Realistic or Modern Westbrook

[Soap]

Raven

Shrugging when he’d mentioned the music. It wasn’t really her thing, much rather perform than be the woman behind the curtains. Giving a small nod of appreciation. ”Yes, yes. I'll do amazingly.” It didn't seem like a big deal to Raven that was playing Mason’s love interest. You'd think it’d bother her, it was just an act. Besides they're raising money and what-not. She sighed audibly, watching him ignore eye-contact once again. Weren't they passed this thing already? Although even she felt more comfortable when he’d slipped the beanie back on.​

Her gaze scanned the room searching for that weird little blond boy he seemed to be talking about. However it was to no avail, ’Stu and I?’ he was literally just working alone. ”Mmhm. Just music.” Yeah, no. She was getting impatient, she came here to see how he was doing and he wasn't giving her anything. ”Alright, come on. You're really not fooling anyone. I mean. It's me.” There was much more to him than just music, and if anyone was dumb enough to believe that there wasn't, well. They weren't Raven. She settled in her seat, unaware of how long this conversation would take. ”Have you talked to your mom since the college trip?” But however long it took, she was okay with staying here until she got answers. What? It wasn't like she had anywhere else to go...
Winona​

 

[Moonshadow]

June
​

June frowned a bit and crossed her arms a little. “Having to tell someone that their boyfriend could be cheating on them doesn’t make you say ‘I’m good’ after. I’m sorry that you had to be the bearer of bad news for her, but it’ll be okay. If someone does something wrong, I know it’s never good for other people to not tell them the truth.” She would know.

When she asked June how she was doing, she hesitated. “Oh I’m fine. Just... tired from trying to get my grades up and worrying about my Mom.” She wasn’t lying and Grace should know since she had been doing homework at home then using the phone to call her Mom. She didn’t want to tell her about anything else. She can’t forget the amount of times times she had hurt Grace. She didn’t want to burden her again with problems.

Soap

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron Ollila​

For a moment after this kid smiled, Aaron felt... uncomfortable. Something about that smile reminded him of his dad, and though he realized it was stupid, it made him feel weird. He brushed that feeling aside quickly enough as he took the joint, sitting close enough to Drake it could be easily passed between the pair and no closer. "Aaron," he said, right before taking a hit. He did it the right way, experienced enough in this, if not in doing this at school.

He passed the joint back to Drake, giving him a once-over before asking, "Do you smoke before school every morning, or is today a special occurrence?" Maybe that wasn't an appropriate question to ask- Aaron barely knew Drake, after all, and if it was a special occurrence, there was probably a reason for it. Aaron didn't particularly care, however. What was the worst thing that could happen-he no longer got to smoke with him?

Winona​

 

[Dak]

Ryan had heard about Natilie from Sawyer. About their relationship and how they broke up. He thought that she was gone, but he guessed wrong. Now she was back, pregnant and tarting rumors. "That bitch" He thought before looking at her. "Then fuck her. You guys split up, she went and had her fun with some guy and now has to deal with the consequences that come with having sex." He ran a hand through his hair. "EIther way, I'm telling you that she'll need to deal with this on her own. She made her choice to have sex now it's her choice to have the kid or not." He said. It might have been the thing she wanted to hear, but that's what he had to say on the matter. It wasn't Sawyers decision, it wasn't Ryans, it was Natillie.
KingofAesir

 

[Dazzle]

Mads


He was taken back by what Ash had said. Ryder? Cheating. He didn't know Ryder well, only being at the school for three weeks. But Ryder seemed to really like Ash.. "Wait what?" His eyes were wide and brows furrowed. "Ash he was with us the whole night?? Wasn't he?" Most of the night was blurred at this point. But wouldn't they have noticed him going off with some other girl.. "Ash, none of this makes any sense.." He started to look around for Ryder himself.

"When did she see them?" Most of the night the four of them were together till the fighting broke out. After that everyone pretty much disperse, including Ash. He rubbed the back of his neck, "Ash I know how you feel.." He quieted down. "But lets find Ryder, because I still don't believe it..."

Winona

Zach


"I don't need your help." He crossed his arms. But he knew that it wasn't going to matter what he said. His reputation was so instilled that everyone just saw him as the dumb jock. "Whatever. When are we doing this Mary." Raising an eyebrow and adjusting his backpack on his shoulder. "Lets get this started so we can be done with it." He said looking over his shoulder, the bell rang and he nodded to Ava. "Give me your phone."

Winona​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer
​

Sawyer nodded along as Ryan spoke. He was right. She knew he was right. So why did she still feel bad? Shaking her thoughts away, Sawyer decided the topic of Natalie was quite annoying, so she changed it. Sawyer was curious about how things had been going with Ryan in the time since they'd last really talked. Which, she was pretty sure that was when she met Hajar. Oh, that would probably be something good to ask about. Somehow, both she and Ryan had managed to find a girl they were happy with pretty damn close to eachother. Funny how things work like that, huh?

"Okay, okay, enough about Nat." Sawyer's characteristic grin appeared on her face as she spoke, "How's the weather in Ryan Town, huh? Everything good with Hajar?" She'd honestly thought Ryan's girlfriend was pretty cool when she met her so she hoped things were going well for them. Thinking about Ryan and Hajar had her thoughts turning to Grace too and that only made her smile grow even more.

"She seems pretty cool."

Dak

Bryan

​

Bryan mentally cursed at himself for even mentioning the punching. Now he'd have to come up with some reason because he for sure could not tell her the truth. He could imagine how mad she'd be now. The last thing Bryan needed on his hands was a pissy girlfriend. Bryan figured he could just tell her that he didn't do anything. Maybe. Yeah, that would have to do he couldn't come up with anything better on the spot.

"It was Chase." Bryan laughed as JJ checked his face for any signs of an injury, "Don't worry, it barely fazed me. His sister punches a whole hell of a lot harder than him." He practically cackled at his own joke. Okay. Just be chill, Bryan, she doesn't need the details. Keep your mouth shut give her the basics.

"I was just trying to talk to some chick in the kitchen." Bryan added a scoff for good measure, "I guess she was his date or something and he thought I was trying to make a move or some shit. Which, I totally was not. So he just clocked me." He shrugged, trying to brush off the topic, "Was really stupid."

Soap​

 

[Dak]

Sawyer had asked about Hajar. Ryan had wondered where she was. "She's been good, things have been great. I love her." He said thinking for a seond. He hadn't gotten a text from her, or a phone call for that matter. He shrugged it off. If she needed to talk to him then she would let him know. If anything she would be the one to find him. "How about gracie? How's the head cheerleader doing? Have you guys had that type of fun?" He asked a smile gracing his lips. It would have been interesting to hear if Sawyer and Grace had some fun.
KingofAesir

 

[Soap]

Juliette

JJ’s eyes widened in surprise and released her hand from his chin when she was informed it was Chase who punched him, he was the least annoying Vaughn. And insufferably nice. She didn’t think the brown haired boy had it in him, maybe she was wrong. "Wow, okay." Rolling her eyes when she was reminded of Alaska, it pissed her off that the hockey player had decided to take matters into her own hands, literally.

But because Bryan wouldn’t hit a girl, Alaska didn’t get what was coming to her. There's always next time though. Raising a suspicious brow at his words, what did he even say to the girl that made him get punched? Chase seemed far too innocent to punch someone for no particular reason, or the protective type. "Right, stupid." But then again.. he was a Vaughn. "Well.. Maybe next time don't go to parties and talk to other girls when your girlfriend isn't there to accompany you." Not holding back the snark in her tone. She wasn't upset that she didn't go to the party... okay, she was little upset she didn't go to the party, but more about the fact that he even talked to another girl in the first place. The bell rang and Juliette knew even though she didn't do much work she had to at least attend the classes. "So i'm going to go to class.. try not to talk to any more girls or get punched by one."
KingofAesir
Grace

Grace nodded in agreement, no. She wasn't 'good.' But saying that she wasn't isn't helping anyone, so.. listening intently when June continued, she did notice she was working harder, good for her. Grades were especially hard to keep up with for Grace, but since she'd gotten back on her meds it should be easier now, taking a mental note to study later on. Working on spanish class was the next thing on her to-do list,

telling your best friend their boyfriend was a lying two-timing cheater? it was safe to say she could cross that off her list. Crossing her arms and walking a bit closer to June instead of leaning on the lockers. She'd only met her mom once, and that's when.. whatever happened with that girl that literally tried to murder June, which Grace still didn't quite understand, but at least she's okay. Ignoring the bell altogether, and caring more about June then class, which was ironic considering how she wanted to do better with her own grades. High school will be waiting for her anyway, this seemed more important. "How is your mom?"
Moonshadow​

 

[Winona]

Ava


"Well I don't want to give you my help." Ava's help was obviously very special (sarcasm intended), but it still wasn't something she wanted to give Zach. Obviously. At the mention of Mary, she wrinkled up her nose a little bit in disgust, narrowing her eyes. Luckily, the bell was a savior. She took the phone from him, inputting her number and passing it back to him. "After school. Library. Be there or get kicked off the football team." Ava smirked at him, and then turned and headed towards class.

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

Ash


"No, he wasn't." Ash had already thought it over. There had been the beginning of the night, and then for a while after the fight where she hadn't been with him. Plus, who knew what had happened when Ash had gone home? "I don't know when she saw him, but it's Grace. Grace is the only person in this school who wouldn't lie to me. So it... it has to be true." Grace was the only person that Ash truly trusted in the school -- she was the only cheerleader who hadn't tried to ruin Ash's reputation at this point, and had stuck by her through everything. Even through the many, many stupid decisions that she had made.

"I'm going to find him right now, yell at him, and...." She trailed off, shaking her head as she realized that, well, Ash really had no idea where she was going from there. Then, she took off back down the hallway to find Ryder.

Dazzle

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

Jace


"You're very pushy, you know that?" Not that Jace minded -- it felt like no one was willing to push to know his true feelings, and it was nice to have someone that at least pretended to care about how he felt. Because, well, let's be honest. Jace felt alone most of the time. Ash was too busy with her own stuff, their father was still looking for a job, and his only friend was now the reason for Jace's stress. So yeah. Having Raven even pretend to care meant a lot.

"A little bit. She's coming to the musical, and she's been talking with my dad about getting visitations and rights back, but...." He sighed, his eyes looking away from Raven to the music sheets. "Since I am officially eighteen, she can't do anything about me. But she's trying to get Ash because she knows that if Ash goes, I'll go." He may have been a questionable brother in a lot of ways, but when it came to family matters, Ash and Jace had an unspoken rule to never let the other be alone. Their family sucked.

Soap

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

Drake


He snorted at the question. "Every morning, at lunch, and then before practice." Drake explained as he took the joint back, taking a hit and holding the smoke in his lungs for a moment before exhaling and passing it back to Aaron. "Most of the time, anyway." When he wasn't in a depressive episode, Drake usually forgot about weed, painkillers, and everything else. When he was in a manic episode, he was always so busy and his mind was running so quickly that he couldn't even think about it.

"What about you? Obviously it's not your first time. Common occurrence?" He asked. Reminded Drake of himself a little bit, actually... probably because it was him.

mikaluvkitties

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

Mason


Following his horrible experience at the Halloween party, Mason had gotten into an argument with Adriane that had resulted in going home with Ariana and Drake, and then getting into another argument with his mother. So basically, Mason's weekend had been absolute bitter hell and he was almost glad to go to school and be out of the same apartment as his mother. Of course, he was only at school for so long before he found out that Carter had stayed home.

So now, Mason was standing in front of Carter's house. He looked at the door, hesitating for a moment, before he knocked on the door. "Carter! Let me in!" He yelled, hoping that she wouldn't ignore him when she heard his voice. Mason stepped back from the door, running a hand through his hair before adjusting his glasses while he waited.

Dazzle​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron Ollila​

Aaron couldn't help a smirk at Drake's answer, nodding as he re-positioned himself for maximum comfort- one leg crossed, the other bent at the knee so he could comfortably rest his arm on it as he was doing.

"So you're a good old fashioned stoner," Aaron said as he watched Drake take a hit. Sure, some might say Aaron was, too, but he disagreed. It wasn't so much about the weed for him as much as the socializing. When he was high, others became tolerable. It was one of the few social interactions he didn't mind. And the high was a nice bonus. So of course he indulged in it semi-regularly- the semi being key. Aaron drank at most parties, but only occasionally did he join others in getting high.

He nodded as he took the joint back, listening as Drake continued, taking a moment to savor his next hit before he began thinking on Drake's question. Letting himself think as he passed the joint back, he found his mind wandering a bit. He was smoking weed- not only was he smoking weed, but he was smoking weed at school. What would his father say? His smirk reappeared as his thoughts got back on track.

Finally, he admitted, "Common enough." He looked at up at the sky, thinking for a moment. Finally, he mused, "If my brother knew, he'd be upset. Not in a loud way, of course- God forbid he do anything loudly- but in a disappointed way." He turned to Drake. "Do you have someone like that- Someone that would be disappointed in you when you're just trying to live in the moment?"

Winona​

 

[Winona]

Drake


"Brothers are cool like that," he admitted, taking the joint back and playing with it between his fingers while he thought about Aaron's question. Did anyone actually care about what he was doing? It didn't feel like that most of the time as he continued to kill his pain with weed, alcohol, painkillers... anything that could give some momentary fake feeling of happiness, or numb the hurt that he always felt. "No. No one looks at me enough to be disappointed, you know?"

Drake gave a wry smile, and then took another hit from the joint, pausing to take a second one before handing it back over. By now, it was almost gone, but oh well. He had more. Drake always had more, but not on him at the moment. Right now, all he had was a bottle of pain pills he'd stolen from Adriane's mother. "Tip for you, if you really want people to look the other way so you can keep living in the moment. Just keep smiling." To prove his point, Drake threw on a huge, beaming smile, and forced his eyes to light up with fake happiness. Always fake, everything about Drake felt fake these days.

"If you smile, people don't think there's anything wrong, and then they ignore you and you can do what you want without people questioning it, or questioning how you feel." He laughed, although that was just as fake as the rest. Drake had perfected this mask although in a manic episode, it was his real self, not a mask. But right now, when it felt difficult to even stand up, well... it was a mask. It wasn't him. It was the disorder speaking, just as the mania wasn't him.

Drake didn't even know who he was anymore. It felt as if his entire mind was turning on itself, pointing fingers, yelling, screaming... that's all that went on in Drake's head. Fighting. Fighting about who he was. Did he like sports, or books? Girls, or boys? Chocolate, or vanilla? Even the smallest questions, he had no answer to.

mikaluvkitties​

 

[COTimberWolf1942]

~ Hajar Giles ~

Cool. Hajar was now in a state of absolute and utter panic, she wasn't showing it though, keeping her dark eyes just as warm as they had been. Would she even beer here next year? Where would she even be? Alive? Dead? Crippled like a vegetable? Would Sokolov catch up? Would her brothers show up again? She had a lot of questions, questions that would only be answered as time went marching on. It broke her a little inside though, she would have to lie to Maisie, a young girl who she was slowly but surely considering her sister, she had to lie because the truth was to painful to speak, even though it would be more earth-shattering if Hajar left in the middle of the night with no answer. There was an answer to that though, that was an answer she could give. "Yeah..." She laughed softly, "I can be a cat just like you were, I might be lousy though..." She tossed a wink over her way and did something she didn't expect to do, she pulled Maisie into a hug. It was a real hug, a tight one, it felt like home was right back in her heart and slowly, Hajar let go to take a step back. "Be good okay? Anyone gives you trouble, call me. We'll set them straight, no one fucks with my little sister." She smiled, her heart was warm today, nothing could darken it.

~ Ethan Fairchild ~

Ethan sighed as he dipped into the art room, he had an empty period so he usually spent the the first hour and a half of the school day camped out in the art room, Mrs. Frederick didn't seem to be bothered by it, the woman loved him. There was a little corner table in the room, situated by the windows that overlooked town and the forested woods beyond that line that separated forest from civilization. He stalked into the closet and grabbed all his supplies, pad, pencils, ink pens... just the usual stuff, he wasn't feeling to extravagant today, just wanted to zone out and draw. He set up his phone against the wall as he took a seat, flicking to his pictures. A month or so ago, he had been hiking deep in the mountains, coming across a moose and her calf on the edge of a stream. He took so many pictures that day and today, he decided he would take the time to draw it out. The tip of the pencil scratched softly against the paper as the picture came to life, he was smiling to himself in silence, clueless to the world around him.

Soap

 

[Moonshadow]

June
​

June did her best to smile for a moment, but it seemed all her energy was sapped by the effort. It fell easily as she talked. “She’s overworking herself again. Since I’m not there, she stays at her job longer. I’m trying to convince her to go home, but she keeps on giving me excuse after excuse. It’s obvious she’s trying to help by fabricating this stuff, it’s the way she is.” She explained before she stopped walking and realization flashed across her features. She quickly grabbed Grace’s arm pulling her into the nearest bathroom. She looked around, seeing that they were alone, she turned to look at Grace.

“I lied. I lied right to your face when you never lie to me. And that’s what I always do. I always keep everything inside. But, Grace, I’m going crazy this time.” She grabbed her shoulders as she started to go off. “Adriane... She called me a slut and threatened me to never go near Mason. It’s because Adriane has Mason around her little finger and I’m powerless against it. Mason wants to move away with his daughter because he feels worthless here. I kissed Raven then was willing to never tell Mason and then I told her I never wanted to see her and I miss her and Mason so badly. I still can’t forget what happened with the blogs and what Georgia said to me! I still can’t forget Ruby and all the ways I could’ve saved her, but she’s dead!” Her voice had gone delirious at this point and she quickly stopped then dropped her arms. She put her hands on the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. “I’m burning.”

At that moment, she saw all the embers of her former self give way to the ashes of her new self. She hated it.

Soap

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron Ollila​

Aaron tsked as Drake mentioned no one getting disappointed in him. "Lucky. I only have three people to make disappointed in me, and let me tell you, that is three too many." Then he finished processing everything Drake had said. He was interested, now that he realized he was in the presence of a master at avoiding people's attention, and turned to look at him.

He didn't mind Drake taking two hits, still watching him as he took the joint and finished it off before pushing whatever remained- the butt???- into the ground between the pair, nodding along to what Drake said.

"That's impressive," Aaron admitted, "but... I don't know if I can do that." He leaned back, using his arms or the wall to keep himself propped up as he let his high hit him. "My parents... are strict, I guess. Apathy is just my safest bet."

Winona​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven let out a breathy chuckle and nodded in agreement. She wouldn't be her if she wasn't pushy. Absentmindedly folding the edge of the music sheet she was holding, he was there for her before, so.. Raven was perfectly fine with returning the favor. Raising a brow at Jace's words, she wanted rights back, What rights? It was their mother, but to be fair their mother seemed like the spawn of Satan so.. she shook her head at the thought of the two of them leaving with her, she didn't know Elise, not the in the least bit. But she'd like to think she was a good judge of character, Raven opened her mouth to say something, and closed it. How did that saying go? 'If you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all.'

"Fuck that. You're not going anywhere." No-one said she'd listen to the saying.. "Look.. some people actually listen to the kids. If she tries to get custody of Ash, or whatever i'm pretty sure Ash would object." Who would willingly go with a woman who does nothing but spit insults out?

She sighed, it wasn't her place to talk about it. But Raven made everything her business anyway, so.. too bad. "I'm sorry. But your mother is a bitch." Hoping he wouldn't get upset, but it was the truth. Everyone saw her and how she acted, Elise was the total definition of a literal she-devil. "You still love her, it's only normal." She explained after all.. her own mother was disaster and never was much of a mother to begin with. But no-matter what she did, Andrea was still her mom. "But i swear to god, if you're gonna be a wuss decide to leave, i'll beat the shit out of you." Raven nudged him with her elbow and grinned. "Do you think i could afford a real therapist?" Maybe it wasn't the way she should go about cheering someone up, but leave her be. She's trying.
Winona
Maisie

Maisie let out a small laugh of her own, she doubted she'd be lousy at being a cat. But before Maisie could give her reassurance about it, she was pulled into a hug. Maisie stiffened for a few seconds, but eventually relaxed into it. Realizing that she honestly might've needed one of these for awhile. Reaching her arms around Hajar and hugging her back tightly. She found herself tearing up for some reason at the gesture, the last time she'd felt this connected to someone well.. they just decided to leave without her. Before she pulled away, Maisie felt like she had to let her know. "It's okay, i'm sure you won't be a bad cat. I'll teach you the basics." Chuckling a little. Raising her eyebrows in surprise at her words. Little sister. Hm. Cool.

Smiling amused, but grateful. "..I'll be good. I promise." She gave her a thumbs up, "I'll let you know.. but if they knew i had a total badass for a big sister, I don't think they'd want any trouble with me then." Raising her hand to put the candy back in her mouth. She was glad to know that someone had her back. Sure, Hajar seemed a little scary to some people, but.. she was sweet.
COTimberWolf1942
Juliette

JJ was barely paying attention to whatever Mrs. Frederick was saying, staring at her blank canvas probably for a little to long, when she should've been following the teacher's directions on how to paint a bowl of fruit. She rolled her eyes, couldn't they be more original? Not everyone wanted to paint apples or whatever. Boring. Juliette turned her head from a noise, raising an eyebrow when she noticed him, watching as the hobo went through the art closet. She cocked her head to one side, curious as to what he was doing. People could say whatever they want, but even he was more entertaining then.. all of this. Her eyes trained on him while he continued. JJ knew how to paint an apple, it was fairly simple. Paint a circle. The end. Mrs. Fredericks was too busy with an incompetent redhead who was having issues. Juliette took the opportunity to walk over to the poorly dressed boy.

Looking at the photo he was using obviously using for a reference, staring at animals, hm. Cute. Watching him closely for a few seconds. He seemed relaxed, almost at peace. Would be a shame if someone were to ruin it. "Is that your family?" An amused grin appeared on her face.
COTimberWolf1942
Grace

Grace frowned when June's own smile faded, Her mother seemed nice enough, it was sad that her and June were split apart. "Maybe you should try to--" Her sentence was cut short, when June pulled her into the bathroom, she glanced around the room, and searched her eyes with worry, waiting for her to continue. She lied? Lied about what.. being okay? It was clear what she meant as she continued, Grace just grabbed her hands that were on her shoulders, and listened. It was clear she needed someone to talk to and Grace wasn't one to turn someone away. The more June spoke the more confused Grace had gotten,

It took a second to understand a few of the things she'd said, about Mason, she didn't know Adriane well. But the redhead didn't seem like the nicest person, furrowing her eyebrows at the mention of Raven, weren't June and Mason a thing? She cheated or something? Were they even exclusive? There was too many questions. Thinking back on the Raven thing that whole weird dress thing suddenly made a lot more sense. But literally almost nothing about this made sense. Her eyes widened at the mention of death, what was she even talking about? She bit her lip, waiting a few seconds in silence before walking closer to June and staring at her through the reflection in the mirror.​

"Breathe. You're not burning. No-one expects you to forget anything, you.. went through a lot, you can't just move on from that in the matter of a few weeks." Grace explained. Shaking her head before continuing. "Look.. you don't have to keep everything to yourself. I didn't understand half the things you just talked about." She gestured to where they were standing just moments before. "But i'm here if you're willing to explain some of it."
Moonshadow​

 

[Winona]

Drake


He listened as Aaron spoke and to be fair, Drake was a little jealous. Hell, he'd overdosed and his mother could've cared less. Of course, he didn't know Aaron's whole family situation, but the idea of over-bearing parents and a brother that really, really cared was something that actually made him jealous. "At least they care." He pointed out. "Mason and I have different dads, but neither of us actually know who they are. I have the last name of the dude that my mom is like, fifty percent sure is my dad." Martin. Otherwise, he would've been Drake Rivera, which was just a weird thought to him.

"I guess. I just know that if I'm angry, people pay more attention. But as soon as you plaster on a fake smile, people stop caring, you know?" Drake apparently got deep when he was high. "Like, people don't really care how you are. When they say 'Hey, how are you?' they don't really care. As soon as you say 'I'm fine' and smile, they'll look the other way. And that's all you have to do. Say that you're fine and smile enough times, and they'll stop asking."

God. He hated his life sometimes.

"And no matter what they see, as long as you say you're fine, they'll brush it off and go back to thinking of themselves." Drake wasn't usually a bitter pessimist but today, and after the weekend they'd had, well... it had been enough to set him off. Hiding with Ari while he heard beer bottles breaking and his brother and mother screaming at each other had brought him back to being a child. Hiding under his bed, or in the closet amongst the coats with Mason while they listened to her scream, listened to the crashing glass, as she fought with whatever guy she'd brought home that night.

"Like, look at this," he said and pulled up the sleeves of his sweater to reveal several deep cuts. Deep cuts that weren't horizontal, but vertical down his skin. "People have seen them. I said it was a cat. A cat. I don't even have a fudging cat, but they believed me because I smiled and laughed it off, you know?" He said as he traced his fingers along some of the deeper cuts, and then pulled his sleeves back down. Drake always wore hoodies for this very reason.

mikaluvkitties

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

Jace


He was a little taken aback when Raven said that she would beat him if he felt. Yeah, Jace hadn't expected anyone to care if he disappeared, not that he was planning on it. Jace was invisible in this school. Just that weird dude with the yellow beanie that no one even bothered to acknowledge. Heck, he wasn't even "Ash's older brother" -- no one seemed to know that he existed. Half of her so-called "friends" had thought that she was an only child.

Jace shrugged helplessly. "I guess we'll see what happens. She, uh... I think she wants us to go back to New York City with her." He admitted. "She hasn't said anything, obviously. She's mostly just been talking with our dad, but that was the thing before. My mom wanted to go be in plays or something and get us in there, but my dad didn't want to leave her, so... they broke up." Jace had hated his dad for so long following that but now, well, he was kind of glad. Even if Westbrook had brought nothing but pain to himself and Ash this year... well, mainly Ash. It had brought Jace new best friends, until the whole Elise situation.

In all honesty, Jace wasn't opposed to the idea. It would give him something to do following his graduation since, well, he had no idea where he was going following that, anyway. He sighed when Raven called his mother a bitch because, well, Jace still didn't think that she was that bad. "I mean, all moms kinda suck, right? It's normal." After all, Elise was the only mother he'd ever had, so he didn't know what mothers were supposed to be like. "Just... pushing us to be our best, I guess..."

Soap​

 

[Dazzle]

Mads


Ash had walked away without another word. Madison was still shocked, and kept going over every minute of the night that he could remember in his head. They hadn't gone too crazy, but him and Scar weren't necessarily watching Ryder's every move. Ryder didn't want to be a third wheel either, so they really hadn't paid much attention to where he went. Still there had to have been more to this story.

Madison pulled out his phone, looking up Ryder's name he typed out a text. "Dude, wtf?" He didn't want to not believe Ash, but he also knew there was always two sides to a story. And he still wasn't convinced that Ryder had cheated, even if he barely knew the guy.

@Open & a z u l a

Zach


Zach rolled his eyes, turning around and luckily heading in the other direction. "See you around Mary" He smirked looking back over his shoulder. As Ava headed the other direction. Even if she was a bit of a kill joy, he could admit she did look good walking away. "if that girl didn't hate the entire human race, she'd have most of the guys here on their knees." He headed over to his locker, being late wasn't going to help his case, but Mr. O'Dwyer wasn't going to be happy with him if he forgot his book either.

He wandered into class just barely making it as the late bell rang, he made his way to the back of the class sitting in the corner seat, he threw his backpack to the side. Sitting down rather abruptly, like all of gravity's pull had dragged him right down into the seat. His body hurt after conditioning this morning, and he was just ready to go to bed. Monday's were already hard enough, let alone having to get up even earlier to work out. He crossed his arms laying them in front of him on his desk putting his head down for a moment before O'Dwyer started to yell at him.

"Levine! You could at least pretend to pay attention in class, we aren't kindergartners here. There is no nap time." He tapped his pen on the desk. Zach leaned back in his chair groaning and when O'Dwyer turned back to the whiteboard Zach rolled his eyes and pulled out his notebook. He rested his head on his hand as he stared at the board. Talking about a book that Zach had already read three times since 7th grade, he already. He really didn't care to go over the definition of a books turning point, and the threshold again. Seemed like O'Dwyer didn't trust the kids to remember a thing, or maybe it was just that Zach didn't need the repetition to remember something.

@OPEN & Winona

Carter


Carter heard the banging at the door, for a minute she thought if she ignored Mason he would go away. But that thought didn't last long. She rolled her self out of bed, wrapping her blanket around her shoulders and shuffled to the door. She opened the door partially before only sticking her head through the small opening. "I'm sick" She did an extremely bad job at faking a cough.

"Okay.. I'm not sick." She looked over to the side and away from Mason's gaze, "But I'm really not in the mood to hear how horrible I am for beating up the mother of your child." Even if Adriane got what she deserved, Carter did feel bad to some extent. She also didn't really feel like Adriane was worth going to jail over. She opened up the door completely and leaned against the side, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders. It had really started to get cold in Westbrook.

"Why are you even here. You should be at school." She furrowed her eyebrows. She was obviously really bad at not being friends with Mason thing, even if Adriane was back. He was still her best friend, how she got stuck with such a dumbass, she'd never know. She always wondered that maybe if her parents had been willing to help Mason things would be different. But then again he wouldn't have Ari and she knew how much she meant to him.

Winona ​

 

[Winona]

Mason


All he did was roll his eyes when she lied about being sick. Yeah, Mason had dealt with trying to tell if Drake was really sick or just lying for many, many years so at this point, he felt like he was a professional in telling the truth. Ariana was going to be doomed when she was old enough to start school and start lying to him.

"Well good news for you," Mason said as he walked into the house, hands pushed into his pockets as he did. "I wasn't going to say anything like that." To be honest, he didn't care at this point. His responsibilities were limited to just Ari and Drake nowadays, and, well, saving up his money, his job... basically being the best adult that he could. And one person who didn't fit into any of that was Adriane. All she usually managed to do was ruin everything else, but... Well, Mason was conflicted to say the least. On one hand he wanted the perfect family, but on the other... he didn't want the things Adriane did around Ari.

"You should be at school, too." He pointed out, turning to face her as she spoke. "I came to see what was going on and why you weren't at school today. So... what's wrong?"

Dazzle​

 

[KingofAesir]

Lila


"Lila Anne Booker! If you do not hurry I am leaving you!"

Tina Booker's voice rushed up the stairs and practically slammed into Lila's eardrums. The dog tired girl clamped her hands over her ears as she walked down said stairs with a duffel bag thrown over her shoulders. Loud noises were not Lila's favorite, especially not when they were yelling noises. Her mother sighed when she saw Lila and made an apologetic hand gesture before turning and striding put of the house with purpose. Lila followed after her, more annoyed than ever that her parents had yet to get her a car. They definitely had the money for it, but they had some kind of far fetched reason about her going to parties or something that kept them from indulging her. Like Lila would ever go to one of Westbrook High's famously notorious parties. That was a terrifying thought.

The car sputtered down the road slowly due to her mother's ridiculously slow driving. For a woman that always seemed to be in a hurry, she sure did drive way to damn slow. Lila's knee bounced up and down in anticipation as they came nearer to the school, and she glanced down at the watch on her right wrist about every tw ok seconds. She was going to be late. She was going to be late because her mother drove like a half-blind grandmother. Of course, she would never say that out loud. Imagine the repercussions. When the school finally came into view Lila could've jumped out of the car then and ran the rest of the way, but she waited patiently as her mother came to a agonizingly slow stop in front of the doors. The second the car stopped rolling she was put like a bolt of lightning, streaking across the front lawn and into the school before her mother could even finish her goodbyes.

"S-sorry, Mr. O'Dwyer, I slept i-in late." Lila repeated to herself about five or six times a second as she ran to her class that she was very much late for. She needed to make sure she said it without a stutter because sometimes people thought she was lying when she stuttered. The dark haired girl was so busy talking to herself that she didn't even notice a very angry looking Ava walking down the hallway in front of her. The second she crashed into Ava her duffel went flying, and sketches of an assortment of clothing went skittering across the floor. Lila blinked and shook her head, trying to recover from the initial shock of the crash, an apology already tumbling out of her mouth at a thousand miles a minute.

"I'm s-so sorry! I-I wasn't..um..paying attention t-to where I was going." Lila looked up and almost fell over again when she saw just who she had run into, "Oh." Was all she managed to get out, her face paling like she'd just seen a ghost. She didn't even realize that she was repeating the word 'sorry' over and over again.

Winona​

 

[Dazzle]

Carter


She looked down at her feet as he came into the house, before standing up and moving out of the door way to keep the cold air out, she quietly closed the door. "Honestly.." She looked up at him, stopping for a moment. She wasn't sure what she wanted to say, honestly she didn't want to see Adriane's face, honestly she didn't want to see Mason's disapproval, honestly she didn't want to face the twins after ruining their birthday. All were true, but she wasn't interested in letting Mason in. "Honestly I needed a break."

She turned around making her way into the kitchen, she couldn't think straight, she hadn't eaten yet, Mason was the first thing that made her get out of bed all day, despite her mothers efforts to get her to school, Carter was as stubborn as they come. "Do you want anything?" She started to pour herself a cup of coffee while turning on the stove.

Winona ​

 

[COTimberWolf1942]

~ Ethan Fairchild ~

"I wish that was me and my mom... but she's dead." Ethan's voice was shockingly matter of fact, his eyes never left the pad but he gingerly sat his pencil down on the table with an audible click, lightly tracing the lines of the moose calf he had drawn with his rough skin scratching against the soft paper. "I don't think mom would be a moose though..." His grey scale eyes lifted up, trailing from Juliet's face back to the land outside the window, the clouds that were coming across the mountain is misty droves matched his eye color, it was gonna rain today. "I think mom would be a grizzly... A big fierce one just like this." His eyes fell, landing on the grizzly that had been inked into skin, "Maybe that's why I love grizzly bears... because my mom was just like one. A real mama bear who made sure no one messed with her cubs or her den." A slow smile curled on his lips as he rubbed his palm against the hair on his chin, his hands were rough and gnarled slightly, the broken bones had healed but his hands would always look like an old man's. "One of the kids in my neighborhood stole my bike when I was four... Couldn't do nothing but go home and cry, mama was like "little cub why're you crying." So I told her and she got the most furious look in her eye, she grabbed my hand and marched down to the kids house." His grin was becoming warmer, his teeth were showing a little, "I didn't wanna go, I was pulling like hell.. but she dragged me down there, she got the bike back and slapped the kid upside the head with his mom's permission." He turned his head and chuckled looking over at her, "She told, "little cub, your mama bear is always gonna be looking out for you, whether your four or forty... I'll always be looking down on you to keep you safe." Ethan shook his head and look back out the window as the first heavy splats of rain smacked into the window, "Sorry... I get to caught up in my feelings some times.." He shrugged his shoulders then looked back over at Juliet, "How's the circle class going over there?" His eyebrow cocked curiously, a small smile remained on his lips as the memory of the story he told continued to dance across his thoughts.

Soap

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron Ollila​

At least they care. How many times had Aaron heard that? More than enough, probably. It was hard to focus on Drake's sob story when his brain wanted to drift into thoughts of what his parents caring looked like. He pulled himself away from his thoughts, however, managing to nod along even if he'd missed like a quarter of that. Something about different dads- Was Mason a brother? That made the most sense, yeah.

Aaron continued listening, and decided that hey, what Drake was saying was actually kind of smart. Maybe that's why Casper was... like that. Something about that thought made Aaron's heart twinge, but he quickly pushed it down. If Casper wanted people to ignore him, that wasn't Aaron's problem.

He decided to put this line of thinking in his toolbox, at least to try. He wasn't sure if he could smile the way he'd need to to pull this off- when was the last time he'd smiled in a manner one would consider nice?- but it was worth a shot, right? It probably wouldn't work with his parents, but at school? Even if the thought of smiling for strangers made his gut clench- it could be worth it.

Aaron continued nodding, thinking. Thinking of themselves- That's what Aaron was doing, wasn't it? Thinking of himself and how what Drake was telling him could help him. Something about that made him feel wrong, but he just sat up, setting his legs straight out.

Was it bad he hoped he wouldn't be forced to worry about this guy?

Well, even if it was, it was too late for that vein of thought now, wasn't it? Aaron looked at the cuts, eyes dulling. He cut. Of course he cut. There had to be something, right? Aaron nodded along as he spoke. This did prove that Drake's technique worked, didn't it? However, Aaron found himself feeling pressed to say something.

He didn't want to have to say anything, but Aaron felt compelled to- as if not saying anything would directly lead to someone dying. But what could he even say? Thinking on this ended up looking like very intently staring at Drake.

Quite suddenly, Aaron leaned back, folding his legs up so he could rest his hands on them, stare turning back into something more intent. "Do you wanna skip?" he asked. "We could go get some food- I'd pay- and then..." And then what? Aaron surely didn't know- he was running on impulse. He shrugged. "And then we can do something else."

Winona​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven didn’t say anything, she just shook her head. It didn’t make sense how she tried to just come back into their life, and pretended to care. Maybe she wasn’t actually thinking Elise though.. “it’s super hard to get into like actual plays, though.” She gestured to the music sheets in front of them. The fact that his mother didn’t have a sense of realism pissed her off. New york seemed nice and all.. but it was stupid for them to leave, it just didn’t sit right with her. And it didn’t help she started to actually like the two. Raven scoffed at his words. “It’s normal for us.”

“I know someone who’s a great mom.. sometimes i kinda wish she were mine.” Nancy was the perfect definition of a mother, even if she didn’t have a lot of time for her son, but she tried. And that made every little bit count, right? “My point is, a mother should push their child to be the best, sure. But not pull you down all the while. Y’know what i mean?” She leaned back in the chair.​

“But yeah, i guess we’ll see what happens..” Raven didn’t say anything else after that, instead grabbing a pencil of her own and a few blank sheets. It was obvious he needed help, and she didn’t have anywhere else to be. “Show me whatever else you worked on so i can make sure you didn’t butcher them.” She teased, holding a hand out for the other sheets he’d had. Winona
Juliette

Her grin dropped, jeez. That’s.. morbid. Furrowing her brows in discontent when he started to continue relating his dead mother to animals, and Juliette avoided eye-contact when he looked at her. She crossed her arms and begrudgingly listened, her gaze falling on the tattoo of the bear. Despite not wanting to her his sob story, she was kind of envious. His mother sounded like someone who’d stick up for him, or well.. who used to stick up for him anyway. She didn’t even know this guy, what was she even supposed to say? “Sorry, ..for your loss?”

She just came over here because she was curious as to what he was doing, she got her answer, a depressing one. But.. an answer nonetheless. She didn’t peg him for a sensitive hobo. Looking back to the student that was struggling to keep up, and rolled her eyes. “It’s going.. just great.” Literally a preschooler could learn how to paint, what was she even doing wrong?​

“So.. did your mother ever bother to give you a name?”​

COTimberWolf1942​

 

[COTimberWolf1942]

~ Ethan Fairchild ~

He leaned back in his chair and peeked at her canvas and made a face, "What...is that." His head cocked to the side, "Is that a... I didn't know a circle could go in that many directions." Ethan chuckled softly and smirked, looking over at her. "I thought it was little cub for a long time but I was sadly informed that my legal name is Ethan Fairchild... I was very sad when I realized my name wasn't as amazing. To bad I wasn't Romeo, you could be my Juilette..." His arms folded across his chest as he watched the rain begin to pelt the window with a higher intensity and frequency before, a low growl of thunder rippled across the mountains. He counted the seconds he could hear the thunder. 1... 2... 3...4... Four miles away, a chill ran up his spine and made his shudder, rubbing his hands together. "I'd be a terrible Romeo though... I'm not pretty or dramatic enough for the role."

Soap

 

[Winona]

Ava


The way she saw it, there was no way that her day could get worse. Seeing Zach turned her day from a ten to a solid zero no matter what mood she was in, although... to be fair, Ava's days were usually a solid zero when she opened her eyes up in the morning. Anyway, to say that she was in a bad mood was an understatement. Her thoughts kept playing over the conversation with Zach, and she thought of many, many better, sassier responses that she had missed.

While walking, someone ran into her and then the next thing Ava knew, she was part of the pile that was falling down with papers going everywhere and her own books flying across the ground. She groaned, started to pull herself up off the ground and grumbling curses under her breath as the person who had so rudely ran into her started apologizing. She turned to see who it was, and her day got a little bit worse when she saw that it was Lila.

"Shut up," she said, rolling her eyes as she started crawling her way across the floor, gathering her things and Lila's, and passing her papers back to her. "God all you ever do is apologize. And I swear to hell if you say sorry one more time, I am going to break your throat so you can't even stutter." Ava warned.

KingofAesir

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

Mason


Fair enough. He couldn't blame her for wanting a break as Mason followed her into the kitchen. "I guess breaks are cool and you know Mondays are always the worst day to go to school." Mason pointed out. It wasn't even for the normal reasons of it just being a Monday, it was because of the fights and repercussions from the previous party. Wow. Their weeks really did always seem to go by the exact same way... huh. That was kind of sad. Oh well.

"Nah, I'm good." Mason replied, and then hesitated for a moment before changing his mind. "Actually, give me some coffee. Please. Ari was up all night for some reason." Sometimes, he felt like he had a fairly good handle on parenting, and then sometimes... well, Mason felt like he had no idea what he was doing. Like last night, when she'd been crying nonstop for hours for no apparent reason before she finally fell asleep, only to wake up like an hour later.

"So that's it? You just need a break?" Mason asked. "I mean, not that I blame you, but I think there's more to it then that, Carter. It's not the thing with Adriane, right? That was just a fight."

Dazzle

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

Drake


He was surprised that Aaron was inviting him to go out to eat, and was even willing to pay. Which was nice because Drake currently had seventeen cents, a piece of lint, and a paperclip to his name. Although he wasn't usually one to turn down free food (something Mason had taught him), the idea of going anywhere, of walking that far, was positively draining. In fact, Drake wasn't even sure he would be able to make his way to class with how numb he felt.

"Maybe another day, kid. But the school will call my mom and I've already missed so many days... I can't really risk it." Thanks to the depressive episodes, Drake had already missed almost a month of school even though they were only three months in. Woops. Life sucked, but whatever. They wouldn't do anything about it.

Drake stood up slowly, brushing off his pants and offering Aaron that very fake smile that he had perfected. "I'll see you around. Have a good day, alright? Hopefully I'll see you around."

mikaluvkitties

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

Jace


"Well, I mean, she's got connections and did a few plays..." he mumbled. "That's why she left was to go and do them but I guess it got boring for some reason, so she came home or... something. I just don't know why she's back." Jace was at a loss, to say the least. It felt like everything was constantly dumping on them this year, but the last thing Jace had planned was for his stupid mother to come back from nowhere and demand to have her kids back.

Jace's eyes turned to her while she spoke, and he couldn't but shrug helplessly. "I guess. I don't really know what that is, I guess..." He shrugged helplessly. It still felt normal for him, to have parents that expected the sky. To have parents that would just think you were great all the time, well, those didn't actually exist.

He was a little put off that she still wanted to help him, but he did as she said and passed some more sheets over. "I'm just trying to figure out how to make all of this sound good when the only instruments we have our my guitar, and Stu's keyboard." And Stu's keyboard was mediocre at best, so it wasn't looking good.

Soap​