Realistic or Modern Westbrook

[Twin Fantasy]

Shawn March Orozco

Nice. That was, probably, a good call on June's part. If this was actually, what, molly in a xanny shape? That'd be on Shawn's conscience and his alone, frankly. This guy wouldn't give a shit, after all. Kanen set the bottles down and Shawn picked up one of them, sniffing it a bit.

"...And this has never been opened. No suspicious shit in it. 'cause I'm not some newbie, I've hit the shit before. Way before you came around."

This was clearly Kanen's sort of 'marketing'. Every new dealer did stuff like this. "Take this for free" or "here's a discount on this super special ganja" or some crap. Usually to drag in new clients. The only problem being that Shawn was hardly new. "Lotta competition in this town. Might wanna consider hightailing it somewhere else." It wasn't a direct threat, more a threat of a threat. Very layered tactics. Shawn had been around the block once or twice. Many times, really.

"But I mean, if you're certain you'll make good business, I guess I can't stop you."

Sure, there was nothing threatening about Shawn at first glance. A hungover twink with day-old make-up smeared across his face. He turned to June, absolutely prepared to cut the conversation short.

"Let's go."

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[Soap]

Raven

Dropping one of the many papers she was taking home, if she’s getting suspended might as well come back with actual homework done, no? Leaning to pick it up and glancing up to see Mason, stuffing the papers in her bag, “No. Getting suspended wasn’t really apart of the plan.” Shaking her head in plain annoyance, Raven was pissed. None of this was her fault! Adriane provoked her, that was on her. “Send your girlfriend a kiss from me.” Referring to Adriane and his pack of redheads that always seemed to be interested in the lesser Rivera. Okay, maybe she was a little more than just annoyed. That small confrontation with her mother only fueled her anger.

Raven isn’t a troublemaker... most of the time. At least not up to a point where’d she’d get suspended. Say what you want about the aggressive brunette, but she always did good in school, this whole thing really threw a wrench in her plans. She wasn’t even sure what those plans when were to begin with. “Sorry, I guess. I know you didn’t have anything to do with it or whatever.” Total lie. He definitely did, now that Raven was thinking about it... that kiss didn’t have to escalate like that.

Even if... no, it really didn’t. An alert from her phone caught her attention and she pulled it up, genuinely surprised about the comeback of Kanen, making a few cheeky tweets here and there, she didn’t believe the news thing right away, after all... she is rather great investigator, isn’t there two sides to every story? However, this time around Raven wasn’t too keen on the idea of interviewing the ‘bad boy’ of WestBrook. It wasn’t like she deeply hated Kanen with a burning passion or anything, Raven didn’t want to have another conversation with a boy who’d gotten a little too intimate with her own girl.

...her girl. Okay. Yeah, she could work with that for now. Wasn’t a total label that they hadn’t put on themselves yet. But... y’know they were something. Glancing up at Mason and rolling her eyes at his lame comebacks, and grinning amused nonetheless. They were right in-front of the other, did they really need twitter to insult each other? She opened her mouth to spit back an insult when her phone rang. Her eyes widened the phone number. “It’s the writers thing y’know the thing I entered.” She rambled on fairly quickly, but she was sure he got the just of it. Raven also didn’t understand why she was explaining to Mason and not answering the phone, it rang for a few seconds and she was almost afraid to answer it. “Damn it. Fuck. Okay.”

Clearing her throat and putting the phone to her ear, quickly throwing out her insecurity and replacing it with what her number one quality was, her confidence. “Raven Rivera.” She waited for a reply from the person on the other line, most of the words the woman said she tuned out, considering she was only waiting for just a few words. “Congratulations.” That’s all she needed to hear, and listening to information about the prizes and the small party she’d attend to accept the the ‘trophy.’ Even if it was a really cool thing to have... the money was where Raven’s mind really was. “Uh, yeah... thanks.” Hanging up the phone, she stared at Mason dumbfounded, almost in shock. There had to be hundreds of kids that applied... and she won? “...I won.” Raven admitted to, well, herself.

“Holy fucking shit. Mason! I won!” Letting out a laugh that was mostly just more shock. Overcome with adrenaline she jumped on top and hugged the other Rivera, maybe he would mind the spider monkey thing or maybe he wouldn’t but. She didn’t really care.

Winona
​

 

[Moonshadow]

June
​

She didn’t know what to say at first. She looked away from him, once again deflated as he told her she was the one going down the wrong path. She could tell the double meaning and it sent shivers down her back. Who was this guy? He hardly seemed like the perfect man before, but now... it just made her mind reel as he said it. Then she looked over at Shawn as he had go and open his big mouth.

“Shawn, shut up.” She whispered angrily again, glaring at him before looking down at the bottles. She grabbed one and backed up a bit, her hand reaching out and pulling Shawn back as well. “He doesn’t mean what he’s saying Kanen. Listen, I don’t know what you’ve been through...” She struggled to find the words, it seemed she kept fluctuating between angry and scared. “But, what are you trying to do?”

High5ives Twin Fantasy

 

[High5ives]

Kanen leaned bag against his car as the boy tried to tell him about all the ‘competition’ and such in the area. That really didn’t bother Kanen. In a week’s time there would be others down here, coming up from Boston to help direct the drugs coming in. It wouldn’t be hard to push straggler’s out of the mafia’s newly acquired territory. Besides, it’s not like Kanen could leave if he wanted to. Kanen was told to be here. If he just ran off, they’d find him. Kanen had seen it happen before. No one gets to just ‘leave’

Kanen’s eyes moved to June, who clearly needed to get herself back in check. As she spoke, Kanen out his shit away, closing and locking the duffel bag, securing it in the trunk, locking the car; that type of thing. He clearly wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention to whatever she was saying. This meeting was over.

“What are you trying to do?”

That caught Kanen’s attention again. He opened his car door and paused for a moment before coming up with his answer.

“What I’m told.”

With that, Kanen slipped into the silver Audi, closed the door, and just left. No destination in mind really, it was just easier than answering anymore of June’s questions...

Twin Fantasy Moonshadow

 

[Dazzle]

Zach


Zach knew that Belle made a valid point. She actually seemed to consider others feelings unlike most people, unlike himself most of the time. June always seemed on edge. Some people didn't know how to except help when they needed it most.

"How'd you end up in little old Westbrook then? We are as far from prestigious christian school as you can get." He wasn't going to get into the politics of it all but obviously Westbrook didn't exactly follow what some of the community would consider right from wrong. "Did you have Nuns as teachers ?" He saw her mood waiver as the subject was brought up, but he brushed it off without another thought. "I know its your first day but hows Westbrook treating you so far?"

Maree

Rae


"Ooohh" Rae said as May showed her the sketch book.. "Nice to meet you May" Rae starred at her feet, and then back into her locker, feeling a bit embarrassed that she had assumed the girl was deaf.

She began to reorganize her locker again not sure what do do with herself. "What grade are you?" She felt stupid for even asking, but the awkward silence felt worse than usual for her.

Twin Fantasy​

 

[Twin Fantasy]

Shawn March Orozco

And he was gone. As the Audi disappeared over the horizon, Shawn wasn't even sure if he'd existed to begin with.

"Do you guys like, know each other? You and that guy?" He motioned towards June, making a few hand gestures. "I've definitely seen that guy before. Did he go to Westbrook High at some point?" And yet somehow this man had disappeared and come back a drug dealer? Where could he possibly have gone, fucking Detroit? Shawn racked his brain to come up with an answer, but fuck, all he knew was the guy's name. That, and the fact that he'd punch you for calling him a narc. Or even asking.

'What I'm told'.

So whatever this whole situation was, Kanen wasn't even at the head of it. No, he was just a pawn in something a hell of a lot bigger. Probably too big for Shawn to even comprehend. Goddamnit, they were just in high school, why did everything have to be so difficult? Suddenly it became existential. Reeling back to the day Shawn was born in this very town. The first thing his mother did was smoke a joint, because she'd been off the leaf for months. It had been on some bender that some shit, he didn't even know what, but something got lost in a glass of orange juice and it was a miracle Shawn even came out alive.

Flashforward to last night. Nude. Sweating. Wig still pinned to his head. Memory fades. Mascara smudging. Lipstick smears on the pillows. Who did he even have sex with last night? Was it a man or a woman? Both or neither? And on that Sunday, Shawn was probably one of millions having sex at that exact same time. A bigger number, a bigger vision, than he could ever understand. Plastered on the mattress of a stranger, covered in his own vomit.

This is fucked up. His brain said. This is absolutely nothing like it is on TV.

Kanen, a man who just punched him in the guts, was in turn a victim of something towering above him. It was... big. Towering. Overbearing, looming

"...Guy sounds like he's in some deep shit."

A compressed little TL ; DR of Shawn's racing brain.

Interactions: Moonshadow High5ives​

 

[Winona]

Mason

Adriane. "Yeah, she's not talking to me right now." He admitted, and tried to play it off as if that didn't bother him. But Adriane was... well, she was Adriane. It was hard to know what she was going to do since a lot of her decisions were split minute. He'd gotten Ariana back, and Adriane had just told him that she needed time to think, but that this wasn't working. And that just scared him and had left him standing in her front yard with Ari clinging to his arm, and feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of his lungs.

But the last thing he really wanted to dwell on was probably losing Adriane again. He was kind of surprised when Raven apologized, a smirk gracing his lips as she spoke. "Wow, Rivera. I never took you for the kind of girl to admit when she was wrong. But hey, it's totally my fault for being so good looking that you two just had to fight over me." Mason said teasingly. Obviously that had little to nothing to do with what had transpired, but whatever. Mason liked messing with people, especially Raven.

And then, Twitter was blowing up with... fucking Kanen. God. He remembered the last time anyone had seen him and yeah, maybe Mason had been a little bit worried about his old best friend. Hell, the two were just starting to work things out when he fucking ditched. He shook his head, reading over the news report a few times while also arguing with Raven on Twitter, until she started freaking out about someone calling her. Mason looked at the report one last time, then slipped his phone in his pocket to listen.

When Raven said that she won, a huge smile broke out on Mason's face. "Seriously?" He said, and then she jumped into his arms and Mason stumbled back a little bit, but then he was holding her in his arms, smiling and laughing. "Oh my god, Raven, that's fucking amazing." He said, holding onto her for what felt like a little too long before setting her back on the ground and letting go. "I mean, of course you fucking won. You're fucking amazing, and your writing is even better." He pointed out, for once not insulting Raven or messing with her.

Soap​

 

[Moonshadow]

June
​

She watched quietly as he sped off. She gritted her teeth as she grabbed a rock and attempted to throw it at the car, but of course the car was far gone before the rock even left her hand. It fell with a insignificant thud, but it still left June breathless as she kept watching him leave. “Idiot.” She mumbled before turning to look at Shawn, rubbing the back of her neck and sighing.

“Yeah, he used to go there. I knew him because I was at a party at the beginning of the semester. We were playing spin the bottle and things took a turn. He got mad and stormed off, I tried to help. He didn’t want it. He also picked fights with everyone, but he just...” She looked down at the bottles then back up at Shawn as he too looked like he had a far distant look in his eyes. “Disappeared though. I didn’t know he was doing this.” She said with a small shrug before staring down at her feet.

“Well,” She lifted her head when he said he seemed to be in deep shit, “it’s bigger than us obviously. It’s his choice, he’ll be the one to put himself in the grave.” She lifted the bottle. “The only thing that bothers me though...” She hesitated a moment before opening the bottle and drinking the substance, “is what this means for Westbrook. It kinda makes me curious. It’s better than worrying about people anymore, you know?”

Twin Fantasy

 

[Winona]

Ash

Okay, so this was a horrible idea. Ash had a presentation, she'd barely escaped suspension, and her parents were ready to send her off to boarding school for any misstep. But hey, why not skip school to go see Kanen? It wasn't like the last time she'd seen him, Ash had yelled at him, said some things she greatly regretted, and watched him punch Ryder. Wow. He was... truly a dick, and generally, the type of person she'd stay away from. But hey, Ash still held on to this stupid little hope that Kanen was a generally decent guy somewhere deep, deep, deep within. And yeah, maybe she was just setting herself up for failure by believing in a guy who didn't even like himself.

So she sent a message to Kanen asking him to meet her, and just rolled her eyes when she saw his reply. Ash hesitated for a moment, wondering if skipping class was actually a good idea, but... fuck it. She had nothing to lose. So Ash put her backpack in her locker, and then headed out. She'd be back in time for the history presentation with Jace, and that's all that really mattered for her today.

And then, Grace sent her a message on Twitter. Ash was already part way to the pier, and she found herself biting her tongue while her fingers hesitated over her phone, contemplating what to say. Finally, she typed out a reply, suggesting maybe tomorrow. Fuck. Well, it probably wasn't anything that big, right? Probably just Grace wanting to yell at her for messing up the musical. Something like that, and Ash had had enough yelling to suffice for the rest of the year. Grace could always wait.

It wasn't long before she arrived at the pier. She took in a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves as she walked out, looking down at the ocean water that crashed against the legs of the pier, and against the sandy beach. Every year, she told herself that she'd come out and enjoy the beach more. But every year, she came up with excuse after excuse to never go swimming. What was the point of living by the water if you never actually enjoyed it? Shrugging off those thoughts, she looked back out towards the ocean to wait for Kanen.

High5ives​

 

[High5ives]

The needle pressed lightly against Kanen’s skin as he prepared to shoot up his lquid happiness. He had parked his car far out of anyone’s way, back behind a rusted out warehouse thatd been forgotten long before. Just before numbing himself into oblivion, Kanen’s phone buzzed. Normally, he’d ignore it, but god forbid it was Vincent trying to get ahold of him. Kanen let out a sigh and set the needle aside, picking up his phone instead. His body tenses when he saw who the message was from. Meeting with mob bosses, killers, and thieves was an every day occurrence for Kanen. But a high school cheerleader made him feel anxious? The reality of it made Kanen sick with himself. Ash was no different than anyone else...

Ok. That was a lie. Time and time again, Kanen had lashed out at her. He’d sworn and yelled the most hurtful things at her, and yet, Ash kept coming back. Even now, she was trying to meet him? Maybe that’s what made Kanen anxious. Someone who cared. It was easy when no one gave a damn, because then Kanen had nothing to prove. But how was Kanen supposed to look Ash in the eyes now? After everything he’d done. How was Kanen supposed to face her after the horrible, fucked up things he had done?!

Kanen caught himself just as his mind began to race. His eyes stared down at the stupid phone in his hands, but he couldn’t will his thumbs to move.

“Fine.” Was all Kanen could type, but what he really meant to say was, “I’m so fucking sorry.”

Kanen started his car again and drove to the pier like she had asked. When he saw her standing there just staring out at the ocean, his stomach practically started doing backflips. He felt like he was going to vomit. He was so fucking nervous. And for what?

Slowly, Kanen opened the car door and stood up. He was just about to say something when he looked down and saw his arm. The track marks on his arms...Kanen didn’t want Ash to see them. He didn’t want her to know how bad he had gotten. Digging briefly, Kanen found a coat to put on and cover his arms, but the heavy coat looked strange and out of place considering the nice weather of the day.

“Ash?”

Winona

 

[Winona]

Ash

Yeah, she was nervous, and when she heard Kanen's voice, Ash had to take in a deep breath before she turned to look at him. There were a ton of things that she wanted to say, but instead her face just broke into a wide smile. She walked towards him, pausing in front of him for a moment and opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. So instead, Ash just threw her arms around Kanen and hugged him tightly. What? She'd thought he was dead but here he was, not dead.

She pulled away after a moment, looking up at him and just shook her head. Words weren't generally difficult for Ash, but today? Yeah, she was finding herself tongue-tied and speechless in front of Kanen. Finally, she managed to get her thoughts back in order. "Kanen... I thought you were dead." Her smile was now replaced by a frown, and she reached out and shoved him, albeit lightly. "You can't just fucking disappear like that. What the hell were you thinking?" His disappearance had caused a lot of issues, mainly with Ash's father. Losing his job had hurt the whole family and even now with him finally having a new job, they were struggling to keep their house.

And yet, she was actually excited to see him. "I missed you, like... a lot. And I'm sorry about everything I said." Okay, so maybe part of why she'd been so upset about the whole Kanen disappearing act had been what she'd said to him before he left. Ash had never had a chance to apologize and at first, she hadn't cared, but after all the drama of Ryan and Ryder, she'd come to regret not being able to apologize.

But there was no point in dwelling on the past. Instead, Ash took a step back, carefully scrutinizing Kanen before her eyes finally came to rest on his face once more. "You look like hell."

High5ives​

 

[High5ives]

He didn’t know whether it was the heavy coat or his anxiety, but the moment Ash turned around to face him, Kanen felt very hot. He found himself staring down at his feet, afraid to meet her eyes. He was certain she would be able to see right through him. See the addictions. The things he’d done. The people he hurt. All of it. Guilt hit him like a tidal wave crashing against the shore. Shame came soon after, flooding his chest in one foul swoop. Fuck. He felt light headed. Was that normal? He didn’t know. And suddenly he didn’t care.

She hugged him. A real fucking hug. The kind that makes you warm on the inside. The type of hug that just makes you feel safe. A hug Kanen hasn’t had since, well, he couldn’t remember... But she hugged him, and things were ok. She hugged him, and Kanen felt that maybe things weren’t so bad.

When Ash pulled away, Kanen found himself wishing she hadn’t. He promptly pulled his hat down over his eyes, doing it quickly so he could put his hands back in his pockets and hide the tracks. When she mentioned him dying, Kanen wanted to break. His mind instantly went back to that night just a few days earlier, with his own gun pressed against his school. The sound the gun made when the trigger clicked but no bullet fired, it made Kanen’s heart drop.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

At least that was an easy question to answer. He remembered the day he left like it was yesterday, every little detail. He remembered exactly why he left too. “I was thinking there was no one left to hurt..but myself.” Kanen muttered softly.

Ash went on to say that she missed him, and honestly Kanen wasn’t sure if he believed her. Why would she. All he had ever done was hurt people, from assholes like Mason, all the way down to kids like Stu, Kanen had made the rounds. Why on earth would she miss him? Kanen didn’t know what to even say to her, so he didn’t say anything at all. In fact, he didn’t even look at her. He couldn’t. Kanen stood like a statue, his hat covering most of his face and his hands stuffed into his pockets...

Winona

 

[Winona]

Ash

Her smile faded when Kanen finally spoke. Ash sighed, stepping forward so that she was closer to him and reached up, pushing the hat back a bit so that she could see his face better. "How many times do I have to remind you that people actually do care about you?" She asked and gently moved her hands to the side of his face, to try and force him to look her in the eye. God, why was he so stubborn?

"Seriously, Kanen, I don't care what you do. You're still my friend." And it was true, even if Ash felt like she was walking on eggshells around him sometime. He was almost like a deer or something -- easily spooked, and Ash always felt like she had to carefully choose her words around him. One wrong thing, and he'd be off getting drunk by himself. Or, you know, running off to Boston. Not that she was mad about the whole ordeal or anything. No, of course not. Why would she be mad about one of her closest friends leaving like that?

And yeah, for some stupid reason, she was still willing to do anything to help Kanen out. And yes, she was worried and had a million questions for him, but those could wait. For now, she just wanted to remind him that yes, she cared, and he wasn't totally alone in this world. After all, being alone just sounded... well... lonely, and sad. The last thing Ash wanted was anyone feeling alone, and maybe that's why she always pushed Kanen to be her friend. To keep him from feeling inevitably alone.

Too bad no matter how hard she tried, it never worked.

High5ives​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven hugged him tightly, laughing softly. If you would’ve told her she would be hugging Mason Rivera because she won a writing contest, she would’ve laughed in your face. Well, it would’ve been pure disbelief about both if those things. Sure, Raven considered herself a good writer. But there was no way in hell this girl actually thought she’d win when she entered, it was a leap of faith. It’s safe to say she believed in herself a little more now. “Yeah. It’s pretty amazing.” Glad to see that Mason saw it her way, it was pretty fucking great. It felt amazing too. A bright genuine smile was plastered on her face, it was something she didn’t do enough, but, believe it or not. She was kind of... happy. Like... holy shit. She wrote something that people liked. It wasn’t like it was just a random thing she wrote. This wasn’t drama around school, it was... nevermind that.

Besides, It wasn’t like she was going to tell him what she submitted though. A hug was already too intimate for them. Well, they kissed already but that was just a play. When he set her down, his words made her freeze. He thought... she was amazing? The boy who insulted her and her writing countless times, called her fucking amazing? She was at a loss for words. No one had ever really... well... believed in her like that. Besides Nancy, but like, that was different. This was different. Her smile barely faded gradually, furrowing her brows and staring at him with curiosity. More than a few moments passed by in silence, she didn’t say anything, and she wasn’t sure if she would’ve if she didn’t drop her phone didn’t fall making her jump in the slightest bit. Making Raven regain her thoughts and gave him a simple nod.

“Thanks, Rivera.” Giving him a sheepish grin, and bending down to grab her phone, closing her locker that she’d left open when she’d got a text. It was from Nancy asking when she’d be home. It made Raven get an idea, and... honestly she didn’t understand why she decided to go through with it. “Hey, do... you have any plans?” They usually did thanksgiving early because Nancy had to work shifts at the hospital, extremely stupid and annoying. She had her own family too. Brushing off the anger for things she couldn’t fix herself, she continued. “We’re having... a kind of...” Raven looked up to roof in thought for a second. “Earlygiving.” Proud of the semi-cheesy joke she’d come up within seconds, her amused grin Raven had faded. “And... well, there’s gonna be an extra setting for someone who isn’t gonna show up so...” she shrugged, Raven didn’t see the harm in it. Why not right?

“You wanna come?”

Winona

​

 

[High5ives]

As Ash pushed his hat up and cupped his face with her hands, Kanen was left feeling bare. Vulnerability was not his strong suit, and now it’s not like he could just run away. Kanen knew well enough that Ash would come back again. Whether he deserved it or not, Ash was always there. Slowly, Kanen pulled his hands out of his pockets and placed them over top of hers. There was hesitation, a clear pause before Kanen gently pulled her hands off his cheeks. He held her hands for just a moment, but it was his hands he was staring at.

The tattoos covered almost everything. Almost. The tracks were still there, black streaks in his hands that went up his wrists before disappearing under his coat. “Ash...” Kanen mumbled. “You don’t know what I’ve done...” he choked the words out, like they’d been caught in his throat for years. More accurately months.

“I...” There was so much he wanted to say, but how? Kanen wanted to tell her everything about the last three months, but what would she think of him? How could she ever see him as anything other than a monster after he told her what exactly he did for a living these days?! Sure, dealing drugs was one thing, but Kanen had shot people! How could she ever look at him the same!? There were no words for Kanen to say. He could only show Ash just how far gone things had went.

Slowly, Kanen took a few steps back, releasing Ash’s hands and taking off his coat. The fabric fell to the ground, and Kanen’s bare arms were still in full view. Muscular, covered with a tapestry of artwork, but with distinct track marks hidden in the lines of his tattoos. Kanen just there for a moment, staring down at his feet, biting his lip so hard it fucking bled. This was the easy part. The hard part was coming.

His hands trembled, reaching for the gun tucked into the seam of his pants. Gripping the handle, Kanen held it firmly in his hands before taking the magazine out. He dropped the empty gun and held the magazine out towards her. Seven bullets when there should’ve been eight...

That was the line. The threshold of Kanen’s willpower, and he had just crossed it. Here he was, standing in front of possiblely the only person in the world who cared about him, and Kanen was showing her just what a monster he really was. “I’m so fucking sorry Ash...” He choked, then it all came, tears, sobs, everything. Kane fell to his knees and everything just came pouring out. “I’m so fucking sorry! I-I don’t know what I’m doing anymore Ash! I-I-I fucking hurt people Ash! I just want it all to stop. Everything! I don’t want this anymore Ash!” Kanen went on, apologizing for everything. The people he’d hurt, the lies he’d told, the crimes he’d committed. Nothing was off limits and Kanen couldn’t stop.

“I don’t want to live anymore, Ash.” Those were the last words to crawl off Kanen’s tongue before he slipped back into quiet sobs hanging his head down low to try and hide his shame...

Winona

 

[Winona]

Mason

Okay. So things were awkward again, and Mason didn't know what to do after he'd set her down and called her amazing. Yep. He'd expected Raven to say something, but instead the silence just hung between them with Mason's words being the last thing in the open. Wow, he was really stupid. Finally, she dropped her phone and Mason breathed a sigh of relief as the silence and everything else faded away, and they were back to just being enemies or... frenemies or whatever the fuck they were. Mason didn't know anymore. How had Raven become one of his closest friends, when she'd been one of the people he hated most just a couple months before?

Of course, her invitation blindsided him. Mason hesitated, leaning back against the locker next to hers and tilted his head to the side, one eyebrow raised curiously. "Really? You want me to come to your holiday dinner shit?" Holy fuck, what was this world coming to? Hell, Mason had never actually experienced a Thanksgiving, except for the couple that he'd attended with Adriane. But those had never been that fun, and had mostly just been full of tension that everyone just tried to laugh through. So yeah, the idea of a Thanksgiving dinner just reminded him of that, and worried him a bit. What if all of Raven's family was the same way? Silent hatred everywhere?

But... no, there was no way. And this year, with Mason being all alone thanks to Drake running off, it would be nice to have some kind of Thanksgiving dinner. Or as Raven had so cleverly called it, Earlygiving. He considered it for another moment, and then shrugged. "I got nothing better to do. Tell me when and where. And don't worry, I'll try not to upstage you since obviously, I am the better Rivera." And then it occurred to Mason that the text on her phone... fuck, was this dinner thing right now?

"Wait, or is your Earlygiving really early and like, right now?"

Soap​

 

[Winona]

Ash

She was quiet, listening as he spoke and then stepped back, taking off his jacket. Her gaze moved up and down his arms, and Ash didn't know what to say. Sure, drinking had been bad, but... this? And then he pulled out the gun, handing her the magazine. She hesitated, and then looked down at it, turning it over in her hands for a moment. A missing bullet. It felt heavy in her hands, and the last thing Ash wanted to do was keep holding this. She quickly dropped it to the ground beside the gun, and her gaze rested on that for a moment, too. Had he... really... killed people? It was hard for her to imagine the boy before her as being a murderer, but at the same time...

Ash had no idea what to say, or what to do. Kanen had always been annoyingly stubborn, but strong. Seeing him now was like looking at the empty shell of her former friend. He was more broken and vulnerable than Ash had ever thought anyone could be. If Kanen had been on the edge before, he'd now fallen off and hit his rock bottom.

And yeah, if this had been anyone else, Ash would've been scared, or disappointed, and have left. He'd obviously killed people, he was the biggest mess she'd ever seen and fucking hell, Kanen wasn't just a danger to himself anymore. He was a danger to everyone and yeah, all of her instincts said to run and get as far away from this volatile person as she could, but... Ash couldn't. She couldn't leave Kanen hear, crying on the dock and feeling like the worst person in the world. No matter what he'd done, he was still her friend.

His words stung when he mentioned not wanting to live anymore, and Ash dropped to the dock in front of him, and wrapped her arms tightly around him. What was she doing? "Please don't say that," she murmured to him, and just continued to hug him for a moment while she tried to process everything that he'd said, and everything that had just happened. Okay, so... drugs. Guns. Definitely a part of the mafia. Fucking hell... fuck. And to think, when she'd last seen him, he'd actually been trying to get sober.

"Kanen, I know it's a... lot." Well, that was the understatement of the century. "But what you did in the past is done, right? You can change your future, though, and like... if anyone could turn their life around from this, it would be you." She pulled away from him to look him in the eye once again, but kept her hands gently on his arms. "You're one of the strongest people I know and like... you wouldn't be alone if you wanted to change your life. You'd have me, and all of your other friends." But leaving the mafia probably wasn't like leaving a normal job, right? Could someone even leave the mafia? According to the movies, the only way was through death.

High5ives​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven avoided eye-contect when he asked if she actually wanted him to come. Uh, yeah stupid. Why else would she say so? This wasn’t that big of a deal, so... okay. So maybe she hasn’t ever invited anyone over to her house before, for thanksgiving or otherwise. The thought of inviting Alaska came to mind, but after the whole issuing suspensions thing, Raven hasn’t really seen her anywhere. Sending a quick text to her asking where she was before pocketing the phone. A little surprised Mason said yes in the first place, she rolled her at his comment and watched him expectantly, she was about to tell him it was now, but he beat her to it asking the question already. “Yep, C’mon, we can see who’s the best Rivera in the kitchen.” She tilted her head towards the doors of the school and started walking without another word, if he was following that’s great. If not, well, more leftovers.

A walk and many minutes later, she arrived at her doorstep and glanced towards Mason with her keys in hand. “Okay, don’t be weird, or like, curse loudly, my grandmother isn’t a fan of all that.” Not that she’d remember it all happened in the first place, but a literal disaster is what Raven was avoiding. “If Nancy asks you personal questions, I’m sorry she’s super nosy. But she’s a sweetheart.” Unlocking the door and walking inside, hanging up her coat at the super old coat rack they’d had for... well, maybe it was even older than Raven, who knows. “I’m home!” She yelled out, it wasn’t long before she heard a response and the clattering of pans, Nancy popped up from the kitchen seemingly out of no-where. “Have you seen that—“ Nancy’s eyes landed on Mason and she raised a curious brow, completely shocked. Raven cleared her throat and made her way over to her, leaning on the kitchen counter. “This is Mason, he’s... a friend.”

Nancy didn’t know what to make out of the situation, she glanced between the two clearly surprised, shrugging. “Well... it’s to meet you Mason, I’m Nancy. The nurse that... does everything in this house apparently.” She was teasing, Raven did things... she’d just been completely busy for the last few days, so, it was a miracle her room wasn’t a mess, at least anymore of the organized mess it was. “Need any help?” Raven asked, Nancy raised an eyebrow at her, okay, so... maybe she couldn’t cook. That doesn’t mean she can’t help. “I’m good right now, Samuel needed his laptop back but I couldn’t find it in your room.” Right. That reminded her she didn’t tell them yet about the competition, how could she forget? Raven would rather wait until Nancy’s family gets here though. Maybe it’ll be kind of cool to have a small announcement at the table. “Your mom coming anytime soon? She said she was going to bake some old... pie thing?”

Raven shook her head. “No, she’s not coming.” Nancy should’ve known better to trust that woman at her word. Not wanting to see the pity stare from Nancy, it wasn’t like Raven actually wanted her here, let alone expect her to show up. “I’ll go uh... look for the computer.” Her own has been broken for months, Samuel was a pretty nice kid, either that or he was afraid of her, but she doubted it. Walking in her eyes scanned the room thoroughly, maybe she should work on designing her room... ha. No, Raven had much more problems. Right now wasn’t a time in her life where she could just... go to like, Bob’s Furniture and buy a whole new bedroom. Besides, she liked her room, purple walls... many many posters of super old bands she was sure none of the kids in her school listened to. God. What terrible people they were.

Plus that mannequin she’d bought off a hobo sat in the corner of her room, okay, it wasn’t as creepy as you’d think. It’s just the torso part, y’know for holding up clothes and stuff. There sat her homecoming dress, despite the incredibly shitty night. Raven was... just in the least bit proud of it. Moving over many blankets and sighing when she didn’t find it immediately.

Look i don’t even know what i wrote.

Winona​

 

[Winona]

Mason


He was nervous about going to Raven's house. Hell, who wouldn't be? Plus it wasn't like he was going over to just hangout and have a good time or whatever -- nope, Mason was going to their Thanksgiving dinner. And yeah, maybe he was regretting agreeing to go a little bit, but Raven was kind of quickly becoming one of his best friends -- which was just kind of sad. Fuck. He wondered what Carter would say if she found out about their new blossoming friendship. Carter would probably make fun of him or something when he thought about, but fuck it, that's why she was his best friend. She teased him, but still put up with his nonsense.

Mason had to take in a deep breath before he followed Raven into the house. He was nervous as he waited, watching as a woman came around the corner that Raven introduced as Nancy. "Uh, hello. It's nice to meet you." Mason said, perhaps a little bit too nervously as he offered Nancy a weak smile, and then listened as they talked about Raven's mother for a minute. Despite the little he knew about Raven's mother, he had to admit that he wasn't surprised she wasn't coming. But, well, he felt bad for Raven. She could act as macho as she wanted, but Mason knew what it was like to have an absent parent. You could act like you didn't care one bit, but you always did. How could you not?

He watched as Raven started to walk away following the very awkward conversation, and gave Nancy a brief, very nervous smile. "I can help bake a pie or whatever. I'm, uh... I'm not terrible at cooking." And then he followed after Raven, breathing a sigh of relief once he was farther away from Nancy. The woman was intimidating, alright?

Anyway, he followed after Raven, stepping into her room and looking around. Purple. Nice. And then he had to do a double take when he caught sight of the mannequin. "Is that a... mannequin? Are you not worried about it coming to life and like, choking you to death or something?" Mason asked, glancing towards Raven as he spoke.

Soap​

 

[High5ives]

Kanen had expected her to run, or at least back away. He sat there staring down at his palms, wondering how in hell he has gotten himself into this situation. Ash was quiet, he couldn’t hear her, and for a moment Kanen had thought she had really left. Then out of nowhere, he felt her arms wrapping around him, holding tight. Her voice was soft as if she was unsure of everything she was doing now. That’s what hurt Kanen the most. Had he finally scared off the one person who had been trying to help him all this time?

The idea scared Kanen. If Ash, who always seemed to believe Kanen could get better, was now unsure of that, how could Kanen ever convince himself to change? What if he was too far gone now? What if he’s gone off the deep end and there was no getting out. What then? What was left for Kanen to do?

Ash started talking about changing, and leaving the past behind, and something about that kinda infuriated Kanen. There was blood on his hands. When he went to sleep at night, he saw their faces. He couldn’t just forget. He’d tried to drown at their memories before, he’d tried it dozens of times. No matter how much he drank or how much he shot up, Kanen still bears their voices at night. “How the fuck am I supposed to just move on like it’s nothing Ash?!” Kanen snapped. “This is what I am now! I can’t just back out of this, don’t you get it? You have any idea what’ll happen if I decided to leave them?! I’ve dealt with the runners Ash! I know what happens if you decided you’re done!” Kanen yelled. His emotions were like a storm, unpredictable and violently changing. From shame, to anger, then immediate regret, but it was too late to take the words back...

Winona

 

[Twin Fantasy]

Shawn March Orozco

What did this mean for Westbrook? Something, surely.

"If I had any clue what the fuck was going on, I could tell you." Shawn filed through the possible options. Who deals drugs? Was it some drug empire? Was he suddenly a minor character in an episode of fucking Narcos? The mafia? What, was it the 1920's? It all seemed so egregious for a high school student to be involved in... er, ex-high school student, more likely. As if this guy was gonna deal drugs and also just re-enter high school.

As if they'd let him.

"I like, hate how curious I am about it." Because really, it'd be better for everyone, Shawn especially, to not get involved in such matters. But fuck, a guy dips and comes back a dealer with bags full of xans? It wasn't normal. Where could he have even gone? Most of the surrounding towns and cities were as milquetoast as Westbrook. He'd have to haul ass quite a distance to find anything of interest. Even the edges of Westbrook mostly housed addicts and the occasional prostitute. The other dealers were just regular people looking to make a living. Not... whatever the fuck this was.

"He'd have to be a moron to come back here, right? Everyone knows him already."

Interactions: Moonshadow​

 

[Maree]

Belle Taylor

Mood: Happy | Interacting with:Zach |Mentions: Dazzle

How did Belle end up coming to this town of damaged individuals? Well, she couldn't just tell the truth now, could she? "I just didn't belong there anymore. If that makes sense? My mother picked the location and I was just happy to be somewhere different" she vaguely explained. It was bad enough she got vulnerable enough to disclose what happened to Mason. She wasn't going to tell another strange boy no matter how cute he was.

"As for nuns. They were kind of around the school. They lead like the more religious classes but not the core ones like math." Personally, she had always found the nuns to be rather creepy. So she tended to avoid most of the classes that they taught in her old school. The ones that weren't mandatory at least. Westbrook was a lot better in that aspect. There are not as many kind of questionable mandatory classes around. "I was at the play yesterday which was certainly interesting. I think that all of the friends I have made are now getting suspended. So it's certainly interesting"

"So what do you do for fun around here? I need some ideas to keep me occupied over Thanksgiving" she sighed. Thanksgiving was just another one of those very unnecessary holidays. Another day spent in an empty house feeling lonely. Oh, no poor sad little rich kid all alone in her Villa. She knew that she was very privileged but that didn't mean she couldn't get unhappy sometimes.

code by Ri.a

 

[Moonshadow]

June
​

June sighed a bit, her head whirling as much as his as she thought about what the witnessed. “He told me I was bad news. What a joke. But, he knew what he was doing. He’s not an idiot, I don’t think.” She tapped the bottle repeatedly. Then shook her head. “What are we doing? He hit you and threw my bottle on the floor. We shouldn’t care what he does with his life.” She said walking back to the alleyway.

“I just want a drink.” But, she stopped as she looked back at Shawn. “You probably shouldn’t though, considering you took the pill...” She hesitated for a moment. “What made you do it? Do you normally take those? I mean, I assume so since you know this spot. But, can I hear the story?” She asked somewhat meekly despite her loud attitude before.

Twin Fantasy

 

[Winona]

Ash


And just like that, Kanen was back to his normal self. Normally, being yelled at would've scared Ash. Hell, look at what had happened with her and Ryan after he'd yelled at her. But this was Kanen and for some reason, even knowing everything he'd done, Ash felt safer with this boy sitting in front of her and yelling than she would've with basically anyone else. Still, well, Ash wasn't up for being yelled at, or for his apparent mood swings, so all she did was shake her head and stand up.

"Look, when you want to stop blaming the world and letting it fuck you over, call me." Ash snapped. She was tired of this constant pity party Kanen had, where he'd act like he wanted to change, but refuse to do so. "You're better than this and you know it, and..." She hesitated, shaking her head and crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "I want to help you, but I can't help you if you're constantly refusing to help yourself." Ash explained. And yeah, it sucked to say.

She looked towards the ground, her eyes falling to the gun. Ash narrowed her eyes, kicking the gun and then the magazine off the pier into the ocean. "I'll see you later, Kanen." Ash said, hesitating for a moment before she walked past him off the pier. It hurt to leave, but she didn't know what else to do. Fuck. Sitting around here wouldn't make a difference, anyway. She never should've shown up here to meet him, or even contacted him. It wasn't like her being here, or being with him, would help or anything. It was just wasting her time, and his.

High5ives​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer

Okay so there was most definitely something up. Grace was acting weird and Sawyer's confusion was beginning to turn into concern as they stood there in the hallway. Since when did Grace do cooking things with David? When had that developed? Again, something she didn't know about. Not that it really mattered, but her growing closer to her mother's boyfriend was a fairly big deal that she would've liked to know about. Sawyer liked David. He wasn't a complete asshat like Kate so that alone put him on her good side. Sawyer was fairly sure that Kate was probably the only parent in the whole of Westbrook that could be so nasty about her own kids sexuality. That thought got her wondering about Alaska and that whole thing that happened at the play. Sawyer had only spoken to Raven like twice, but she seemed cool. She wondered how Alaska's mom had handled that whole thing. She'd have to ask Alaska at some point.


Sawyer forced herself back into the conversation when Grace told her a maybe on the dinner thing. She could try to hide that she was disappointed, but that probably wouldn't work very well. She did manage to force a smile onto her face, though. Grace had her own life, and Sawyer wasn't that clingy, but right now this whole thing just felt off to Sawyer. With the way Grace had been quite obviously lying about the stupid gloves, Sawyer doubted she would tell her what was up. This whole thing was beginning to make her extremely annoyed and concerned at the same time and it wasn't something she wanted to be feeling right now.


"Yeah....yeah. It's, uh, it's cool. She'll be here a while, plenty of other times to meet her." Way to go, Sawyer. That totally did not sound super sad. Sawyer could've kicked herself. For all her skill in theatre, she was terrible at hiding her feelings no matter how much she liked to think she was a brick wall. The strap of her backpack suddenly became very interesting as she slowly started to shuffle away from Theo and Grace.


"See you in a little, babe. Let me know on dinner. Later, Theo." With a head nod in Theo's direction and a kiss on Grace's head, Sawyer made her way away from the two of them and down the hall. She realised halfway that she was going in the complete opposite direction of her class but made no move to turn back around.

Soap Maree​