arms, and then to the glasses of water scattered across the table -- an eyebrow cocked in curiosity, but he didn't say anything before looking back at her.

Fuck Audra.

"See I was going to suggest instead of doing this in a diner, you just come back to my place." He started. "Since you're very well-acquainted with my place already. Fuck, we could even share a bed just like last summer!"

Oh, Mason was not the kind of guy to beat around the bush, and he had been waiting for this moment for too long. To see what the fuck she was doing here, to see what the fuck she wanted with Stu. Because Mason knew Audra, and he knew what she was capable of. She might have had Stu wrapped around her finger, or the rest of this school thinking she was some perfect little angel. But Mason knew her. You couldn't be fuck buddies with someone without knowing them a little bit. Knowing what they were capable of.

Mason leaned against the table, crossing his arms and resting them on the top, his dark amber eyes narrowing at her. "Fuck the baby right now, okay? What are you doing with Stu? I know you, Audra, and he's a... he's a good kid. He doesn't need someone like you fucking him up. He's not going to fuck you. He's not going to get you drugs. So what do you want from him?"

PenguinFox​

 

[Dede]

Stu

​

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping. Stu’s day was off to a pretty good start, with the usual singing in the shower, an obligatory bowl of cocoa krispies (don’t judge), and the watering of the petunias.

As he was tending the garden for Jace, he was thinking about the baby thing he had to do with Grace. Yeah, watering plants was one thing, but… taking care of a baby?!?! Granted it was a robot baby, not a real one – he was still going to make a complete fool of himself in front of Grace. Plus, he hadn’t really visited her or talked to her after she woke up from, you know, her coma, which he felt pretty bad about. But how could he?! He wouldn’t know where to start! God, what if she found out he’d been visiting her in the hospital more than some of her own friends, like Ash? She’d think he was a complete weirdo, which, to be fair, he kinda was.

Then when it came time for lunch, he decided to skip it. Wait, what? Stu? Skipping lunch? Not even a nibble of his beloved KitKats? What on earth was going on? A date, that’s what! No, no – not with Grace (on account of her still being gay and not all that interested in boys). But as much as he really liked Grace, Stu had a girlfriend now. And he was going to meet her for dinner, at this cool diner place she’d been telling him all about.

They were supposed to meet at 8, which gave him ample time to hurry back home, shower (twice), try on a gazillion clothes, drown himself in cologne, and rummage through his drawers for a matching pair of socks, which must have taken several hours given the state of his wardrobe.

Stu got dropped off at the diner some half hour before 8. Then he hid in the back alley because, well, being too early for a thing can be weird. But he didn’t want to be late either. So he walked circles around trash cans and marked time until the clock struck 8. Right on the dot he circled back around the building to the front, patted down his hair until it was presentable, and entered the restaurant craning his head over the seated diners.

And there she was, Audra, beautiful as ever, the girl of his dreams. – with Mason?

‘M— Mason?’ he murmurred as he approached the table. With mild confusion in his eyes he managed to find a seat, settling down beside his old friend. ‘… What are you doing here?’

 

[mogy]

Olivia Nolan

​

The move from a small town in Colorado to the comparably large town of Westbrook had been a hell of an adjustment for Olivia. Being in Westbrook for only a single week, she still couldn't get used to the buzzing town life you simply couldn't see around their previous home. She was excited to be living in a nice neighborhood because she noticed running groups, and one thing Olivia liked more than cracking random and stupid jokes was going on a run when the birds were chirping and flying around, and the sun wasn't too intense. The weather here was exactly like that, or at least it had been for the week she had been in the town.

One of her biggest worries, when it came to the big move of their family, was that she wouldn't be able to go out and run through the town which is somewhat connected with nature, but Westbrook was different than her definition of a big town, at least on that front.

It was her first day in a new high school surrounded by unfamiliar faces and Olivia did not know how to feel about doing the baby task today, on her first day. Of course, she knew it could be an amazing way to get to know people and not feel like an outsider, but at the same time she didn't need a bad grade from this, and she was absolutely positive that she wouldn't be good with a baby. She isn't mom material—she is barely girl material with her kind-of-short hair and her ability to always become a 'dude' or a 'bro'.

As the teacher explained the task, it became obvious to Olivia that she was definitely not going to have any sleep with this baby, and she really liked sleep, so that was kind of a problem.

As her own name was called, alongside some guy Elias's, she stood up, only to realize that the guy next to her also stood up. She wasn't gonna lie, the guy wasn't all that bad in the looks department, so she was surprised when she understood he was her partner. Apart from not looking so shabby, he also looked like he would make a good parent, so that was another worry which was kind of relieved for Olivia.

"I guess so." She confirmed her neighbor's claim through a genuine smile.

"I'm Olivia, but I prefer Olive..." She shook Elias's hand. "...you know, like the garden."

When the two had walked to the stage, Elias picked up the baby in the baby seat and she picked up the sling and the bottle, and the two were off.

Interactions: geminiy (Elias)​

 

[PenguinFox]

Mason finally showed up, this was the moment of truth. Unsurprisingly he was unhappy to see Audra. She put the baby into the car seat and put the car seat on the table between them. "Hi Mason. I wasn't sure you'd show up." She ignored the hostile tone for now. She was trying to keep this as pleasant as possible. She flinched a little as he yelled at her. "You and I both know that us being around each other isn't best. That's why I've been avoiding you. I'm trying to start over Mason. What happened between us was fun, but Stu is..." she trailed off.

Over the summer Mason and Audra had...had fun. It was mostly harmless. She was new in town, was wondering and seeing the sights. They met, had some fun and then went their separate ways. Audra hadn't realized she wasn't the only one, but she wasn't. Apparently Mason needed some help. "Look I genuinely like Stu and-" right then Stu entered the diner. Speak of the devil...

Audra's expression dropped. Perfect. Just perfect. She had wanted to finish sorting things out first, but Stu was here. Right on time. "Stu. You're here." She said flatly. Well, it was now or never. "Mason is here because a lesson is about to be learned." She stood up from the booth and faced her boyfriend. "Stu. Mason and I slept together. Like a bunch of times. He thought he was slick and could sleep around with a lot of girls all at once. He thought one wouldn't find out or be offended. He was wrong. You and I are done. We never even were a thing. Honestly I was using you to get back at him for all the shit he's done. We're not perfect together, the only chemistry we had was in room 104." She turned to Mason. "Be careful who you fuck with. Not everyone appreciates it. Have fun with the baby." With that she turned and made her way out the diner. Months of plotting revenge were finally complete. Now she could get on with her life...hopefully. Winona Dede

 

[0k_mang0]

colby

Ash Winona​

Colby rolled his eyes. He never planned on calling Ash “mommy”, anyway, even though it would’ve been funny if he had. “Fine. As you wish. First, sit on the couch so you don’t actually drop it.”

With their robo-baby in his arms, he walked further inside the living room and nodded at one of the sofas in front of him for Ash to sit on. When she did, Colby carefully slid Junior under her arms in a simple cradle hold. Of course, he reminded her to support the head, which nestled against the crook of her elbow. Babies aren’t really so fragile as most people believed, but they still had to handle them with care. Head, neck, and butt — those were the places they had to support when holding a baby. Colby’s nephew was already old enough to support his own neck, but Colby remembered his cousin telling him this. He missed holding his smol bean nephew.

While tucking a throw pillow under Ash’s elbow for more support, Colby bit his lips pensively. Would anyone be glad to be back in Westbrook? Well, Westbrook’s crime rate wasn’t as bad as some parts of San Diego he’d lived in, but he still didn’t consider Westbrook entirely great. He left this small city for the first time shortly after finishing 8th grade, and it was an amazing feeling. Being back after all these years was still a neutral feeling to him.

“Honestly, I wished I came back here under better circumstances,” Colby said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders. “And I guess it’s kinda weird, seeing people I’ve known before, not that they all remember me, anyway. Which is actually kinda nice, now that I’m thinking about it. Crazy how a lot can happen in a few years, right? Besides grandpa, it’s nice seeing you again, though. How’ve you been lately?”

Colby wasn’t sure if he should’ve asked that question. Though only aware of some details, he knew Ash had been having a crappy year. That blog from the previous year? Yeah, he may have read some bits of it back in California, including parts about Ash and a few people he remembered. God, that must've really sucked when that happen, and what had happened afterward. Colby still didn’t know how Ash handled all of it, but at least she was still here in front of him.

 

[WeirdPrincess]

Elijah Nolan

This definitely wasn't his idea of fun. He had barely been back in Westbrook for a couple days and already having to come back to school for a baby project didn't make it any better. Sitting in this auditorium, waiting for his name to be called was painstakingly boring. He figured that they would stop doing this kind of thing unless you wanted to take a specific class that corresponded to this whole baby project. Though he guessed he was severely mistaken. Suppose it was like that at his last school, but not here.

Who even thought this was a good idea anyways, taking care of a stupid baby. He'd do it of course, since it counted towards a decent part of his grade. Though he wasn't going to be happy about it. This wasn't exactly fundamental to life and unless someone planned on having kids later on in life, which he definitely was not. He liked kids and babies, don't get him wrong. They could be the cutest little kids and be the easiest (or hardest) thing to handle, but he didn't want any of his own. As long as he could hand the baby back to its parent, everything was fine. Of course, He'd never had the experience of ever watching a baby, even with his sister.

He could only imagine how this was going to play out, especially with his partner Tatum. The two had started talking over twitter and she seemed alright, both as a person and a partner. Considering she had more baby experience than he did, he'd maybe be asking her a couple questions. He knew the basic baby stuff, so maybe it wouldn't be as hard as he was making it out to be.

"Elijah!"

Finally getting called gave him a sense of dread. He really had to do this and it sucked. He wished there was a way to just avoid the project, but alas it appeared there wasn't a way. Elijah silently went up to take the robotic baby and carrier, sighing as he left the large stage.​

 

[Soap]

Grace

Most of Grace's worries about the rather insufferable teacher faded away when Sawyer leaned in to place the jacket around her shoulders, and she was about to protest before she made a point. And for a long moment, it was hard to think about anything else but Sawyer's lips, but she shook off the thought and a small smile reached her own lips, "Warmth wasn't really what I was going for and I had limited time to find a dress." Granted, Grace she still had all those dresses what's his name had bought for her at prom. But Grace didn't want those. Maybe it was because that was the day of the accident or something? Like they were nice and... really expensive dresses, but every time she reached into her closet, it was dress after dress and it was kind of like it took her back to that day y'know? It's stupid. Especially because she doesn't really remember much about it, but it's still something that nags at her. She had talked to a doctor about it-- a psychiatrist actually, much to her dismay, but her father had pushed on it, saying how it might be a good idea to help her memory.

Her mother didn't exactly say no to the brilliant idea of his, so Grace didn't exactly have a choice. It wasn't a big thing. It was... a meet and greet of sorts. Point is, she got an answer out of it. He told her that in a way, it was her brain protecting her from feeling... trapped, afraid maybe. Which was kind of funny, because Grace was labeled an over thinker at the age of 5 and she didn't really need a shrink to tell her that. "But... thank you." Sawyer was a huge part of that whole over thinking thing, too. It was hard to figure out what they were, but they didn't need to label all that right now, right Grace pulled the slightly bigger jacket around herself more, covering her sadly sleeveless arms. It was easy to forget about all the labels whenever she was with Sawyer.

"In the teacher's defense, you're a little bit of a troublemaker."

She couldn't really explain it, but nothing felt as bad when she was with Sawyer, it was almost as if those feelings disappeared in the blink of an eye, and that statement only became more true as Grace watched Sawyer be a complete dork who laughed at all her own jokes. An amused smile played on her lips before it faded. "Here, I don't really want it anymore." She slid the cup towards her more. It wasn't a pity 'please eat this so I don't feel bad you didn't get yogurt.' It was more like, an 'eat this so this don't go to waste, because I'm feeling really sad' kind of thing. Grace sighed and leaned further back onto the car, tugging the jacket closed and directing her gaze to the stars above them. The blonde stared at the stars in silence before a thought passed, "I kinda wish Homecoming wasn't a complete disaster. I wanted a dance." She admitted before launching back into another conversation.

Maybe that wasn't the only reason she was sad, but it was one of them. "Hey, didn't we name a star or something? Was it Bob?" Man, she couldn't even remember that? That was one of the best nights of her life and she couldn't even remember the damn name of the constellation.

KingofAesir​

 

[Winona]

Ash

She rolled her eyes when he forced her to go and sit on the couch -- as if she couldn't hold the baby standing up. Please. But she followed his directions, heading into the living room and sitting down on the couch as Colby placed the baby in her lap, showing her how to properly hold its neck. If this thing was just a robot, then why was she so nervous?

A grateful smile crossed her lips when he brought her the pillow for her arm, and she relaxed into the couch more, kicking her feet up on the coffee table. If this was all that she had to do for the next two days, then Ash wasn't scared of anything. This would be easy. And if Colby taught her how to like, feed it and whatever, then she would be fine.

"Why did you come back?" She asked, looking back up at him after she had finished adjusting her arm to a more comfortable, but still safe position. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Ash knew what it was like to have... reasons, and secrets, and not want to share those. She didn't want to push him into saying if he didn't want to.

When he asked about her, well... Ash didn't even know how to respond at her, but then she just shrugged. "I'm doing good now. Kind of. Like, I guess I'm just tired of everyone knowing my secrets, but..." another shrug. "Not much I can do, you know? For the secrets or what people think of me, so guess I'll just have to ignore the slut comments. But other than, I'm doing great. Honestly I haven't been this happy since... like, since last year." Ah, yes. Homecoming had marked the beginning of the end for her last year.

0k_mang0​

 

[0k_mang0]

colby

Ash Winona​

Colby glanced at her feet propped on the coffee with a raised brow. Her manners certainly haven’t changed too much. Honestly, it’s kind of unsanitary. Colby would never put his big feet on his own coffee table or anyone else’s. He actually placed things there. Gross. But whatever made her comfortable, he guessed.

He tugged a small, sympathetic smile as he listened to her answer. She was trying to brush it off as nothing, he understood. His mom did the same thing when he was a kid, but without the excessive shoulder shrugs. “Well, I’m glad you’re happy now. I bet a certain Knight Ryder has something to do with it – seriously, that should’ve been his Twitter name.” Colby settled on the sofa next to Ash, the baby bag lying on his other side. He casually leaned back against the back cushion, folding his arms over his chest. In a slightly hesitant tone, he said, “I... got into some trouble back in the West Coast. Might’ve made some mistakes that almost got me thrown in jail. Nothing too drastic, but they were pretty bad, I guess. And I got sent back here instead.”

She didn’t need to know the details of his life in California. Colby had told them to Tatum last weekend, even though she wasn’t sober at the time. But now, he was secretly scared that Ash, probably his only oldest friend, would judge him if he told her everything. He didn't want her to think he was like Kanen, and whatever that guy did during the past year or two was on another scale of crazy.

“It’s fine, really. At least I’m not a burden to my mom anymore, you know, while I’m here. She’s got enough problems already.” And the only thing he could do for her was trying to graduate from high school and not get arrested again. If there had been more options for his mom to send him anywhere else, she would've chosen any of them but here. Unfortunately, his only known family (his Grandpa Florence, whom Colby loved dearly) was in Westbrook, not someplace cooler, like Paris or Mykonos.

While randomly picking out and inspecting the items from the baby bag—oh, wow, it came with a pacifier—Colby decided to change the subject, hoping it would distract Ash from asking more about his life story. “It’s nice seeing Grace again. Well, I haven’t actually met her again yet, and I doubt she’d remember me. It’s cool that Ryder did, though. Did you guys manage to deal with the Homecoming thing all right? I would’ve checked on you guys, but had to find Tatum when she ran off.”