[color=lightgray][center][right][color=ed1c24][b]TW:[/b][/color] Cocaine, Substance Abuse, Surgical Body Modifications
[sub]Introducing: [color=8B6969]Evelyn Harding[/color], [color=B70DF2]Bexley Crosby[/color], [color=FF9C23]James Tyler[/color]
Location: Leonardi Building (Girls' Bathroom) → The Quad → Music Stall[/sub][/right]

[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/220904/a8f5ad590beb594e628a6914a07e6d92.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/70vwEGp.png[/img]

[sup][@LovelyComplex][@NeoAJ][@smarty0114][/sup]
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[indent][indent][color=8B6969]“Are you serious, James? A hundred and ten pounds of blow?”[/color] Evelyn Harding leaned up against the wall staring at the bag of coke that her friend and bandmate bought for her and Bex. He placed it on the counter connected to the sinks. Since class was coming to an end, they would have to hurry this exchange before students entered the girls’ bathroom in the Leonardi Building. It was ironic they were about to sniff coke in place of Health and Counseling. 

On a daily basis Eve consumed enough alcohol and drugs to sedate most of New York City from Manhattan to Queens for about a month. Xanax helped with the edge, Adderall kept her focus, Quaaludes was a wonderful sleep aid, pot mellowed her out, coke was always a good option to wake her the fuck up, and booze, well, booze simply was a masochistic way of her having big highs and big lows. Her favorite. The gateway that led to her discovering all these other drugs that altered her mind, her emotions, and her life, making her feel superb again. 

She, surrounded by Rock & Roll for all her childhood, relied on alcohol more so than any of the other drugs but today, during the day of her party, she wanted to have a little fun. It wasn’t like she started the day off with it. She waited, like the good girl she was, for her classes to finish. Now that it was lunch, it was time to give into the craving and feed her desires. She sure loved this part of her day. 

That’s where James comes in. Whenever she needed something more, minus weed because she’d go to Mithra for that, she’d call her dear Speedster and use their code for when she wanted something special. Each drug had a pairing food with it. The best way to communicate in text, honestly, was through code. Whether they talked about classmates or they wanted to get up to something illegal, having a code to deter prying eyes was a good safety net to have. Coke was cinnamon buns. 

[color=8B6969][i]Mm, I could murder for a cinnamon bun right now.[/i][/color]  

[color=8B6969]“I said I needed to wake up. Not lose all feeling in my body and get a heart attack,”[/color] Evelyn teased, with her pleasantly smooth, fine red wine voice. It was clear she was a woman who held herself with dignity and confidence, and her presence simply commanded all eyes on her. In addition to that, her body exudes sensuality. Eve was a symbol of sex. 

Ravishing hips, tall legs, meat in all the right places, gorgeous strands of raven hair… Eve was the Dark Goddess of Crystal Peak Academy, and absolutely bewitching. She, like her best friend, Bex Crosby, were the embodiment of a goth wet dream. Pierce the veil? One may discover the Raven beauty was phenomenally talented, charmingly authentic, and tragically hollow. 

Sadly, the songstress felt like she was endlessly drowning and that all she was, was a shattered mirror of a person. By the time Eve entered the Academy, she was far too lost in her vices — battered, bruised, and broken. Not okay and definitely afraid. All easily hidden behind a smile, though her actions spoke louder than words. Eve was a hot mess. Both figuratively and literally. That doesn’t mean she was a bad person or a bad friend. If anything, Eve was loyal to a fault and protective over those that she chose to keep close. Those she gave pieces of her heart to, like Bex, were her touchstones and when they hurt, she hurt. That’s just how Eve was. She loved hard, to the detriment of herself, but was never one to commit. Friends over romance, any day. 

While her best friend and bandmate kept her distance from the drugs on the counter, Bexley Crosby feared no poison. She feared very little, to be honest. She stared at, then hefted up the bag that James had brought into the bathroom, and with her minimal strength, it was more difficult than she hoped it looked. When James said he was bringing a hundred and ten pounds worth of coke, the British national assumed he meant measured that amount of snow in empirical money, not imperial weight. 

[color=B70DF2]“James, have I told you lately how much a fuckin’ idjiot you are?”[/color]

Granted, Bex had no doubt that Eve would eventually run her way through all that coke. Maybe Bex would help her a little, although cocaine did nothing for the Queen of Goth. Just like most of Eve’s vices. Even looking at the giant brick, knowing what was going to be in store for Eve, Bex had no first-hand experience with it. Same with the fish tanks of alcohol she often saw the lead vocalist go through on any given night. They did nothing but run through the Brit’s system. The only joint drug they could share were the joints themselves, and even then, Bex didn’t enjoy weed all that much. It made her too happy. It was bad for her image.

Cocaine was also hard to do anything with. It didn’t have a direct physical effect like the acids. It didn’t have an immediate toxic effect like the poisons. It didn’t even cause the hallucinations the way the LSD infused spit did. It’s why Bex was fully on board with getting copious tabs from her newer bandmate. But this? This was not inconspicuous. This was not manageable. This brick was going to sit here until Eve was done with it. And then James could deal with it in Bex's mind. This wasn’t her pig, it wasn’t her farm.

Bex shook her head as she moved back over to where Eve leaned against the wall. As she braced herself against the tile, the [url=https://jf-na-cdn.justfab.com/image/product/CA1616074-4503/CA1616074-4503-2_589x860.jpg]light blue denim jacket[/url] over the [url=https://media.missguided.com/i/missguided/TJF18990_01?fmt=jpeg&fmt.jpeg]modernized black corset top[/url] protecting her back from the harsh cold feel of the porcelain, wavy black hair fanned around the back of her head, eyes burnished by dark shadow around them were allowed to dart between James and Eve, and Bex breathed a weary sigh as she finally tilted her head to look over at her best friend. If Eve was the vision of sex, the so-called celebration of life, Bex was the flip-side, a vision of death and that’s the way she liked it.

[color=B70DF2]“Ssso,”[/color] she started, with that Bristolian accent of hers tilted by her tongue. [color=B70DF2]“I know you can blow through the lot of that in a good month, eazzy. But there’s no way that’s gettin’ snuck through anywhere with the fuckin’ fair goin’ on. Ssso, ya gettin’ your fix then what? Hidin’ it in the stall? Makin’ James take it right back? I don’t think that the baked goods drawer’s gonna hold aull of it. More likely use it as a fuckin’ ottoman.”[/color] Bex said it softly, but if James wanted to hear it, he probably could.

[color=8B6969]“This sounds like… not my problem,”[/color] Eve pushed herself off the wall and went to the brick of snow. For the first time, since her surgery, she revealed her added attachment, courtesy of Abbadon Blackwell. Gradually she extended only one of her augmented claws from her left hand, like a knife and made a slit through the wrapping. Some people didn’t like Abe, not trusting his ethics, others desired his brand, knowing once he graduated he’d take over his father’s company and become a leading figure in weapons and gear development. To those that have had work done on them, especially to Eve’s extent, know his true gifts lie in surgical experimentation. 

While she doesn’t know much of his history, she was impressed by how easily he grafted the claws in her skeleton and with his implant system, she can control her bionic arm with her thoughts. He made it so no one saw the slots in between her knuckles, while her arm still looked very much human. At this point, her left arm was part mechanical, since she didn’t have an innate ability to regenerate and heal, so replacing pieces of her was safer than infusing the claws completely in her internal body. With her permission, Abe exceeded her expectations. Her arm wasn’t something she would miss. All she cared about was her voice, and it wasn’t like she couldn’t play the piano anymore either. Abe was smart enough to make her arm function better than the average prosthetic. It was her choice to trade it in, like a celebrity would fix their imperfections with plastic surgery, but in this case it was a high tech body modification. Super cyber. Super punk. That is where the world was heading, after all.  

Scooping up a small amount of powder with her claw, looking around 80 mg, a little over an average dose, she brought the tip of it to her nose. Swiftly, she sniffed up the powder and did a line. Blinking a couple times from the hit, and exhaling out, feeling immensely gratified, Eve could feel the numbness already in her throat and tongue. [color=8B6969]“Fuck, this is great.”[/color] Even if James was an idiot, he knew where to get his drugs from. [color=8B6969]“Easy way to do away with all this coke while it not going to waste is making a profit off of it. Go to the City and sell it. You’d be surprised how many people would jump on this. Hell, you could start here. See if Mithra wants some.”[/color]

A scoff could be heard from the Brit in behind. [color=B70DF2]“Listen to you, Miss 80’s drug kingpin,”[/color] Bex remarked as she stuck her tongue out, revealing the other work that Abe had done on the East of Eden lineup over the summer. The fork that parted the middle didn’t do anything for Bex’s abilities. It didn’t allow her to spit further, or harder. It just looked cool and blended with her chosen moniker since everyone at Crystal Peak seemed to need one, and that was good enough for the guitarist. It didn’t even cost her any money. Abe just got to keep some of the blood from the procedure, along with a donor’s level dose from the arm. It didn’t melt the test tube when he took it out, so he must have been ready for whatever it contained. She just wasn’t willing to go to the lengths that Eve went to for her upgrades. Not when Bex still didn’t really have a clue how everything about her body worked given the circumstances. Plus Eve didn’t need her arms to sing.

The pessimistic personality that was a defining trait of Miss Crosby was on full display. [color=B70DF2]“Still goin’ to need to get the shit into the city without faculty noticin’ and with everyone out ‘n about today.”[/color] She took a long sip of coffee from her custom painted Yeti mug. The stainless steel had been coated in black aside from poison warning signs on either side. Not only did it look badass, it also served as a warning to anyone else trying to steal Bex’s beverage. It was a well known fact that she took her coffee without cream or sugar, but with a healthy dollop of Drano added to the mix. It gave it a rich almond flavor… and killed anyone else who drank it. As she tapped a couple of her silver rings on the side of the metal, Bex was determined to make known her priorities for the day. [color=B70DF2]“Plus, Krista’s in charge of the booth, ‘n as much as I love the babe, she’s gonna let in ssso many fuckin’ sunshine kids, it’s going to harsh my damn mood to no end.”[/color] Another sip of poison. [color=B70DF2]“Ssso I’d rather make sure that's not happenin’. I ain’t got time to be playing Sssuzie Snowrunner tryin’ ta move this shit around.”[/color] 

By the time Bex had finished complaining about his ever so thoughtful gift, and Eve had shown off her new claws, James had snorted three lines off of the tampon dispenser. He hadn’t ever really given much thought to how normies metabolized drugs, but he was pretty sure this would put most people on their ass. His supercharged metabolism would eat through the powder in no time at all. Really, this would just keep him in a good mood until the party.

[color=FF9C23]“Guysguysguysguysguys,”[/color] James said, putting his hands up to assuage any lingering fears. His pupils had begun to dilate, growing large enough to eclipse the golden brown of his irises. [color=FF9C23]“Don’t fuckin’ worry about it. I’m basically the fastest man alive, it’ll be fiiiiiiiiiiiine. I got it here alright, didn’t I?”[/color] It was unclear if this confidence was brought on by the cocaine, or if it was just James being James. Probably a bit of both, considering he had only found out how much he’d stolen about ten minutes before Eve and Bex did. [color=FF9C23]“Once we’re done I’ll just run it out to the woods, and then I’ll pick it up again after the fair, bag up some leftovers, and sell the rest. Or I could dump it in the lake and get the fish all coked up. That could be kinda cool actually.”[/color] James made a mental note to see what cocaine did to fish. 

[color=8B6969]“James…”[/color] Evelyn retracted her claw and revealed two big suitcases under the sink counter, grabbing one and throwing it on top of the surface, making a loud thud. Unlocking it, she opened the brief, revealing more bricks. [color=8B6969]“This. Is. Excessive. Where the hell did you get all of this? I don’t think stashing like fifty bricks in the woods would cut it here. And don’t you dare put it in the lake.”[/color]

[color=B70DF2]“Yeah, cokin’ up the town’s drinkin’ water sounds like a bad idea,”[/color] Bex affirmed with her best friend. [color=B70DF2]“Also not sure I wanna know where ya got it all.”[/color]

[color=FF9C23]“Ugh, you guys are boring,”[/color] James groaned, rolling his eyes and rocking back and forth on his heels, before glancing at the suitcases full of contraband. [color=FF9C23]“Okay, truth be told, I kinda just hit and ran. There’s this dude in the city that gets his shipments every couple of weeks, and usually, his suitcases are filled with fun toys that are in turn, filled with cocaine. Let’s be honest, my wet dream. Anyways, I didn’t stop to check, and I guess he cut out the middle man this time around, cause you guys are right. This is an absurd amount of cocaine. Which sucks, cause the toys are really cool.” [/color]

While listening to how James obtained his drugs, Evelyn glanced at her wrist watch and decided this was her cue to leave. Closing the suitcase, but leaving it on the sink, Eve went to James, placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, [color=8B6969]“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. Bex and I have a booth to go to so we’ll see you later. Don’t miss mic check tonight. Kay?”[/color] She gave a half smile, with a hint of venom. Eve did not like when bandmates were late for anything band related. You joined East of Eden, it became your life. After their eyes met, her piercing gaze warning him to not do anything dumb, she patted his shoulder before going to Bex’s side — ready to leave.  

Bex nodded and pointed two fingers at her eyes then at James. [color=B70DF2]“Don’t be bringin’ this shit round mic check either. Not until the after-party, Speedy. Then you can make it snow like fuckin’ Frosty.”[/color] She gave a hard gaze, with full venom applied to the scowl. It’s what she was known for. She turned back to her lead singer. [color=B70DF2]“All roight, let’s go see what victims the Disney Princess has found.”[/color]
[/indent][/indent]
[hr]
[indent][indent]Walking down the sidewalk from Leonardi to the quad, Evelyn looked up toward the sky to see a student flying conspicuously in the air for the whole school to see. She didn’t look familiar so Eve assumed she was a freshman. That or a Crestview student who Eve hadn’t familiarized herself with. While Eve had more bounce to her step and felt excited about her day, it barely showed on her face. She was more animated than usual but she still had an image to uphold. That was being genuinely unapproachable, disappointed at most things, and foreboding. The difference of her being in the bathroom from now was all eyes were on her. At least in the bathroom it was just her, Bex, and James. In the public eye, she was Eve from East of Eden. 

If anything, the one thing she did love about coke was how it increased her sex drive. Maybe she could phone a friend before tonight. Not Bex. She wanted to try someone [i]new[/i]. [color=8B6969]“What songs should we do?”[/color] Eve had been so caught up with herself (having been drinking more and more each day) that she didn’t decide on their set list. Good thing she had Bex. She was there when Eve couldn’t focus. The perfect balance. Her better half. At least in terms of music. Oh, and friendship, of course, but music was far more important.  

Bex was brought back to the quad with Eve’s question. She was a little distracted trying to think about what the hell James was going to end up doing with all that cocaine. At least she didn’t have to think about her presence. Everyone at Crystal Peak knew who she was at this point. Even if they didn’t know her for the exact reason she was admitted to the school instead of sent to Crestview, they knew her aura. Her personality. She may dress in more black than anyone should be able to stomach during waning summer months, but everyone knew it flashed more warnings than the poison tree frogs in the Amazon. Stay out of Bex's way and you don't get burned. Even when she’s on duty at the Foggy Glass, she has enough sway with Issac to be allowed to behave in a way she sees proper, so newbies who can’t handle their liquor get a look at true fear.

But she wasn’t thinking about bartending now. They had a show to plan. They had to show all the new kiddos who the queens and kings of Crystal Peak were. Not the Wardens with their puffed chests and powdered wigs and Bex was just thinking about barristers now but they were still annoying. No, it was EoE who were going to crown the next class, and to make sure the frosh knew that fact, they had to start with a proper progression of songs.

[color=B70DF2]“I think we want to start slow,”[/color] Bex finally confirmed. [color=B70DF2]“We’re not gonna be sure how many are pre-gamin’ before the show starts, so I think we let Krista take the lead there, some of our string-heavy shit, like Dark Side of the Sun, Magical Girl, that cover of Blank Space, shit like that. Then we start rampin’ up, play our more solid tracks, Speed Demon, Rule of Cash, Broken Sticks, before we hit ‘em with the big finale. We do Embrace the Venom, I lead my shit, and then you light things up with Queen of Thorns and the place comes down. They want an encore, we can go No Fears and When We Sleep.”[/color]

The two really were the heart of the band, but while Eve was the face, Bex was clearly the brains. It was nice to actually care about shit that actually mattered. Bex and Eve handled a lot of the songwriting, but everyone contributed something, some kind of idea, and the dark-haired Brit had everything in their arsenal memorized for moments like this.

Bex took a long sip of her drain cleaner coffee in triumph and turned to her partner-in-crime. [color=B70DF2]“And then after that, the after-party is a buffet for you ‘n me. Savvy?”[/color] They had enough time together in the first week after they both got back from their respective internships to catch up and show off some new knowledge. Tonight was going to be about spreading out and finding those other options. Especially with the Crestview kids now being integrated into things. The Foggy Glass was going to be full tonight. All they had to do was find the right way to wet their respective whistles.

[color=8B6969]“Savvy, baby,”[/color] Evelyn purred as they went deeper and deeper into the quad. [color=8B6969]“When We Sleep would be the perfect way to end the night. It’s the one song that showcases all our skills so naturally.”[/color] Like an innate path programmed in her brain, they found themselves passing the chess club and sauntering their way to the music booth, [color=8B6969]“It’s my favorite, honestly.”[/color] 

Instead of saying hi to her other bandmates, Krista and Shep, and EoE’s shadow member, Sasha, she commented on the glaringly obvious missing piece to this picture with a simple: [color=8B6969]“Hm.”[/color] She knew where James was, and it wouldn’t take him long to deal with the contraband. It also wouldn’t take him long to come skipping to the band high on ‘life’ (assuming he didn’t have other plans). But where was Zak? 

He knew how much she hated his tardiness, which was turning out to be a frequent thing ever since he started rooming with his boys. For James, that was something she expected, but for Zachary? He knew better. Evelyn had a low tolerance for him slacking. She had a low tolerance for a lot of things Zak did, and yet he was still the best drummer she could ask for. How unfortunate. 

Evelyn didn’t say anything. Her penetrating and steady gaze surveyed the others, harsh as always when in the public eye, and she gave them a nod of acknowledgement. Bringing her attention to the sign up sheets, she placed her black [url=https://chicnailart.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/matte-hearts.jpg]matte[/url] nails on the clipboard she cared about and firmly asked, [color=8B6969]“Any prospects this year?”[/color] The band did know she was seeking [i]variety[/i]. She would prefer finding someone that could play the keyboard so she could focus on singing, only occasionally playing the piano, and she would love a bassist. The bassist didn’t even have to play a bass guitar. There were quite a few instruments that could be an alt bass option and would make EoE look more aesthetically pleasing than the band already was. There were ideals Eve had in mind but little faith in some of the supposed talent that came walking into this school. No matter, she could and would try this thing called optimism. She owed it to the infectious happy disease that was Krista. She did the most sometimes. Okay, plenty of times. Krista was the best of them and Eve didn’t know what she did to deserve a girl like that in her band, but she was grateful. She would never admit it, of course, but she was. 

Bexley grabbed one of the available metal chairs and plunked herself down next to the members of the band that were now going to be relieved of booth duties. East of Eden may have started as just a passion project for herself and Eve, but it had become so much more than that, and all of these people played their part. Krista was the first member they recruited. Well, after Brad Parker on the drums, but Brad didn't count. He was a filler. Krista, with her technically sound German stylings that seemed so at odds with her sunny personality, she made sure that even despite the lead ladies' nihilistic views, there was still a flicker of light in the band. Shepard, her fellow British bastard, the one who was able to break her of the intense distrust of any male figure, the sharpened edge that matched the side of the blade she provided. And the unofficial member, Sasha, who had pinch-hit for so many members during various nights of excess homework (Krista, James, Zak), early-evening benders (Eve), or just plain lack of give-a-fuck (Bex). Sasha could be anyone in the band, although even with the practice, they still weren't quite on Bex's level when it came to poison manipulation. However, Sasha was probably the best friend Bex had in that trio, with their similar hopes and desires and ability to withstand ingested punishment. They hadn't had a chance to really catch up since they got back from their respective internships, so that was something they had to catch up on. Hopefully with them in their femme form. Shockingly, there was a huge preference for which form Bex preferred, but with them both being members of the LGBTQ community, there was that added layer of kinship that made their bond pretty tight.

Seeing those people all manning the booth, it's why Bex was willing to put in the amount of effort she did in keeping the band at the pinnacle of the Crystal Peak scene, memorizing all songs and parts so Eve didn't have to handle most of it. But it wasn't going to be enough to change her night-like disposition. [color=B70DF2]"Better not be any more percussion players,"[/color] she commented as she rested her feet on the table. [color=B70DF2]"One is more than enough. Besides, it's been a rough summer being all split up. We don't need to be addin' in more instruments right now and muckin' up tonight's show with too much stuff n' shit to think about."[/color]

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