[IC] Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

[Erklings25]

Johnny Baxter

---

The universe did not seem to get the memo about Johnny not going to parties. A while ago he was confident that he wouldn't be going to any kind of social gathering, especially homecoming and prom, for the rest of his natural life. But now that seemed like a distant memory. Being forced to go was bad enough, having your date chosen for you was worse, (maybe there was someone else that he was going to ask!), but having that date be Xixi Garcia was the icing on the cake. It was almost as if some malevolent diety had planned it, knowing how much he hated her.

His parents fussed over him to no end: he was going out with a real celebrity, he needed to look handsome. With the help of their friends in Harris, they managed to get a nice suit together: a teal tweed suit and waistcoat, a white shirt, and a brown and green paisley bow tie. A ridiculously expensive corsage was organised for his jacket, as well as a bouquet of flowers. His parents wanted to make sure that he made a good impression after what was dubbed as 'The New Girl Incident' at the start of the year.

As he came downstairs in his suit, his father immediately started taking pictures. Johnny smiled a little, striking an over the top pose on the stairs. As soon as sufficient pictures were taken, it was time for his mother's pep-talk: "Johnny, your dad and I known how much you hate going out to parties. But for one night, try not to be a drag and enjoy yourself. It's only one night, you'll never have to do it again. And for the love of God, don't humiliate yourself. Not again."

Johnny smiled wryly. "I love you too, mum." His mother smiled, seemingly well aware that something terrible would happen tonight. Johnny had plans: pick up the girl, try and be civil, witch her as soon as he arrives, and let her harass whichever poor soul she wants to hang tonight. He father put a hand on his shoulder, muttering some pointless phrase like 'make me proud'.

Johnny left the house, and hopped into his mustang, his parents yelling words of encouragement from the front door. He briefly checked over his appearance in his rear view mirror, before setting off, gritting his teeth in determination. He had to make it through the night. The only thing to get him through the drive was his motivational music, which, truth be told, wasn't that motivational.

He pulled up outside his date-from-hell's house, a bouquet of flowers his parents made him bring in hand. He muttered a small bit of encouragement to himself, before knocking on her front door. He was not surprised when he was met by a butler. Johnny smiled stiffly. "Hello. I'm here for Miss Garcia. I'm her unsuspecting date, maybe you've heard her complain about me." The joke was not met with a chuckle, as he expected, but a cold silence. Johnny stiffened, awkwardly clearing his throat. He followed the man into some kind of livong room, told to wait there. He sat down, waiting for his 'date'. Or worse, her parents.

[eclecticwitch]

E0633C

i've never had someone like you
who makes me feel the way you do
sometimes i believe that i might die
if i lost you

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The limo rolled to a stop in front of the country club. Bea took a quick gulp from her flask before tucking it back into her purse. The driver opened the door for the pair. First Kavan exited and helped the young woman out of the car. They walked arm in arm, presented their tickets, and were allowed into a building filled with false stars. The music was an odd, eclectic mix of new and old. The pounding of it made her head hurt a little but she would quash it down. She had to make it through the whole thing, her graduation depended on it.

What she truly needed was space. A moment to breathe and take in all of what was happening before putting herself into the thick of it. It wasn’t like a Diablo party where she could freely drink. It was a battlefield she had walked into and the small amount she’d had to drink so far was not going to cut it. Too many people. Too much noise. She clung close to Kavan, brown eyes searching over faces that had seemed to lose their features. Voices and music had mushed together in a cacophony. She looked up at her date and offered a small, nervous smile.

“I’m just going to get a drink and sit there.” She gestured to an empty corner of the room. “I need a minute. Go find your friends. We can meet up in a bit. I just need…. I need a second.” She hesitated. Bea had walked in with Kavan, at this moment he was her anchor. She had to leave him though lest she do something she regret. She shivered and shook as she finally unraveled herself from his arm and speedily made her way to the punch bowl. She filled a glass and sniffed experimentally. No one had spiked it yet. Shame.

Bea went to the quiet, dark corner she had indicated and sat down. Beneath the table she poured a good helping of liquor from the flask into the plastic cup before returning the flask to her purse. Leaning back in her chair she sipped as she surveyed the lot of them. Dancing, snuggling up, leaning close, shouted whispers. She sighed heavily and drank down a large portion of her punch before adding more of the flask to it. Bea was finally starting to feel a buzz and she felt her muscles relax. That was… Until…

Jordan walked in with the one and only gorgeous Chanel.

She wanted to throw up. She wanted to throw a chair at Chanel. Maybe tear up her dress. Something. She wanted to do…. Bea looked away from the pair and downed the last of her drink. Her brows furrowed, and she tried to keep herself from tears. That was supposed to be her on Jordan’s arm. Why did it turn out like this? Stupid. So stupid. Stupid teachers. Stupid fishbowls. Stupid name drawing. This would be her first and last homecoming. And she had to watch Chanel and Jordan. She didn’t understand the weird way her guts twisted or how her heart seemed to have turned upside down and lodged itself in her throat.

Bea couldn’t sit still. She left her empty cup at the table and made her way through the throng of people until she found Kavan. She hated touch. She didn’t like strange people that she had no association with. Bea needed to hide though. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hid her face against his chest. She was shaking and was having trouble pushing down the overwhelming feeling that was tearing at her innards. Scream. Do something. Something…. Anything…

She breathed in Kavan’s scent, letting the cologne create a new sensation of her senses. She had removed sight. She couldn’t do sound. But the smell of him helped to make her feel less wild. Less on the verge of a meltdown. So Bea gripped him tightly and hoped he wouldn’t make her let go.

[Venus]

I'm tired of my life being empty
And I remember you telling me
That if it did not change, I lost you
How I would like to go back to those days
Now that I'm rich, I do not have what I had
Well, my Rolex does not shine like your smile
And with these whores I do not like to share the blankets
If you plan to come back, let me know
While I'm still alone

When Santiago and Lucas made their triumphant arrival to the venue, they were immediately met with cheers and hollering from the rest of the jocks: members of the respective sporting teams of King’s Academy. Pats in the back and fist bumps were exchanged, and a few low-key transactions were made. Diablo had just finished supplying Keith Sullivan with a few Xans when he heard his name being called. He had to do a double take when he realized exactly who had called him in the first place.

Smirking, Santiago excused himself with his friends - who teasingly jeered and patted him in the back as they watched him go. He made his way over to the lovely young woman with his usual swagger, and when he finally reached her, his haughty, self-absorbed face broke out in a cocky smile.

“Hola preciosa,” Diablo greeted Stella mischievously, biting his lower lip and shooting her a suggestive wink. His gray gaze rested on her soft hazel eyes for a long moment, letting her know that their minds were now replaying the exact same scene of three years ago.

They were both freshmen, and in their third month as high school students at King’s Academy. Diablo had just cut things off with April, and was looking around for his new conquest. Stella had been his first choice: sweet, beautiful and an attitude that projected she was definitely up for some fun. They’d gone out on one date, in which the boy had done his part to impress her and take her to bed with him. He’d had a good time in the end, but once had been more than enough to satisfy his curiosity. But it seemed that Stella had gotten the wrong idea, because when he thanked her for her time and moved on with his life, rumor had it that the girl had lost it. Never in front of him, of course: in the eyes of the rest of the school.

But that one night they’d spent together? Diablo had made that fucking magical for her. There had to be a reason why she couldn’t seem to get over him, right? He knew in his gut that the bashful brunette standing in front of him was being transported back to that one scene.

After what seemed like forever, Santiago wiggled his eyebrows at her twice and finally turned his attention towards Stella’s date. “And you are-?” he asked, eyebrow raised, with arrogant smirk plastered on his handsome face.

Unfortunately, the young man didn’t have enough time to finish his question. With his peripheral vision, he’d stumbled on the rather unwelcome sight of April and Kavi jamming in the middle of the dance floor. And not only dad, but the scumbag son of a bitch had pulled his girl even closer to his body when he caught him looking.

The irate part of him was screaming to tackle Salvador and pulverize his smug, piece of shit face. The sane part of him was fighting back the urge to act impulsively, begging him to be the bigger, better person instead. And while this battle of wills was going on in his head, the acid in his stomach had begun to bubble dangerously. Clearly, his body was screeching at him for being stupid enough to mix beer, Bacardi and Xanax. But the one solution he had to temporarily fix the problem would eventually make it worse.

It was worth a shot, though.

Santiago let out a cross between a sigh and a growl. He didn’t bother to excuse himself with Stella and her boy band date, deciding instead to square his shoulders and storm outside. Bile was rising up in Santiago’s throat now as he reached the safety of a tree trunk, and he diligently pulled out a high-tech e-cigarette from his pocket. A quick look around his surroundings gave him the all-clear to place his lips on the mouthpiece of the device and take a much-needed long drag.

A cloud of smoke softly emerged from Diablo’s open mouth when he exhaled, leaving behind a lingering scent of strawberry and weed. It took him a few more puffs to actually feel the calming, mellowing effects of the strawberry cannabis oil, but he was thankful that they eventually helped him keep his cool in the end. He would be damned if he showed Kavi Salvador just how much he got under his skin.

[spooner]

If you're down, boy, really down
Baby let me watch you go to town
It's your one chance, baby, never or now, yeah

---

---

While inside of one of the tents, Julie found herself staring at her reflections in one of the huge foil balloons fixing her meticulous hairstyle. Keeping a careful eye on the small chain watch she had around her wrist, she had been here for 15 minutes already and still had not spotted her date anywhere. Though the redhead knew Andrés had been understandably upset that he was not able to take his own girlfriend to homecoming, Julie could not ignore the slow creeping feeling that she was being stood up. With one swift movement she flattened the last of the flyaways that had been created in the bustle of getting inside, Julie turned around to survey the dancing crowd that was her peers.

Her jaw just about dropped when she spotted her best friend Chanel entering looking drop dead gorgeous in an original creation no doubt. But her girl looking stunning was not why Julie was so shocked, no that emotion was as a result of seeing Chanel’s date Jordan. Now granted, the Macmillan girl did not know much about the mysterious foreign student. But what she did know was that she had never seen him so put together. He cleaned up ve-ery nicely. No doubt in her mind that Chanel was behind this glow up, Julie smiled and nodded approvingly when she caught her main girls eye, making a mental note to commend her for her miracle work.

She sighed, getting a bit bored quite frankly, had she really spent the whole day getting ready only to spend it alone begrudgingly watching couples having fun. The redhead pursed her lips in frustration, right then and there she decided that no she would have fun on her own if she needed to! With a huff she made her way into the crowd in search of something, anything.

Walking around the crowd was oddly calming, watching all of the different pairings that had been forced together interact was interesting to say the least. She spotted her driver Archer awkwardly walking away from his poor date Ariel, sweet little Bea was tightly squeezing Kavan Varma on the dancefloor and on the edge of said dance floor she found the ever surly Sonny Drake.

“Oh Sonny I didn’t know you liked to dance?!” She floated up next to him and his date and fellow redhead Nadia, grinning as she finally found someone to talk to. “Nadia, you look stunning, that dress is divine!” Julie exclaimed eyes sparkling as she surveyed the girl under the spotlights.

Just as she was going to let Sonny know that he also cleaned up very nicely, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning her head to see who it was she found herself looking up at the tall, dark and handsome being that was Andrés De la Fuente.

“Hey, your Uber driver is waiting outside,”

It took a few moments for Julie’s mind to react to his statement, but finally she snapped back to reality. “Oh!? But I thought I cancelled the uber?!” She spluttered fumbling for her phone before it sunk in… he was making a joke. She giggled embarrassed, closing the clasp on her purse. The swelling feeling of joy of finally seeing her date made her smile widely at him. Before she even knew why she had done it Julie had flung herself into a tight embrace with the newly arrived boy.

“You made it!” She squealed as she let him go looking him up and down “Looking gorgeous I might add! That suit fits you like a glove, who is it by? Oh it doesn’t really matter! Have you seen Martha yet? Who was her date again? Oh you know Sonny and Nadia from school right?” She gestured towards the other two.

Julie took a steading breath, why was she acting like this? Rambling on and on, was it just that she was so relieved that she hadn’t been stood up, or was it something else.

“Sorry.” She whispered, “Let’s start that over. How are you Andrés? You look very handsome” she smiled at him again this time less manic.

[HaleyTheRandom]

Oliver had been enjoying homecoming so far. Stella looked.. breath taking, and the decorations weren't so bad themselves. The suit wasn't as uncomfortable as he thought it would be, nor was this pairings idea that the staff had. Well... maybe he shouldn't jump to such a quick conclusion on that one. Perhaps he could be ovethinking things, but Stella didn't seem to be having as good of a time as he was. There's no way I'm going to deal with her family hounding me about why I didn't show their princess a good time. Besides. She deserves it, right?

Right after he had these thoughts, Stella decided it was a good choice to call Mr. Satan dude their way. Though Oliver had never really had a conversation with the guy, his reputation said enough about him, as well as all the cheers when he had came through the door. After all, there was always some truth in a rumor of you dug deep enough. Maybe he should give Diablo a chance....

He quickly changed his mind when Santiago rushed off, leaving him with a wounded looking Stella.

"Uh... no worries. But are you okay?"

[Ejected]

_{Location: The Car → Country Club
Interacting with: Jordan Henderson, Aaliyah King}

∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇

_{Now watch me fly.}
∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇

The drive from Chanel's home to the Crown Heights Country Club was a fairly quick one; well, at least it seemed to be that way for Chanel since she spent the majority of her time in Jordan's car taking quick glances at her makeup in the mirror and trying to find just the perfect angles for her pre-homecoming selfies. She even sneaked a couple of Snapchat photos of her date before they finally pulled into the parking lot of the country club, eager to show off her handiwork to her followers. Although she was sure that most of everyone who was in attendance had cleaned up well, there was no doubt in Chanel's mind that they'd be the best dressed couple in the building once they stepped through those front doors. She'd tried her hardest to make sure of that.

Shortly after pulling into an empty parking spot, Jordan turned off the ignition, exited the vehicle, and headed around to open the passenger door for Chanel. The young woman then took one final look at her reflection in the car door, making sure everything was in its rightful place, before lacing her arm through Jordan's once more and heading straight for the entrance. Soon, the pair had shown their tickets and pushed their way inside. A very excited Chanel was all smiles until she became aware of the electronic beats that the DJ was blaring through the speakers; she could't help but wince as the ear-splitting noise seemed to grow louder by the second. "God, you'd think that with all of the money our school has, they'd be able to hire a better DJ," she said to Jordan as she surveyed the room. By the looks of things, she could tell that she wasn't the only one who wasn't feeling the music. "You gotta remind me to make a few song requests later on; there's no way I can deal with this shit all night."

Trying her hardest to tune out the music, Chanel let her eyes dance across the room; it wasn't long before she caught the eye of none other than her best friend, Julie Macmillan, who smiled and gave Chanel an approving nod from across the room. Chanel couldn't help but grin, as she knew exactly what the girl was referring to. The next person who caught Chanel's eye was someone who the young woman typically overlooked on an average day; well, at least before she thought up the idea to give the girl a makeover. However, it seemed as if Aaliyah King didn't need the help of Chanel and Julie after all; Chanel raised her eyebrow and let a quick "whoa" escape from her lips as she took in the sudden "glow up" of Kings Academy's resident chess queen. Her little black dress was simple, but it was her strategic accessorizing that was attention catching. And who the hell knew that Aaliyah King had legs for days, simply hiding under those baggy sweatpants she always seemed to be wearing?

"Hey, I'm gonna disappear for a quick sec," Chanel said to Jordan, tearing her eyes away from Aaliyah for a split second. "Maybe get some punch or something. I can get some for you, too. If you want." Soon after she spoke, Chanel made a beeline for Aaliyah, who also happened to be standing right by the punch bowl. As she made her way over there, she made a mental note to mention this all to Julie whenever she got the chance to speak with her that night. She'd poured a little bit of the red liquid into her cup before clearing her throat, catching the other girl's attention. "You're Aaliyah, right?"

"Aaliyah King. Giiirl, this is a fucking look. I mean... the makeup, the heels, the jewelry. You're a stunner." The young woman paused for a brief moment to take a sip of her drink, only to quickly spit it back into the cup a moment later, a grimace plastered on her face. "They could've at least put a little bit of sugar in here," Chanel said with a roll of her eyes as she suddenly began to rummage around in her purse. She didn't stop digging until her fingers wrapped around the small glass bottle she'd been searching for. After taking a quick peek around to make sure that none of the chaperones were watching, Chanel hurriedly uncapped the bottle of vodka and dumped the majority of its contents into the bowl. A split second later, the glass was back in Chanel's purse, and she had begun to stir the bowl's contents with the ladle.

"Courtesy of my uncle's liquor cabinet," Chanel said with a smirk as she refilled her own cup, "Think anyone will mind?"

[eclecticwitch]

8D74AD

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The blue-eyed little princess made her rounds through the tents. She met with people she knew and danced when asked. It made her search for a certain Latin Idiot quite a slow go. Penny at least got to flit and flirt. While her date hadn't turned out to be a total bust, his lack of interest was frustrating. On her own, she would have more luck snatching herself up a date for the evening. After the homecoming, that was.

She finally spied Santiago chatting with Stella and her date. Oh, what fortunes blew her way~ She hightailed it over toward them but paused when Santiago looked toward the dance floor. She recognized the face he made. Penny had seen it a number of times. Turning, she found the cause for such a sour look. April and Kavi. Kavi, that ass. Though he could not see, she stuck her tongue out at him and hurried toward the small group. Diablo was walking out the door when Penny arrived.

"Oh, Stelly! You look amazing!" She threw her arms around her dear friend's neck. "I'll come right back and we'll have a dance." She kissed the girl's cheek before looking up at her date. "Sorry, Bestie privilege." She winked at the boy before making her final leg of the journey to join Santiago by the tree outside. Strawberries wafted around him, surprising Penny.

"I never pegged you to be one for fruity flavors," she teased lightly as she leaned against the tree next to him. "Never pegged you neither." Joke? Haahaa, funny? Nope. She fluffed some curls back from her face with a sigh and looked over his expression. "You're a hard man to find Diablo. Wanna have a sit?" Poor thing. Boys could be so stupid about girls. And the man hadn't a lick of patience or sense to deal with what April needed. Penny hoped that her proposition would bring even a speck of color back to the playboy's face.

[Ejected]

_{Location: Limo → Country Club
Interacting with: Bea Endive}

∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴

The very first thing Kavan Varma did once he and his date had finally made it into the homecoming dance was scan the room; he let his eyes wander over the scenery and large crowds of teenagers that stood around in various areas of the room. His eyebrow raised in curiosity as he took a few quick glances at all of the "unusual" pairings that the school had been responsible for; he couldn't help but wonder just how well things had panned out for the other couples. Sure, he and Bea had been getting along fairly well since the night began, but could the same be said for everyone else? Kavan snapped out of his thoughts when he realized just how tight his date seemed to be grabbing his arm; she seemed to be clinging to him more than before. He flashed a warm smile in return to her nervous one, hoping that it would help put her nerves at ease, but it was all too much for her to take in all at once.

"Ah yeah," Kavan said to Bea when she said a bit about needing a second to herself, "No worries. I'll just be near the dance floor if you need anything." Kavan watched with his hands stuffed in his pockets as his date quickly made her way to the punch bowl. Shortly after, he began to make his way towards the dance floor. It wasn't like he had any intentions of dancing, however. No, Kavan Varma had spotted yet another refreshment table on the other side of the growing crowd, and was suddenly eager to get his hands on some meatballs.

As Kavan pushed his way through the crowd, he continued his survey of the room; he couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle as he briefly watched none other than Chanel Martin pour half a bottle of clear alcohol into the punch bowl. Kavan himself made a mental note to stay away from said punch. After all, it wasn't like he really needed any more liquor in his system; Bea had already taken care of that earlier on. Soon, Kavan had reached the snack table, though he was very disappointed with what he found laying on the surface. "Maybe we should've stopped for some food on the way here," the young man muttered under his breath as he reluctantly reached for a celery stick.

It wasn't long before he caught sight of Archer Diedrikson; he was sitting at one of the tables, directly across from his date. Kavan couldn't recall a time where he actually held a conversation with Ariel Grey; in fact, the only time he even came close to interacting with the girl was at Santiago's last house party, and even then they hadn't directly spoken to each other. The unlikely pair looked good together, that was certain; Ariel wore a pretty dress and Archer, as expected, cleaned up pretty well. A strange feeling washed over Kavan as he watched the two awkwardly exchange a few words, but he'd brushed it off almost as quickly as it had appeared. Soon, Kavan had made up his mind to go and speak to his good friend; he didn't even get the chance to throw away his half-eaten celery stick before he suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around his waist.

Beatrice. Something was wrong. Kavan instantly tensed up, unsure of what his response should be. But after thinking it over for a brief moment, the young man simply relaxed and wrapped one of his arms around her. "Do you want to... talk about it?" Kavan said, lightly patting her back as he spoke, "We could go outside if you want to get away from all of the noise." It was after Kavan said this that he took one last glance over at where Archer and Ariel had originally been sitting.

But Archer was nowhere to be seen.

[Okonuki]

---

Did Penelope just Scooby-Doo him? ‘Let’s split up so we can cover more ground!’ The chicks on one side and the stoner and his dog on the other. At least that much was accurate, although Declan was sadly dogless. She’d also already left to go mingle with the crowd, leaving Declan with no choice but to follow her instructions and go look for Santiago outside. It was all well good and her to go and search the bottom of the punch bowl, but what was he supposed to do? Turn over the rocks and filthy cigarette butts in the car park looking for a drug dealer? In a slightly fouler mood he left the bright lights and possibility of alcohol behind him and stepped into the gloomily lit car park. The management of the venue clearly put a lot more stock in keeping the front end clean than the back carpark- pieces of rubbish drifted in the slight breeze, spilling from a foul-smelling open skip.

Declan kicked against the edge of the curb, his dress shoe clunking painfully against the concrete. He swore briefly- the leather toe of the shoe was a lot thinner than what he was used to. Nursing his foot, he leant against the outside wall of the hall, feeling the slight vibrations of the music’s bass echoing through. God, what he’d give to ditch this joint and hit up a piano bar or club in town. By now, the nightlife would be kicking off in a good way. Instead he was searching a crappy lot for a drug dealer’s car. How disappointed his parents would be. Not that they weren’t already.

And there it was. A Lamborghini clad in firetruck red that Santiago probably thought made him look cool as fuck, but in reality merely stunk of ‘douchebag with a trust fund.’ Declan would put money on him being the sort of guy who would honk and try to switch lanes to gain a car length during a traffic jam. The driver’s seat looked empty from where he stood, but he moved closer to make sure. Trying his best to avoid looking like either a creep or a car thief, he peeked in the driver side window.

Yep, ‘el Diablo’ must have already gone in. The seat was empty and peeking from the bottom of the passenger side footwell Declan spied a collection of empty bottles and cans. ‘Oh ho, pregaming for Homecoming, eh Santiago?’ He murmured to himself with a smile. Declan rubbed his chin. Actually, he probably should have followed his example. A little alcohol maybe would have loosened him up a little.
Anyways, it was time to return to his date, apologetic but empty handed. While she hadn’t been as uptight as he had expected, being a student of this god-forsaken school for rich pricks, he still wasn’t massively looking forward to being back in her company.

He sauntered back over to the entrance, hands in pockets. What stopped him was the sight of a slight figure, cigarette in hand and cloud of smoke above his head. With all the skipping and tardies Declan had, he’d barely had the chance to meet most of his schoolmates but this one looked a little familiar. His name... Archie? A thought struck him- just how long had the guy been standing there? Hopefully not long enough to notice him creeping on Santiago’s car.
The other thing that attracted him to the boy was the smoke. After an uneasy meeting with his date and the promise of several more hours of enduring shitty music and his stuck-up classmates at least a bummed cig would mellow him out a little.

‘Hey.. Archie. What are you doing out here? Thought the party had only just started in there,’ he asked, slightly edgily.

[Okonuki]

---

---

And then Chanel was off, weaving her way through the crowd towards the only other black girl in the filled hall, leaving Jordan alone in a crowd of strangers. So far, he had enjoyed the company of Chanel, even while pressing through the awkward photoshoot at her house. The other girl was firey and quick with a reply and they had had quite an illuminating conversation on fashion on the ride over. Perhaps these forced partnerships weren’t as stupid an idea as they had appeared during the assembly a few weeks ago.

Looking around the hall, the couples on the dance floor seemed pretty happy- apart from a few select partners with ‘I’m only here for my GPA’ expressions on their faces. Jordan laughed quietly to himself upon seeing one girl trying her best to keep her date as far away as possible while still dancing together. He cast his eyes to the edges of the floor, where students who had taken up chatting with their friends or weren’t quite deep enough in the probably-spiked punch to start shaking it to the brash electronic songs the DJ was playing stayed.

He sensed if Bea had made it to the dance yet she would be there- unless she had pregamed enough for a repeat of her salsa performance at Diablo’s party. Finally his eyes alighted on Kavan, the tall Indian boy’s long dark hair standing out from the crowd. And beside him… or more accurately, wrapped around him was Bea.

It hurt. Only god - and maybe Bea - knew what was happening between him and her. Sure, they’d shared that night on the beach, but by the way she’d danced around it during their conversations she seemed to have forgotten- or wanted to forget- all about it. Well, two could play at that game. If Bea was just trying to piss him off, or if she was looking for someone else, the way her small body clung tightly to Kavan and the arm he had around her was having some effect.

Jordan was going to enjoy this night with Chanel, Bea be damned. He made his way over to where Chanel and her friend lurked around the refreshments table, just in time to watch her dump a small bottle’s worth of vodka into the punch bowl.

"Think anyone will mind?" Chanel smirked at her companion, and Jordan leant around to scoop a glass for himself.

‘I doubt anyone would mind a little shaking up. Those dancers look far too sober for a real party,’ Jordan said, smiling. ‘And I don’t think I’ve met your friend?’ he asked, pointing the question at the other girl.

[spooner]

You only make it worse 'cause you never try
Why don't you show me?
You'd better move it
You're getting on my nerves, getting nothing done

---

---

Finally having nicotine coursing through his body made Archer calmer than anything else could've. He leaned back against the wall where he was standing and looked up at the starry night above him, exhaling a large cloud of smoke that swirled in the evening breeze. In his head he tried to go over how to explain how he was acting to Ariel, but he kept coming up short. He never had this much trouble talking, usually Marisol or more likely Sonny had to tell him to shit up. What Ariel had done to him seemed to have made deeper of a wound than he had initially thought.

The curly haired boy looked around confused when the putrid smell of cannabis mixed with the sickly sweet aroma of fake strawberry hit him. He spotted the source of the stench quite fast as Santiago was standing by his sports car not far from Archer. Of course he vaped, why wouldn't he want to play in to his fuckboi image as much as he could, Archer wouldn't have thought strawberry was his flavor though.

Rolling his eyes he took out another cigarette, as he was lighting it he spotted someone weirdly sneaking around looking in Santiago's direction, the person then stopped seemingly deep in thought, then suddenly turning and heading back towards the entrance and also Archer. Eyebrows high and eyes strained to see who this mystery person was must've made the boy look highly sceptical, which he was of course. As Mr. Unknown was getting closer Archer recognized him as Declan, not a friend per se but they have been know to be seen as parking lot smokers together.

”Hey.. Archie. What are you doing out here? Thought the party had only just started in there”

Archer pushed his cigarette to the corner of his mouth so he could acknowledge the newcomer. “Oh you know, just hiding” he exhaled as he took out his packet from his pocket and offered it to Declan.

“What’s more interesting is what you are doing Dekkie? Skulking around in the dark spying on the devil?” He let out a small laugh as Declan took a cigarette and handed the pack back.

“Did someone send you on a mission? Or was it purely out of admiration?” Archer tilted his head so he could look behind Declan towards Santiago. The devil was looking particularly pissed of, which made Archer interested in knowing why, he shrugged and turned his attention back to his smoking buddy.

Archer had not really reflected on it before but now in the sheen from the fairly lights strung above them, he could see that Declan really was a fine looking specimen. He was a perfect height, gorgeous face with a smile to die for and that hot exotic look which apparently was Archer’s type. Straight as an arrow no doubt, that had never stopped Archer before though.

“Or are you simply hiding as well?” He shot him a smirk as he waited for an answer.

[Hero]

---

---

"Wow...!"

Nadia had to admit that she fell in love with the atmosphere of the place. A good number of people had slowly piled in, some alone, some with friends, but all trying to match their paired partners. But she loved the numerous lights, feeling like she was surrounded by stars. A little cheesy, yeah, but it got her excited, returning greetings and compliments that she was given. The food in her stomach probably added to her good mood, and she had to admit that she hadn't fully noticed that she had taken Sonny's hand in hers. Everything was just so nice and warm and charming, she just liked everything right now. Nothing wrong with being in a good mood, right?

Before she could ask Sonny what he wanted to do first, she found herself being pulled away. She had been so drawn into everything that she had missed his question entirely, simply blinking her green eyes at him. Shoot, hopefully it wasn't anything important. Luck seemed to be on her side, though, as he seemed apologetic for taking her away from the music. Ironically she wasn't much for music, she just listened to whatever but had no actual opinion on anything.

At his question, however, she lit up considerably, nodding enthusiastically. She hesitated for a second, wondering if that had been what he was talking about before. "Um, sure, if you want," She decided to put it in his court, just in case he didn't want to. She was fine just talking if he wanted, her grip on his hand a little softer as she wanted to let him know she was fine with whatever.

---

[eclecticwitch]

E0633C

i've never had someone like you
who makes me feel the way you do
sometimes i believe that i might die
if i lost you

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

His arm around her felt alien. For a moment she wanted to push him off and hit him with her handbag. Rational thought saved Kavan from that little indignity though. She had started it and it was a natural thing to do. As she relaxed the arm began to actually feel a bit comforting. Like protection from the rest of the world.

Slowly the young woman lifted her face and looked up at him. He was so much nicer than she had anticipated. A small smile quirked the corners of her lips upward. "You know what, I think having a moment outside would be nice." She unraveled herself from him and smoothed out her dress and hair. "There, do I still look presentable?" The question was in earnest though her bland facial expression had returned and her tone sounded more like a sarcastic joke. "Oh no... I got foundation on you." She brushed at the spot on his coat jacket.

The make-up came off only a little bit. Bea dug into her handbag and pulled out a little packet of wet wipes. Pulling one from the packet she brushed at the spot until it had disappeared. "There. Sorry." She stuffed the packet back into her bag and would find a place to toss the used wipe. As she walked toward the door she saw Jordan with Chanel and Liyah. Her heart did that weird, crushing summersault thing and she felt like she was going to throw up.

Why was she being so silly? Why did it affect her in this way? He was just chatting with his date, the prettiest and most fashionable girl. And Liyah who was wicked smart and gorgeous too. She had never considered a girl's beauty so threatening and nerve-wracking before. Why now? She shook her head and made it outside without any further incidents.

Once out of the doors she dug through her little handbag again, pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. The first inhale was so delightful. She breathed out the smoke and it fluttered over her head and off into the night sky. There was a lipstick mark on the filter and she found it quite pretty. From her purse, she pulled out her flip phone, snapped a quick picture, and went back to her filthy habit. "Aah, sorry Kavan. Do you smoke? I can stand more downwind."

[mickilennial]

---

Palm Beach, Florida
October 6th, 2018

---

By the time Mara had gotten to the dance, one could say she was in a bit of a “mood”. But that was a given after hitting every single red light between her house and her destination, nearly getting in a car accident due to some idiot not paying attention to the road, and Mara herself going over every opinion she had ever had about her so-called dance partner in the past handful of years. The end result was a cocktail of spite and disgust – and when she finally found the man talking amongst the dance attendee’s it took her everything she had from taking the tire wrench from her car’s trunk and breaking his beautiful face.

But mad as she was, and she was very very mad, she was here to get her “credit” and actually finish school on time. The fact the faculty tried to deliberately screw up her perfect GPA by throwing her in with a troll like Santiago Fernandez was enough to make sure she deliberately complained to the right people after everything was said to done. Somebody was going to lose their job. Taking a light breath as she walked forward, she attempted to put on her best face, though she couldn’t help but let off some amount of steam. Immediately she shoved her 'date'.

“Hey! Asshole. How about the next time you try to pull that kind of stunt you buy me dinner first? Because that shit was not kosher.”

She narrowed her brows, her arms crossed. “I have no idea what was going on in that idiot brain of yours, but not all of us are drug-addled losers who want to flunk out of school, got it?”

[AlteredTundra]

_{Disclaimer! @Hero couldn't access the guild and asked me to post this for them. <3}

---

Alright...so far so good.

A terribly optimistic thought, but whatever. Victoire was sufficiently annoyed enough; the numerous amount of looks and glares from other students was enough to drive her up the wall. People needed to get over themselves, she wasn’t exactly thrilled with her own ‘pair’, if she could even call it that. By some miracle she avoided both authority figures and her own date, outright lying to any teacher that saw her alone inside. She didn’t even care, she just wanted the night to be over so she could go home and pass out in bed.

At least the place looked decent. Looking around as she made her way through the crowd, she paused as she spotted Nadia with Sonny. Nope, not dealing with that, at least not unless she was buzzed enough to tolerate him. Making a turn, she came face to face with her brother, who seemed equally as surprised to see her. She recognized that stupid look on his face though; he must have run into Santiago before coming here.

“Pre-gaming with your boy?” Victoire asked, unamused at the shit-eating grin he gave her.

“Hey, I was being a good friend,” Lucas informed her, crossing his arms. “Ride or die, through thick and thin, bros before hoes--actually, that...last one doesn’t really apply ‘cuz of the girl but uh...yeah.”

Victoire gave him a blank stare, blinking slowly. “Wow. Just when I think the shit that comes out of your mouth couldn’t be any stupider, you prove me wrong. Well done.”

“You are welcome,” Lucas nodded, slowly avoiding her as he tried to go around her, but she turned on her heel and punched his shoulder. “Ow! Domestic violence is not okay, Vic!”

[Okonuki]

---

“Oh you know, just hiding,” Archer said, proffering an open pack of smokes from his pocket and offering them to Declan. He gratefully accepted, sliding one of cigs from the small box and placing it between his lips.

“What’s more interesting is what you are doing Dekkie? Skulking around in the dark spying on the devil?” Declan gave an amused snort, fishing through his pockets for a lighter. Wallet, keys... ah, there it was.

“Did someone send you on a mission? Or was it purely out of admiration?” Declan half choked on the cigarette hanging from his lips, coughing small puffs of smoke and pounding on his chest like an idiot at a CPR lesson.

‘You wound me, Archie,’ he gasped. ‘I gotta admit, I don’t know cars from their back wheel to… their other wheels, but even I know that thing is tacky,’ he said, and flicked his cig hand to indicate the Devil’s lambo. ‘I’m searching for the man himself, actually. Penelope sent me looking for him… something about drugging old Gomez.’ He paused for a second, in thought. ‘A plan that sounds laughably illegal, now that I think about it, even with the power of our parents’ attorneys and fat stacks behind us.’

Archer seemed to be looking over his shoulder at something, and Declan turned to see the mission objective leaning against a tree ten feet from the car he’d just been investigating. Accompanied by Penelope. Declan wrinkled his nose.
‘Well, I guess I’m no detective. Looking for people is harder than it looks.’

He turned away from the scene to see Archer’s keen eyes staring intently at him, although veiled slightly behind the haze of smoke.
‘Or are you simply hiding as well?’ The other boy smirked.

Declan’s snarky reply was cut short by the sudden arrival of a tiny blonde girl, making up for her size with an explosion of venom and a hefty shove at Santiago.

“Hey! Asshole. How about the next time you try to pull that kind of stunt you buy me dinner first? Because that shit was not kosher. I have no idea what was going on in that idiot brain of yours, but not all of us are drug-addled losers who want to flunk out of school, got it?”

Declan gave a sly side-smile to Archer and slunk back, leaning against the wall beside him.

‘She looks soo pissed,’ he laughed. ‘Time to sit back and watch the fireworks.’

[SpicyMeatball]

Not a second after she had made her proposal, April found herself whisked away from the table and on to the dancefloor, much to her pleasure. Having ditched her heels for a pair of simple flats while Kavi had been occupied at the table, the brunette now found herself lost in the music, even if it was yet another shitty electronic track. Her preoccupied mind had been put at ease by the thumping bass and was currently distracted by her rather handsome partner. A handsome partner who happened to be the one person that could get Santiago’s attention faster than any girl at King’s. You’re only with him because you need to be April… she thought, though truthfully April was having a hard time not being attracted to him. Or rather, his exterior.

It was hard for her to ignore Santiago’s entrance. Every bit of her brain screamed at her to turn and at least acknowledge his existence, but somehow she managed to hold back. Instead, April focused her attention to her partner once more, her calm brown eyes sparkling in the dimly lit tent. As she did, she felt Kavi’s hand creep around behind to the small of her back and pull her closer, the pair of them now pressed against one another. April shot a look up to Kavi--a look she knew he couldn’t see, but one he could most likely feel or anticipate-- and spoke just loud enough for him to hear. But the brunette remained silent for now, choosing instead to go along with his lead and sway her hips to the heavy electronic beat. Oh how she wished she could see the look on Santiago’s face now.

“That’s much better, isn’t it?” Kavi smiled.

“Be careful you don’t slip off the tightrope you’re walking and have it snap you in the balls.” She shot him a devilish grin in reply.

April had to admit, this was the most relaxed she’d felt since before her huge fight at the Devil’s den. Though Kavi had his flaws--flaws that most certainly would’ve driven her batshit crazy had she been forced to spend any more time with him at lunch--he was fun to hang around with and the brunette regretted nothing from this evening. Even if he did push the boundaries of her patience, there was way less drama with him than there had ever been with Santiago.

Did I really just think that..? April gently shook her head. Kavi was supposed to be a way for her to get Santiago’s attention, nothing more.

He wasn’t supposed to be a replacement.

A part of her panicked. Had it been too long since she’d spoken to Santiago? What if he thought she’d left him for good? Her steps faltered as her mind raced. Now it felt like instead of dancing with Kavi, she was just trying to keep up. She had to tell him. She had to tell Santi the truth. As much as she had been mad at him before, part of her still yearned for him to be close. For that feeling of safety and pure trust.

Part of April still loved Santiago and that wouldn’t likely change.

---

---

[Venus]

Without you, I'm not doing well, it's not going bad either
Whatever happens, I will not call you
I already took off, you will never love me
To not think about you I have to smoke.

"I never pegged you to be one for fruity flavors… Never pegged you neither."

The familiar voice took Santiago by surprise. He would have thought that his face would have been enough to ward anyone and everyone away, but he was clearly mistaken. Frowning, he turned to look at the curly-haired figure of Penelope Richards.

“Hey Penny,” Diablo said simply, offering the girl a closed-lipped smile as he tried to soften up his expression. After all, it wasn’t Penny’s fault that his night was going to shit. “Yeah, I really dig the taste of strawberry. Best fucking flavor in the world.” he added, purposely choosing to ignore her comment about pegging (that was a thought so scary he had no intention of even entertaining). Just then, Santiago realized that the reason he was into that particular berry flavor is because it reminded him of the taste of April’s lip gloss.

Fucking great. Now he couldn’t even smoke her away from his memory. The damn woman was everywhere, and he was sure it was driving him crazy.

"You're a hard man to find Diablo. Wanna have a sit?"

The young man had opened his mouth to respond to Penelope when the most annoying sound in the universe was heard across the parking lot. Eyebrow raised, his eyes fell down on the culprit of the shrill noise: tiny Mara Lubisch, brows narrowed in anger and arms crossed in front of her.

“Hey! Asshole. How about the next time you try to pull that kind of stunt you buy me dinner first? Because that shit was not kosher. I have no idea what was going on in that idiot brain of yours, but not all of us are drug-addled losers who want to flunk out of school, got it?”

Santiago was stunned into silence for a few seconds, a disbelieving look on his handsome face that was eventually replaced by a resigned scoff. How was he the bad guy when the girl had kept him waiting for the better part of fifteen minutes, without a single sign that she would even be attending the event? Hell, she hadn’t even so much as looked his way after the day of the pairings! And now she was making a scene in front of everyone as if she was his girlfriend or something of the sort?! Fuck that. He was fucking done with being blamed for the trials and tribulations of all the women in King’s Academy.

“You know what? Let’s get something straight, Lubisch: if your snarky little ass would have been ready on time, you would have gotten a ride with me and we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Diablo spat, rising to his full height, towering over Mara while his body emitted a wave of frustration. “I’m not in the mood for your bullshit right now, so you either get over yourself and we can try to have a good time or get lost. Entendiste?”