Grimoire Gaming

Project Untamed

_{A @GhostMami & @smarty0114 Collaboration
Featuring Wesley Slater & Bradley Barron}
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Bradley’s head swiveled from Griffin’s receding form to Wes, back and forth, the extra basketball band still clutched in his hand. The pounding of the music was disorienting, and the liquor in his stomach wasn’t helping. He shouldn’t have come tonight. This was all about to go horribly wrong. He looked down at his empty cup, nerves swarming in his gut. Seize the day, seize the day, seizethedayseizethedayseizethday. The mantra blended together in his head until it was just a jumble of words, and Wes was standing in front of him, cute and slightly disheveled, but still, just right.

He did his best to grin and cover up the turmoil inside, reaching out to hand the band to Wes. “Griff wanted me to give you this,” Bradley said, holding up his own wrist to show off his matching one. “Don’t ask why, something about good luck,” He said, omitting the fact that the luck had been more for Brad’s sake than Wesley’s. “I’m guessing the booze run went well, considering this is a success,” Bradley said, nodding his head to the beat of the music and looking everywhere except Wes’ eyes.

Wesley took the bracelet and looked at it quizzically, turning it over in his hand. Something about it made him smile… probably the fact that this was exactly the kind of trinket he would pilfer from someone’s room if he saw it just laying around. A little happy memory to stow away in his growing stash of them. “Well, we could actually use this bit of luck soon, so it’s good timing.” Wesley was referring, of course, to the genius plan he had come up with in his pre-party nap dreams. Before Wes could reveal his fantastic plan to Bradley, he was distracted by the mention of the booze cruise. “Yeah, it was totally awesome! Sav and Erica are way more meddlesome than they look, cheeky little criminals, they are. Although… I think I made Erica mad at me by pretending to be her boyfriend in front of the cashier…” Wes mused with a bummed out shrug.

Confusion flashed across Brad’s face at the last bit. Did that have something to do with Erica and Griff’s dance earlier? Maybe that had been happening under his nose for longer than he’d realized. “Erica’s usually mad about something.” He didn’t want to dwell on how the thought of Wes and Erica dating hollowed him out and filled him back up with longing, a longing that seemed to steal all the words he wanted to say. He needed another drink.

“What’s the luck for?” Bradley asked, trying to steer his way back into safe, calm waters. Pranks, if that’s what Wes was referring to, had become their own language, the bonding that had brought them so close. Even if he couldn’t find the words right now, he could always talk about a way to stick it to the powers the be.

“Oh right!” Wesley exclaimed, gesturing with his drink excitably, sloshing it a bit in doing so. “If the narcolepsy is good for anything, it’s for the flashes of genius I get while I’m sleeping. SERIOUSLY, I almost slept through the party for this shit.” Wes stopped to lick the drips off the side of his cup and take a hefty gulp of his drink before he spilled more of the precious nectar in his excitement. “Anyywayyy, you know how we’ve been trying to figure out how to smuggle in spray paint?” Wes waited for confirmation before continuing.

The smile that spread across his face was pure instinct, brought on by Wes’ own excitement. It was infectious. He’d always felt like he was always meant to be looking at the canvas, capturing the colorful people of the world while he moved on in black and white. With Wes… every laugh showered him in the rarest pigments, and for a moment the monotone shades of gray faded. “Of course, it’s gonna be the best vandalism this place has ever seen,” Bradley said, spirits lifting as he spoke.

“Damn straight it will be.” Wes said and went to tap red solo cups in cheers with B-rad, only to find that his cup runneth empty. “Whoa, you ain’t got nothing in your cup, we gotta fix that first, c’mon.” He ushered his friend through the crowd of fellow students and over to the makeshift bar. “So here’s the thing…” Wes began, a crooked smirk complimenting the single eyebrow that raised as he revealed his plan. “What if we didn’t have to smuggle anything in at all?” Wes waited again, letting the dramatic suspense build.

Clear liquid, indistinguishable from water except for the tell tale thickness of liquor, filled Bradley’s cup, followed by a generous amount of sugary red juice. He nodded as Wes’ words fought through the haze of his mind and burst into the light of understanding, signalled by a drawn out, “Ohhhhhhhhhhh!” Bradley took a gulp of his drink, thankful for the new influx of alcohol, before continuing. “Wes, you’re a fucking genius! I could kiss you right now!” Oh. He hadn’t meant to say that last part. He hastily covered his mouth with his cup, taking another gulp as embarrassment and drunkenness turned his face redder and redder.

“Exactly!” Wesley exclaimed with a giggle and polished off the rest of the mixed drink in his own cup. He thought of Brad’s statement as nothing more than the shared excitement of the moment and began to mix himself another drink. The effects of the rum were already buzzing within him, making his blood feel warm and heavy. “There’s already spray paint here, in the school. No smuggling of contraband needed. There’s loads of it in the technology department, dude, we just gotta go get it.” The mischievous glint in Wesley’s eyes was nothing short of devilish as he smirked above the rim of his solo cup.

“We can go tonight, while everyone's here. If security should be concerned with anything, it’s this,” Bradley said, laughing softly. His eyes ran over Wesley’s frame then quickly glanced away. “Has Griff seemed off to you?” Bradley added, nerves pushing him further and further away from the conversation he needed to be having right now. The band around his wrist seemed to burn, as if trying to remind him of the promise he’d made.

“Griff’s always been a bit of an odd duck… but, yeah, he’s been pretty weird since getting out of the hospital.” Wesley shrugged, taking a sip of his freshly mixed rum and coke. “Maybe he’s still feeling a little off, musta been one helluva flu. And I guess it’s going around too, a couple of other kids got it, even Theo, and he’s tough as a bear.” Bringing the topic back to the mission at hand, Wesley pointed at Bradley with the index finger of the hand holding his cup. “But rewinding it back, you, my friend, are the real genius here! Tonight is the perfect night to go through with the heist! Both our friends AND the security should be distracted, it’s fucking perfect. It’s the most opportune moment, we have to seize it!” Wesley grabbed a small, almost flask-sized handle of vodka that he could easily stash away in his pocket from the counter. “What'd ya say? We head out now, with drinks for the road?” Wes smirked and shook the bottle for emphasis, causing the vodka to slosh back and forth inside.

Bradley grinned, and finished off his drink, certain he’d need the courage. It would just be him and Wes, doing what they did best; wreaking havoc. He could do this. “Hard to argue with that.” He looked around, cautious of any watchful eyes, pilfered his own miniature bottle, and slipped into the crowd. Just before they were cut off, Brad’s hand clutched Wesley’s tugging him along and out into the considerably cooler air of the dorm hallway. He let out a sigh of relief, and gestured towards the exit, glad to be free of the oppressive heat of the party. “Lead the way, partner in crime.”

Wesley snickered as Bradley tugged the pair of them out into the hallway. He had the small bottle of vodka in his pocket, but his plastic cup was still in his hand. A portion of the brown cocktail sloshed out of it, leaving a nice solid stain in the hallway to remember this night by later. “Shit!” He remarked, more so upset about the lost alcohol than the stained carpet, and ran along with Brad towards the exit. Time to break into the school and steal some property in order to vandalize some property. With the booze run already under his belt, how many more crimes could Wesley fit into one single friday? Only time would tell…

Project Untamed

_{Location | Wesley’s Room → The Party}

Wesley could not believe that they’d actually done it! The Booze Cruise had gone off without a hitch and Wes was still riding off the high of getting away with something so criminal. This was rule breaking to the extreme, more so than any of the pranks and mischief that he, Bradley, and Griff could cook up. Today, Wesley Slater broke the law… which was kind of concerning, considering that he was planning to study law and become a lawyer. But, maybe that made him an even better candidate for the job. A ton of people in law and law enforcement are actually criminals themselves, right?

With the alcohol properly secured, the van parked, the keys placed back where they were found, and the trio able to sneak into the dorms with their ill-gotten gains, the party plan was successfully in motion. Wesley brought his filled-to-the-brim backpack to the lounge and unloaded the alcohol, leaving Savannah and Erica to finish up with the party prep. It was their party, after all. He just pitched in his money, backpack, phenomenal acting skills, and, of course, invited damned near their entire class. The last job he had was to get himself ready.

Back in his room, Wes started with a shower to wash away the dried anxiety sweats from his silent mental spiral in the van on the way to the liquor store. He might have played the situation like the charming trickster that he was, but that didn’t mean that he never got nervous! Wesley had his music playing as he showered, dancing to the beats and scrubbing his hair in time, looking forward to all of the shenanigans that a night of drunken revelry might hold.

Once squeaky clean, Wesley made the first critical mistake of his evening. Clad in naught but a fuzzy white bath towel wrapped around his waist, he plopped down on his bed to relax and scroll through his phone. The scrolling slowed as his eyelids grew heavy from the combination of his post-excitement crash, the warmth of his shower, and good-old fashioned narcolepsy. He passed out within minutes and slept for a couple of hours. It wasn’t until the volume of the music from the party increased enough that the thumping bass vibrated his walls that Wesley awoke and realized his error.

“SHIT!” Wesley exclaimed, jumping out of bed and causing his towel to drop in the process. “Shit shit shit!” He continued as he stood naked in the center of his room, his hair having dried into the most ridiculous nest of curls from laying down and falling asleep with it wet. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he zipped over to his closet to find an appropriate party outfit to throw on and hopefully distract from his otherwise disheveled appearance. The next step was to make a second trip to the bathroom to try to salvage his hairstyle. Wetting his hair down and running his fingers through the curls succeeded in keeping them from defying gravity by sticking straight up, but it left him looking a bit like a drowned rat because of how much water was needed to tame them.

“Whatever…” he mumbled in a disgruntled tone before grabbing his phone, wallet, and keys to head down the hall. The party, as he expected, was already in full swing. A couple of his classmates looked like they had even already had their fair share of alcohol, which caused a momentary flash of panic. His Captain! Good lord, please don’t let the rum be gone! Before even looking for his besties, Wes beelined for the beverage station to prepare himself a drink. Thankfully, there was still about three quarters of the Captain Morgan left, and Wesley sighed in relief as he mixed a rum and coke, heavy on the rum, as it seemed he had some catching up to do. Looking around the crowded common area, he sought out his friends and found both Griffin and Bradley chatting. Perfect! He made his way over to them to start off his night on a better foot, hopefully.

Meadow University

♪♫♪♫

To be totally honest, a bar like Nectar’s wasn’t Shiloh’s ideal party spot, but there weren’t many better options locally. While Vermont as a whole is a pretty liberal state, Meadow View in particular tended to be more… traditional (most likely due to the Ivy League presence) and it therefore was not very rich in LGBTQ+ spaces. Seriously, not a single gay club to be found. Regardless, Shiloh was a proud, powerful lesbian with the blood of rockstars in her veins and she could bring the party to almost any venue — including a karaoke bar with it’s highlighting feature being buy one get one appetizers. Shiloh Clay could make Nectar’s work for her purposes, she’d beaten way harder levels than this before, and maybe, just maybe, this time the princess wouldn’t be in another damned castle.

“That’s thoughtful, Theo,” She responded to her bestie as he returned to Connor, Maddie, and herself with a pitcher of beer and four glasses. “But you know beer makes me feel bloated. I’m on a strict diet of clear liquids and powders tonight.” Vodka, tequila, gin… so many options! “Speaking of…” The pink-haired temptress fished around in her clutch and discreetly pulled out a baggie of colorful pills stamped with alien heads, hearts, stars, and various other emoji-like shapes. “Party favors, anyone?”

Shiloh offered a cheshire cat grin when Maddie showed interest. She might be a college girl now, but she was still every bit as much of a bad influence on her friends now as she was in high school. “Ooh, you’re gonna love it, Mads. It makes you free and bold and ready to be touched. Touching feels like magic.” Shiloh had already taken a dose for herself before offering up some to the others. Once her benevolent deed was done, she bowed to bid them farewell. “Theo, since you aren’t partaking, I trust you will keep me from doing something too stupid, like getting on that stage and doing my best impression of Hayley Williams.” She stared off in thought for a moment, “Actually, that might work for me. Whatever. Watch my back, I’m gonna go try to find a girlfriend.” Hopefully one that lasts for more than one bi-curious night this time, but who knows, old habits die hard.

The ecstasy in her system began to work it’s magic relatively quickly. Her tolerance was high, but her frame was small so it didn’t take too much or too long to get lifted. Shiloh watched as the warm lighting of the bar blurred and began to dance like stars in her eyes. Letting the music take her, she spun around the dancefloor chasing those stars. Everything was moving to the beat and the lovely notes of a songbird. Shiloh’s gaze broke from her amphetamine-induced astronomical studies long enough to take in the pretty bird, a girl whose name she didn’t catch but whose face she recognized from school. The songbird wore a crop top and jeans, which bared a smooth flat tummy that practically begged for body shots… and licking.

Shi giggled at her own dirty thoughts before making her way to the bar for some liquid courage. She didn’t need any extra boldness, but it was still fun to partake, and maybe it would help her learn the songbird’s name later. “A shot of Patrón, please. Actually, make it a double. Saves us both a trip.” Shi requested of the bartender with a smile. Glancing back out to the intimately crowded bar, she tried to blink away the stars as she waited for her drink. A few blinks confirmed that it wasn’t the drugs, something shiny had actually caught the lights. Tiny bits of metal reflecting like a disco ball. Squinting, Shi took in a cute asian girl wearing… a spiked red leather jacket?

Was she hallucinating?! Nah, this was X, not acid.

Shiloh glanced down at her own jacket and then back at the mystery girl. She was talking to Cassian Lee, but it didn’t look entirely friendly. Definitely not flirty, well, probably not. You could never tell with that one. The bartender returned with the tall shot glass of tequila as Shiloh pondered. “Oh, thanks.” Back to staring. Okay… so was she just punk… or gay… or both? Both was pretty common, she was both herself, after all. “Well, only one way to find out.” Shi said aloud before downing the shot, placing the glass upside down on the bar, and strutting towards the girl with the jacket.

Project Untamed

_{Collab with @NeoAJ & @smarty0114}

The roads of New Mexico were bumpier than Savannah remembered. She wouldn’t have thought there was so much traffic that it would have resulted in such a sorry state of affairs on their roads. But the constant bumps of the “borrowed” van into potholes proved otherwise.

Maybe she would feel a little better if she was driving, but she hadn’t driven anything in a while. Not since she left Stillwater, however long that was ago. It seemed like it was forever, when in reality it was what? Four months? Still, the van was a manual transmission, and she definitely had no skill for that. She wasn’t one of the farm kids who knew how to drive tractors by the time she was 12. She drove a beat-up Civic, and that sucker was automatic. This van was a far cry from that little coupe.

It was serving its purpose though. It was ferrying this three-person expedition off to the promised land that Erica had foretold of. The gas station on the main highway was no heaven, but it held the promise of manna from the gods themselves. More importantly, it offered the promise of Savannah’s salvation from her hubris earlier in the week. If Erica’s intel was correct, there would be enough booze to cover Sav’s blushes in the cafeteria and then some. Plus, now that the Texan was rocking a full array of ammunition for the mission, thanks to her scavenger hunt victory and the agreement of both Wesley and Talya that all their proceeds would go towards the party. The party that apparently EVERYONE AT SCHOOL knew about now. So no pressure or anything.

Besides, it wasn’t Savannah that had to go in there and be all cool under the circumstances. That was Kelsey Marston’s job.

She leaned to her left and addressed the driver. “Hey, so… where are we? I definitely don’t recognize that cactus… or anything really…”

“It’s cause we were coming the other way,” Erica said, gently pressing her foot into the clutch and shifting up a gear, then picking up speed. Her dad had taught her to drive stick last summer, and amidst Erica’s screams of frustrations, they actually managed to have a father-daughter bonding moment. It was a good thing he had too, because neither Wes or Sav could drive stick. “If I’m right about where we are, it should be coming up on our right in a few minutes.”

Erica’s eyes looked out on the barren desert, wishing the AC in this van worked just a bit better. She had yet to hear just how many people were coming to the party tonight, having been more concerned with getting alcohol and passing her chemistry test.

Finding the key to the school van just laying on a table in the library had been a stroke of good luck. After the catastrophe that was the scavenger hunt, Erica felt like she deserved some good karma, and the key only made her more sure that tonight would go off without a hitch. The universe wanted this party to happen.

The backseat of the van was probably the worst place to be. Every bump and pothole jolted Wes towards the roof and he’d gotten a couple of whacks on his head already to show for it. Being tall could be such a curse. Or perhaps it was just Erica’s driving. Or the road condition. Or the fact that he opted out of wearing his seatbelt. If you're riding in a stolen vehicle, what’s the point of following any other laws? Seatbelts were restrictive and Wesley Slater absolutely hated sitting still. Plus, thanks to repeated memory wipes, he couldn’t really remember those videos he was forced to watch in school where the kid not wearing his seatbelt becomes a projectile and kills all of his other friends in the car. Brutal.

“So…” Wesley leaned forward between the two girls, propping his lanky arms around the backs of their seats as he spoke. “You’ve both already proven that you guys got that femme fatale Charlie’s Angels thing going on with the whole van theft, but, what’s the plan now?”

“Because, let’s be honest,” Wes looked over to Savannah, eyeing up her pink hair in particular. “You’ll totally get clocked for your age with that punk dye, and I look like I belong in Twinks Gone Wild, so I’m assuming Erica is going to be doing the buying?” Wes’ brows furrowed at how casually he referred to himself as a twink. He meant to point out his babyface, but somehow this other brand of self-degradation came more naturally. It probably didn’t mean anything. Probably.

Savannah was going to ask Wes what the heck he meant by a twink, but there would be time for those sorts of questions later. “Hey, you don’t think I asked you for your grand prize without an idea of how this was going to work, did you?” she responded with an eyebrow raise of her own. “And for your info, this plan involves me doing the buying and you coming to help carry all our booze with that big ole backpack of yours. You know, like a proper gentleman and all.” She punctuated that last remark with a wink. “All you have to remember is that until that booze is back in the van, my name is Kelsey. Got that? Kelsey. And we are three grads travelling from Oklahoma to visit some friends at Arizona State for the weekend.”

It should have been shocking to Savannah how easy it was to fall into this mindset of blatant lying in order to facilitate more law-breaking. Truth be told, she could only remember being in a place that sold alcohol once, when she was 12. Her momma went in to buy some back up wine for a party and had Sav follow around before standing at the checkout waiting for the purchase to be made. There were no enticements to break the law back then. Now she was going to go full out and lead an entire class down a road of debauchery.

It was kinda fun really. Why hadn’t she done this before? Right, the moral quandaries and risk/reward factors and the Jesus. Right. Ah well. It’ll be over soon.

“We should probably save a little bit of credit card money to buy some mix and snacks and junk too, right?”

“Definitely. I don’t know about you two, but I’ll die if I spend the whole night drinking nothing but straight liquor,” Erica replied, impressed by how readily Sav was taking charge. It soothed the pit in her stomach that had been expanding rapidly as they sped down the road. She’d done this sort of thing before, back in New York and she recognized the anxiety from memories, that unique sort of panic over the possibility of getting arrested. Whatever she felt inside, she kept her face calm.

“Alright ‘Kelsey’, get ready,” Erica said. Taking a deep breath, she slowed down, downshifting and turning the van into the parking lot somewhat faster than she intended to. She heard Wes thud against the side of the van and called out her apologies. “My bad!” Oof. Maybe her driving could use a bit more practice.

The thump was followed by a grunt. “Eh, s’okay. I’m just getting a headstart on tomorrow’s inevitable hangover headache.” Wesley replied with a laugh as the vehicle finally reached their destination. Ah, the smooth relaxation of a parked vehicle, not a pothole or sharp turn in sight.

“Okay… so you’re Kelsey and we’re… nobody. Just a bunch of college friends. We got this.” Wes gave himself a pep talk as he hopped out of the back seat and onto the asphalt, shutting the car door behind him. He waited for ‘Kelsey’ to take the lead and followed after her. He did his best to be nonchalant, arms loose and relaxed, his hands in the pockets of his unzipped hoodie. The backpack was left in the van, he could pack that up full on the drive back.

A bell jingled above the door as the trio entered the trio entered the liquor store. Wesley briefly scanned the signs marking the aisles before choosing one to walk towards. “Rum?” He asked the others before committing to that direction.

Sa… “Kelsey” grabbed one of the little carts that were stacked by the doorway. No sense pretending they weren’t bringing a haul through the checkout. Go big or go home, right? Her scavenger hunt teammate was proving just as adept at finding the prime spirits as well as puzzle pieces.

She gave an approving nod. “Rum is a good idea. The sorority sisters will be pleased,” she added, getting right into character now. The key was immersing herself, shoving Savannah far from her mind at the moment. Kelsey had to get everything she needed for this party here because they were banned from all the shops in Tempe for various drunken infractions, and this was better than loading up in Oklahoma because this way they only had to stop once. Erica was her fellow sister and Wesley was the new boyfriend Kelsey was bringing to show off at the party and… OK, things were getting a little much. Wesley as her boyfriend? Couldn’t happen.

“Keep an eye out for some Hpnotiq. That’s Lyndsey’s favorite. She’ll flip if we don’t show up with some,” she informed the others. While searching through the choices, she lifted a cheap bottle of vodka which would serve their purpose well enough.

Erica trailed behind the other two, pocketing the keys to the van. She flashed the guy behind the counter a grin that he returned. Something about him rang a bell in her head… strange. She wasn’t used to reaching for a memory only to come up empty. She remembered everything! Turning away, she narrowed her eyes but kept quiet. It was probably nothing.

While “Kelsey” grabbed some cheap vodka and Wesley went for the rum, Erica craned her neck over the shelves, in search of the pastel bottles that she knew ment Hpnotiq. For a second, she wrote it off as an impossibility, figuring this place wouldn’t have anything your local hick couldn’t buy, but just as she was gonna give up, her eyes landed on a row of blue bottles. Perfect.

She sidled past Sav and Wes, and grabbed the bottle out of the fridge, holding it up as a trophy for her friends. “This should keep Lyndsey happy,” she said, taking more pleasure in playing along with Savannah's story than she’d expected.

These two girls kept surprising Wesley, Erica especially. Looking at someone like Savannah, you kind of expect her to have a few secrets and tricks up her sleeve. But Erica? She was the kind of girl you would expect to be valedictorian. Turns out he was instead surrounded by car thieves and filthy rotten liars. It was kind of sexy. Well... intriguing, at least. It just goes to show that you can’t always believe what's on the label.

Speaking of labels, Wesley scanned the variety of rum options on the shelves. He figured quantity was more important than quality for their situation, but at the same time, he was flipping some of this bill, so he should treat himself. Clearly Lyndsey was. Wes grabbed a small bottle of Captain Morgan spiced rum for his enjoyment and a couple of lower shelf bottles for the masses. He couldn’t remember the last time he had drank, but he was pretty sure that rum and cokes were his go to favorite.

“Hey, do you think Mikey is still obsessed with Jägerbombs, or has he finally outgrown them?” Wes asked the girls once he regrouped. He was trying to think of what kind of drinks Leo and the other hooligans might be into. Wes couldn’t stand the taste of Jäger himself, but there were usually a handful of people who wanted that at parties.

“Ugh!” “Kelsey” moaned in anguish at the mention of Wes’ alter-ego friend. “Let’s hope Ariana has outgrown him! Better get some just in case though.” This was fun. It was nice that her companions were playing along with everything. Plus, it had to help sell the story to the clerk. Other kids coming in would probably be stiff as anything, and petrified of getting caught. The way they were playing off each other, it had to be at least mostly believable.

Savannah could barely hide her excitement seeing Erica come up with the fabled blue bottle she had heard so much about. This was going to be hers for the evening, even if it did end up tasting bad. She would drink her mistake in that case. “Should we get some beers or ciders or anything? In case someone wants to play flip cup?” Flip cup was a game she had heard of before. That had to be a thing played at universities.

“Oh, good call,” Erica said, placing the Hpnotiq in Sav’s cart before turning around and grabbing two racks of Corona’s. She handed one off to Wes, and then replaced it with a large bag of solo cups that ended up snuggled next to the Hpnotiq. “And, last but not least, mixers!”

Erica led them over to the non-alcoholic drinks, where a variety of two liter bottles filled with juices and sodas were lined up. With her free hand, she passed down two bottles of Coke, for the rum, a lemonade for the vodka, and some fruit punch for a bowl of jungle juice. “We all set?”

Wesley added a case of Red Bulls to the pile of mixers and assessed their collection. Hopefully this was enough, because he was pretty sure that they were tipping pretty close to the edge of their budget. “Yeah, I think so. Besides like snacks, which I guess we’ll have to get somewhere else. Unless you guys already got that covered.” At the very least, food wasn’t really contraband, so they could easily buy them at the school store later.

Savannah offered a shrug. “We can run around to the gas station section to see what they got. If not, we can grab food once we get to campus. This is the important stuff.” A few packs of coolers hit the cart to balance things out but that would likely be all they would need. It was a bunch of high schoolers after all. One cooler would probably be enough for Hana. But no one would be getting anything if they were stopped at the checkout.

As “Kelsey” brought their wares to the counter, she motioned for the other two to back off for the moment. The less people present to ask questions the better. “Howdy,” she offered in her best Oklahoman accent, which sounded like her regular one but rougher. “Sorry ta make you work for this sale. Gotta lot here.”

“Ain’t got nothin’ better to do,” the clerk replied, shooting Savannah a white toothed grin. His eyes lingered on her, before flashing to Erica and Wes, sizing them up almost. The hair on Erica’s arm bristled, but she kept her cool. Just, keep smiling.

“Y’all go to school around here?” the clerk asked, in between computerized beeps from behind the counter.

“Nah, just passing through,” “Kelsey” confirmed. “Gonna surprise some friends with a right proper engagement shower. Just hope it don’t give some other people ideas, amirite? Can’t afford too many blenders this summer!” That seemed like a good enough reason to make the trip from dang near Arkansas through New Mexico to Arizona. She nodded back at Erica and Wes during that last bit. If nothing else, the clerk could draw his own opinions on who that was referring to.

“Well, your friends are lucky. From the looks of it, they’re in for a damn good time,” he said, smirking as he scanned the Hypnotiq. “You got an ID lil miss pink hair? Needa birthday to put into this bad boy,” he said, gesturing to the monitor that rested behind the counter.

While Savannah searched for her fake ID, Wes continued on with their charade. He put his arm around Erica's shoulders with a dumb grin and said, “I don't know, whadya think, babe? Should we get hitched and make Kels buy another blender? I mean, we'd probably be worth a full on KitchenAid mixer, two best friends in one and all that.”

Erica’s eyes widened as she felt Wes’ arm swing around her shoulder, but her grin remained steady as ever. She swung her own arm around him, squeezing them together harder than was probably necessary. “You know I’m just waiting on you to buy the ring, babe,” Erica said, doing her very best to keep the annoyance out of her voice. Her very best, wasn’t quite good enough.

“Calm down back there!” “Kelsey” shouted as she rummaged through her person for the wallet that contained the credit cards and Kelsey’s ID. “I ain’t made of mixers either! And I ain’t drivin’ anymore after whatcha pulled outside’a Weatherford!” She produced the Oklahoma license that she still had no idea how she acquired. But the pink hair matched the tone of the scowling picture and the date of Dec. 7, 2013 should be good enough for the clerk’s needs. “Sorry ‘bout the lovebirds. They do not know how to keep the PDAs to a minimum, ya know?”

The man behind the counter smiled, Erica wasn’t actually sure he’d ever stopped in the first place, and took a quick look at “Kelsey’s” ID. He punched her birthday in, and then directed her to the credit card kiosk on the counter. “Looks like two hundred in damages for ya,” he said.

Savannah breathed a sigh of relief. She wouldn’t have to dig into her personal account just yet. Maybe for snacks, but who knew if they needed to go heavy on those. “I can take the hit. Let me swipe these through,” “Kelsey” swiped the three gift cards the school had offered one-by-one, the first two being rendered useless afterwards but the third one showing $25 remaining. “Think the fine folks at VISA gotcha covered there, sir!” As the cash register dinged open, “Kelsey” motioned for Erica and Wesley to come grab their illicit gains.

Wesley did his best to carry the majority of the items, as a gentleman should. But by the arm strength of Erica’s unnecessarily tight squeeze, he was beginning to think she might be an even heavier lifter than him. “Thanks man, have a good’un.” He said to the smiley clerk before making his way towards the door.

Erica grabbed a rack, and a bag of clinking bottles, and followed Wes and Sav out to the car. “So, on a scale of 1-10, how necessary was it that Wes and I pretend to be a couple?” she asked, shooting Wes her classic side eye as the door swung shut behind her.

“Hey, I didn’t say nothin’,” “Kelsey” confirmed as she carried what the other two didn’t along with her repatriated fake ID and other belongings. “What y’all do on your time is on you.”

As the trio got their newly-acquired arsenal of booze to the van, “Kelsey” dropped her cargo into the back seat and Savannah breathed a huge sigh of relief. Her eyes were closed and her arms were shaking a little bit as the adrenaline from her dabbling in fraud and illegal activity was starting to wear off, pushing her back into her regular state. “But I’m glad we got through that. Good work, team. Mission accomplished.”

“Aw, c’mon, I was just getting into character!” Wes said in defense. Why was she so mad about it? “Was it because I touched your shoulder? Man, I’m sorry, I realized like half way through that was probably a bad idea because some people don’t like being touched but at point I had already committed and it’d look weird if I stopped.” The rambling intensified.

Erica rolled her eyes. He really hadn’t figured it out yet. “No… well yes, but, you know, I just think there are… other people who would prefer to be your fake boyfriend.” She heard the fuck up as soon as it rolled off her tongue. “Or girlfriend.” Shittiest save ever.

Savannah was looking back and forth between the two but was just getting confused at this point. Granted, she didn’t know Wesley that well prior to the hunt, but Erica was still acting a little weird about the whole thing. Plus the whole boyfriend remark… Was Wesley…? No. Couldn’t be. He seemed too macho for that. “Hey, you two did great, that was what mattered. I don’t know if the clerk knew or cared or whatever, but you sold it, and we got the goods. That was the important thing.”

Wes’ eyebrows stitched together from the backseat in response to Erica’s comment. It was enough to give him pause as he was shoving bottles of liquor into his large hiking backpack. Someone wanted to be his boyfriend? Was that just a slip of the tongue? Oh man, was it Theo?? Maybe that’s what the whole shirt thing was about… Thankfully, Savannah spoke up and stopped his head from spinning. “Yeah, we did it! And tonight’s gonna be a banger.” He said happily, squeezing his thoughts down into the backpack between the bottles of vodka and rum.

Project Untamed

_{Location | Guidance Office
Feat. NPC | Dr. Grace Ann Morris}

Dr. Morris took the few moments that she had between appointments to organize her notes. Being the sole student-facing psychologist of the San Agustin experiment could be exhausting at times, especially given the size of her heart. Grace had chosen psychological counseling as a profession purely because of this trait, and her too-big heart was the very reason that she was selected to act as the ‘school guidance counselor’ for the subjects of Project Untamed. Dr. Morris acts as a safety net for the teenage subjects, caring deeply for their wellbeing and monitoring them to ensure that they are never pushed too far for the scientific advances that the other doctors hoped to achieve in this experiment. Simply put, this study relied on Grace’s educational background and sound morality as an insurance policy to keep the students safe. If there was a big red button that could put a stop to this whole thing, it was Dr. Morris’ hand that hovered over it.

Filing away the previous student’s records, Dr. Morris took a seat in the chair sitting across from the sofa in her office. She was awaiting the arrival of Subject #2, Wesley Slater. He was assigned this number as he was one of the first subjects selected for the study — volunteered by his own father, a close work associate of Drs. Wayman and Hagerty. For this reason, Grace felt deeply for Wesley, even if he no longer had any idea of the real reason why he was here. As a mother of two, Grace could never imagine sending away one of her babies simply because they were different from what she expected them to be. Thankfully, she could be here for Wesley and root for him when no one else might.

Wesley was one of the students that Dr. Morris had weekly therapy sessions with. Their appointments were disguised as guidance office visits to discuss his plans for the future, as he expressed interest in going to college to study law, but also to check in on his diagnosed ‘narcolepsy’. In reality, these sessions were mandatory because of Wesley’s psychological condition and tendencies towards self-harm prior to the experiment. It was Dr. Morris’ job to ensure that he remained healthy and on course for the study and did not have any harmful relapses. In the event that he does have such a relapse, he would be brought in for the proper care and treatment, but so far, so good.

Subject #2 arrived in his usual manner, looking like he had just outrun the highway patrol. Huffing and disheveled, he took a seat on the sofa across from her. The left side. It was always interesting to note when students would choose right, left, or center. They almost always picked a preference and stuck with it. “Sorry I’m late, Grace.” He apologized, using her first name as Dr. Morris had offered for him to do once she realized that referring to anyone as “Doctor” made Wesley visibly uncomfortable — a trauma from his past that the scientists were unfortunately unable to overwrite.

“Actually,” Dr. Morris raised her hand up to glance at her rose gold wristwatch. “According to my watch, you’re one minute early. That’s a record, Wesley.” Grace offered him a warm smile as she reached for her notebook and pen off of the end table beside her. “How are things going? I heard your team won first place in the scavenger hunt, congratulations.”

“Hell yeah, we did!” Subject #2 replied excitedly, but his expression quickly changed to one of concern. “Err— sorry about cursing, Ms. Morris.” Wesley apologized, ever the polite and charming kid. Although Grace disagreed with his parenting on many levels, Dr. Slater did raise a wonderful son that would hopefully grow to be a much better man than his father.

“That’s quite alright, you sound excited, I get it.” Grace assured him. It wasn’t her job or place to police the language of the students, her office was a safe space for them to speak freely. “How were your teammates? Anyone in particular that lead the way to your victory?” Dr. Morris asked, her pen poised to begin taking notes.

“Uh…” Wesley looked towards the ceiling as he appeared to be in deep thought. “I guess if there was a leader, it was me. But like, we all helped. Couldn’t have done it without them. Talya and Sav seem pretty cool, it was good to get to know them. I might not’ve otherwise.”

“That’s good to hear, most students wished they could have picked their teams—” Dr. Morris began to state but was soon cut off.

“Well yeah, I thought that too at first. But I guess I can see why it was random, that way it wasn’t a popularity contest or whatever that could make people feel bad.” Wesley said and began to fidget in his seat. He never was good at sitting still for very long, unless of course he fell asleep, which had happened during one of their previous sessions.

“Exactly, you’re sharp, Wesley.” Grace complimented his astute observation. She made a note of his continued awareness and empathy in her notebook. “Just for the fun of it, who would you have picked for your team?” She asked, pen poised to take notes once again.

“Bradley and Griff, no doubt.”

“Bradley Barron and Griffin Pierce? Are they your friends?”

“Yup!” Wesley confirmed without much thought.

In a sudden surge of curiosity to test how deep the psychological overwrite of the study ran, Dr. Morris pressed dangerously further. “Just friends?” She asked, letting the not-so-subtle implication linger for a few tense moments.

Wesley’s fidgeting increased and his discomfort became readily apparent. He stopped toying with a loose string on the arm of the sofa and looked at her as if she had grown a second head. She realized that his change in demeanor wasn’t denial, he looked genuinely confused at her question. “... yeah?” Wes once again hyper focused on the loose string and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “I mean I guess we’re like best friends. Well, as best as you can get only having known each other for a few weeks.”

“That’s great, I’m glad to hear that you have found some close friends already.” Her once warm and genuine smile seemed a little forced as she responded, despite the honesty of her words. She was happy that Wesley found people that he could call best friends. It was the fact that she was jotting notes for his file that the experiment seemed to have completely overwritten his sexuality that had her feeling… corrupt. Sometimes this job just broke her heart, but she had to stick through it, for the students’ sake. She was their only true advocate here.

Cancelled - until next time family. Thank you for understanding.

_{@Plank Sinatra@TootsiePop@GhostMami}
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While AJ, Aleks, and Chris bantered with each other over fresh bread and spiced olive oil for dipping, the lunch crowd of Rao’s began to populate the restaurant. For the first time since this morning it was starting to feel like the road trip vacation of a lifetime that this summer was meant to be. The boys were comfortable, having let their guard down without the trappings of any post-high school drama weighing on them. They were laughing perhaps a bit too loud and boisterous for such a nice restaurant, yet no one shushed them or even looked twice. The ambiance and attitude of Vegas was all around them — it seemed that anything goes here, and it felt fucking awesome.

Having been previously consumed with a bout of ‘hanger’, Chris ordered an appetizer as soon as their waiter showed up to take their drink order. It seemed a shame to come to an italian restaurant famous for their meatballs without ordering said meatballs, so that is what Chris got as a starter. Munching happily on what was probably the best meatball that he would ever eat in his entire life, he offered a close-lipped grin at his friends with a stupidly euphoric expression. “Fucking delicious,” he said after swallowing a massive bite. “So, we’re here, we’re eating. What’s next on the agenda? How are we going to spend our first day, and night in Sin City?”

AJ’s chosen appetizer was bruschetta. Something his mom would usually get whenever they got Italian. For the most part, the host with the most wasn’t too picky, but he did have a pattern of getting things he was used to having, meaning ordering food his family preferred. It wasn’t that he didn’t crave anything or have urges, he just liked the familiarity of it all.

If his friends didn’t know by now, they would surely know by the end of this trip that little boy Tyler wasn’t good with change, hence the whole ‘last summer of our lives’ voyage across the country. Worries aside, he was finally able to focus on the moment and enjoy his time with some of the best guys on the planet. Yes, Aleks included. AJ’s excitement was not even close to Chris’ level, which made everything worth it in his book.

Half smiling, he watched his Valentine blissfully eat, like he never ate before. Finally, someone was feeling the vibes AJ was hoping he could get everyone to embrace. Sadly, the road trip started with drama. He could only hope the rest of the day would sail smoothly. Munching on Bruschetta topped with tomato salad, caramelized balsamic vinegar, and Grana Padano, he came to terms with how… ordinary Sin City was to him. To others, like Chris, this was a place to have wild and reckless adventures of a lifetime. To be surrounded with good people and wake up not remembering half the shit you did the night prior. To him, this was the third most visited place on his list. The other two being the roads of LA and his father’s go-to-campsite. Although the city didn’t excite him like it did when he was little, he did like seeing his friend enjoy himself.

“Wherever you want.” AJ shrugged at Chris’ question. He wasn’t necessarily the planner type. He was the idea guy. He brought something into existence, like this road trip, or passing through Las Vegas, and he’d let his friends take the wheel, while he cruised with no hands. “There’s a bunch of cabaret shows, so that’s a thing we could do. I think you’d like the zombie one, but I still want to see what everyone else is into.” Munch. Munch. Munch. Waving his bruschetta around as he talked, he cooly admitted, “I’m going with the flow, let people do what they want, pick and choose, you dig? There’s a lot happening, and I’ve been here PLENTY, so whatever you want, do it, man. With friends, of course, but you get what I mean!”

Aleks carefully rolled the tiniest of his ciabatta crostinis over his knuckles like a coin, mouth tugged up at one end in an amused little smile at Chris’ happiness. The decision to pick the restaurant was a double edged sword, a high-risk, high-reward scenario where he could have either disgraced his father’s name by acting like a jackass or brought his friends to a restaurant they were only okay with. At that point he might as well have taken them to a fucking Burger King. But thankfully everything had worked out.

He had mostly finished with his roasted peppers and mozzarella, and was now picking off the last, precious few of his lovingly-toasted crostini, careful to portion out his olive oil and remaining pine nuts for each. The one he was playing with like it was a quarter must have been the very crust end of a ciabatta, so he was careful not to overload it with portions before he ate it whole. He chewed over AJ’s hands-off declaration and swallowed before responding.

“Chloe and I saw the cabaret last year,” he said with a small shrug. “She wanted to go to the strip club. I see no reason to disenfranchise her. I could use something sleazy for a change. But that seems like denouement for the evening. As for pre-game…”

The token foreigner of the group narrowed his catlike eyes a little at Chris, head tilting sideways and teeth scraping his lip in thought.

“You know much about the cards, Chrissy?”

“Cabaret sounds fun, that’s the show with the girls dancing in lingerie with the big feathers and stuff, right? But there’s a zombie one? Sounds hot… I’m down.” Chris pondered as he finished up his appetizer and perused the menu for a main course option. He listened as Aleks said that he and Chloe would be skipping out on the cabaret, but Chris was still set on going. He could go to a strip club anywhere, the cabaret sounded like a more unique Vegas experience. Speaking of Vegas experiences, “Cards?” Chris responded to Aleks with a raised brow. “I played a poker phone game a while back, but that’s about it. Why? You lookin’ to teach me how to make a pretty penny while we’re here?”

Aleks shrugged innocently.

“I may have a little knowledge to impart,” he said simply. “If you had the patience to listen and learn, I could front you some training wheels money tonight. Although Chloe may yet wind up making both of us look like bitches..”

“I’ll pass with gambling.” AJ’s father had poker night with his friends bi-weekly, and AJ didn’t really like losing money in a game he didn’t have a high percentage in winning. He didn't have full confidence with card playing and he couldn’t count cards like some people. Racing was one thing, but cards? Nah man. “Knowing Ava and Rey…. they’ll drag poor Emi somewhere. I’mma stalk Em until I know she’s safe.” Ever since the break up, she’s been a hot mess and AJ couldn’t help but feel partially to blame. He withheld information, in hopes that she could find out the right way, through Brandon, but looking back… he probably should’ve told her. It’s as if he let it happen. Like he could’ve stopped the cheating, he could’ve protected her heart, but he didn’t. “There’s a few shows for whatever Cabaret we decide to go to! So, yeah, we can catch one later, for sure.”

In time, their waiter did come by and take their order. To AJ, while the calm was welcomed, it did unsettle him. The moment they leave this restaurant, things would move again and there was bound to be another explosion. He just didn’t understand why it was so hard for everyone to set their differences aside and get along. Hell, he was putting up with two pain in his asses! Reyna and now Katie. With high hopes, he believed tonight would be the night that would make people feel like this trip was worth it. They are worth it. At least, he could imagine.

After finishing a fantastic meal, Chris had to stretch from his fingers to his toes to feel human. He was a bit uncomfortably full for a lunch, but the meal was worth every bite. “So, casino and cabaret. Sounds like a fun night. Remind me… why do we have to go to the store right now?”

Aleks exhaled patiently, hands in the pockets of his jacket as he gently pushed in his chair with the tip of a sneaker. He supposed this hadn’t been covered while Chris was locked in Gotterdammerung with the receptionist downstairs at the Bellagio, but still, he found everyone’s exhaustion over the thought of so much as entering a convenience store a little taxing. Life had been very easy for them, having the fastest Uber Eats driver in LA for a friend. He had gone years without demanding tips from these paltry bastards, the least they could do was humor him for a couple bottles of Hershey’s.

“Chocolate syrup is a good addition to White Russian,” he reiterated, repeating what he’d told AJ earlier at the flat. “I need a few bottles if I’m going to make cocktails tonight. If you have a cute name I am all ears.”

“We’re going to the store so that you can make alcoholic choccy milk?” Chris confirmed with a teasing tone. “Shall we pick up sippy cups as well, then?” The right side of his mouth lifted in a half smirk.

”If you would like yours in one, yes.”

“Man I can’t drink milk, I ain’t about to spend our first night in Vegas on the shitter.”

Looking between his two friends, AJ narrowed his eyes in confusion while grabbing his debit card from the waiter, “...what is wrong with sippy cups?” Like it was just a cup? They were being judgy toward dishware. Waht.

“Oh my god…” Chris groaned at AJ’s comment and then said something in tagalog under his breath. He pushed open the door of the 7-Eleven that was around the corner from the restaurant and hoped that this conversation would be taken away with the breeze it generated. While Alek’s goal was chocolate syrup, Chris went to the snacks aisle to grab a few handfuls of stuff for munching at the hotel once everyone was drunk off of Aleks’... brown russians? That... probably wasn’t pc, but he had one even better. “Hey, what about Cocoa Commies?” Chris yelled the name suggestion over the aisle divider to his friend.

As Chris and Aleks went their own way, AJ was left at the slurpee stand. After hooking his sunglasses on his shirt, he debated what flavor he should try. Truth be told, he never had one. He’s heard only good things about these sugary-sweet-heart-attack drinks, yet it was rare for AJ to do his own errands or go to a 7-eleven. Therefore, he never needed one. Too distracted by the debate in his head, he didn’t hear the resounding sound of heels, with just the right balance of femininity and practicality. A woman with one hell of a rack leaned beside him and whispered, “Wild cherry is my favorite. Mm, but you look like a coke boy.”

Glancing over, AJ was taken aback. Was it natural for someone this… sexy to be in a 7-Eleven? Maybe he should come more often! Unable to answer her, he watched her lips as they sucked a red lollipop. Her face matched her body incredibly well. She was like a goddess, who didn’t belong here.

He would’ve thanked her, but he was so stunned he couldn’t speak. She simply simpered at him and pranced away down an aisle. He immediately grabbed a large cup and went for the coke. She suggested it, so he probably was going to like it! In the aisle right beside Chris, but two away from Aleks, Esme started whistling a familiar song that Aleks would be well aware of and randomly dropped things in her basket. She had a long day ahead of her, so he either took the bait or let it pass. The kids would be in for a surprise soon enough.

From the corner of his eye, Aleks watched AJ’s poor, malleable ass immediately select the Coke Icee like a simp. The woman looked at AJ with the note of glee universal among those who make successful food, fashion, or relationship recommendations - Aleks had just felt it himself, with how well their lunch at Rao’s had gone over - and went down the aisle, whistling to herself a song Aleks had learned well soon after arrival in America. It used to be one of his favorites.

He has kiiiilled Cleopatra, Cleopatra…

He switched playlists on his phone before leaving his aisle, two bottles of chocolate syrup in hand.

“I believe Cocoa Commies were knockoff cereal, brought to homeland to avoid temptation of the American Dogs and their Cocoa Krispies. My father says they tasted like Reeses Puffs,” he replied to Chris as he leapfrogged Chris’ aisle to reach the next one. Scanning the various bubblegum options on display, he took small, graceful sideways steps away from the end of the aisle and towards Esme. “What about Belikov Cocktail? A little egotistical?”

“Too pretentious, you should definitely call it The Leksi.” With her lollipop in her mouth, she went for a piece of random fruit bubblegum and unceremoniously opened it, placing two pieces in her mouth and the rest in her cart. Leaning her hand toward him, the one that held her sucker, she childishly offered the candy at the store, before putting her pop back in her mouth, “Want some?”

”Sure.” Aleks picked up two giant packs of gum, one peppermint, the other strawberry Trident. After a moment’s consideration he picked up some Bubble Tape too. His voice lowered to a quiet, accented purr. ”I don’t know why you bothered to come all this way. I got everything done before we left LA. I made sure. Did you forget to pack me a lunch, big sis? It’s cool, I do not mind.”

Interrupting Chris’ and Aleks’ conversation, AJ obnoxiously slurped his drink as he strolled down Chris’ aisle, “Yo, this just tastes like ice-y coke. I should’ve gotten wild cherry.”

I knew it.

“Dude… it’s a 7-Eleven… and we’re assholes.” Chris looked at AJ and shrugged. “Just go dump it out and fill the cup up with cherry instead.” They boys might be in a new city, but Chris would always be the same old Chris. Plus, it’s not like the acne plagued teenager behind the cash register was paying attention, and even if he was, ten bucks said he wouldn’t give a shit. “More importantly… cool ranch or nacho cheese?” He asked, pointing at the Doritos options. “Oh shit, they have Takis!”

“Buy them all. It’s a vacation, but I prefer nacho cheese.” After taking another sip of the coke slurpee, AJ dramatically sighed, “That’s a lot of effort, Chris. I just got here and now I gotta go back over there?”

Shrugging at Aleks hushed hushed tone, Esme ran her fingers on the snacks and teasingly smiled, “You might be seeing me more this lovely summer, if you don’t find something for me.” Gracefully, with an unbelievable amount of sex appeal, she looked toward the door where a big man waited for her in his car. “A flash drive Alejandro stole from his father.”

Aleks’ music felt like it was pounding in his ears. He didn’t even have to spare a look out to the front of the store for him to understand Esme’s body language, or the implicit warning therein.

“Spy movie bullshit,” he grumbled under his breath. “This has nothing to do with me. Sami and I have said fifty words to each other in our lives. Everyone brought flash drives with their laptops, too.”

He discreetly popped open the pack of strawberry gum and started to chew a piece over. Sure enough, the immediate rush of sugar, as well as the mechanical motions that came with chewing, started to calm the tongues of flame, licking away at his temper.

”What is on it--? No. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know, I don’t care, if it isn’t cars it is not my business. You know that. Tell him that, too.”

Rolling her eyes, Esme turned to him, dropping the suggestive act that she was known for, and coldly glared at him, “It is your business if something happens to that—” she pointed to AJ, before snapping her gum, “—boy over there. Or his friends. This was pure coincidence. I saw you pull up here and thought I’d relay a message. I’m not paid to hurt you, I’m paid to protect you, but as far as Hyde knows, we both want the same thing.”

She shook her head in annoyance, knowing it was getting around the time where her impatient driver would start thinking she was up to something (which she was). “Now, make sure you’re all out of your rooms at eleven tonight. I doubt your friend has it in his luggage, he isn’t dumb. Then, meet me at the pool at 5:30 am. If you’re not there, expect us to follow you, this whole trip. Got it?” This wasn’t a request, this was a demand and Aleks would know just by the way she looked at him that this was serious and not a child’s game of tag or cat and mouse.

“My big sister, looking out for me,” Aleks grumbled quietly, letting out the same impatient exhale he had earlier at Val’s antics. This trip had been cursed from the start. He should have just listened to Chloe and gone to fucking Tokyo or Thailand, but noooo. He had wanted to see America. Cursed, empty fucking America. Cheap, tacky fucking America. He would have been better off doing a tour of the country’s fucking Wal-Marts. He took another deep breath and finally relented, “...Maybe. I’ll see what I can do. Do you have a burner?”

“Duh.” Just when she was going to slip it to him, AJ poked his head and she pretended to trip, dropping it with all her snacks in her basket. “Oh rats. Clumsy me.”

“Wild cherry is SO MUCH better! Hey Chris! Look. Told you she’s hot.” AJ watched her bend over as she scrambled to pick her things back up. Instead of a verbal reply, Chris followed AJ’s gaze and nodded in appreciation.

Aleks was crouched on the ground next to her, putting his gum and the phone in the pockets of the burnt leather jacket that had once belonged to AJ Tyler before Aleks had lit it aflame. He helped gather up a few of the snacks and placed them in her basket, springing to his full height of six feet again with a fluid motion, starting from the knees and stretching up.

“You’re braver than I am, wearing heels in a 7-11,” Aleks joked, in the playful, polite tone he normally used. “Have a good day, alright? Try Converse next time you shop. They’re chic again. And you keep your balance easier..”

“Not a chance, Leksi.” She grinned up at him and then went back to pretending that they were strangers. Standing up, with her high red stiletto heels, she thanked him and then walked away. When she was certain the other two were distracted, she dropped the basket on the floor, only taking the gum and quickly went through the register. Once the exchange was done, she hurriedly went back to the car. From the glass door, it could be seen that the man she was with was annoyed that all she bought was gum for how long she was in there. Impishly innocent, she shrugged and gestured to her watch. With that, they drove off. The coast was clear.

“Leksi, huh?” Chris raised an eyebrow at the russian. It was impressive how quickly he could hit on total strangers. They were there, what, five minutes? And suddenly he’s getting new pet names. “Should we be expecting her to stop by in the dark of the night or what?”’

”I am sorry I have such a way with people,” Aleks deadpanned, chewing his gum innocently.

“Cosmos! Valentine! I’m ready to bounce.” AJ was already by the cash register piling the counter with all the bad goodies he decided was best to get for his suite.

You know who gave out the best nicknames?

HE DID.

Project Untamed

_{A @GhostMami & @smarty0114 Collaboration
Featuring Wesley Slater & Bradley Barron}
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While Headmaster Wayman droned on about the virtues of building connections with your peers, Bradley found himself wondering what their benevolent dictator had been like as a teenager. Had people been friends with this strange man? He found that hard to believe. Had someone harbored a secret crush on him, completely unaware of the boring, grey figure he would later cut through life? Would Bradley one day find himself a colorless shape amidst a crowd that couldn’t care less about him? He really fucking hoped not.

That didn’t change the fact though, that this man, boring them all to death, had been a teenager himself once. He might’ve had big dreams, like… well honestly he couldn’t even begin to imagine what interested someone like Headmaster Wayman, but he couldn’t have dreamed of announcing a scavenger hunt to a bunch of bored kids, right?

Bradley’s existential crisis was cut short by the end of Headmaster Wayman’s announcements, and the shuffling that accompanied his peers exiting the auditorium. He glanced over at Wes, who’d slipped off into dreamland at some point during the assembly, and gently nudged him awake. “You missed a riveting performance,” he said with his usual dosage of sarcasm.

“Ss-herm?” Wesley startled awake with a strange combination of a hiss and moan. His nap-laden, blurry vision focused on Bradley’s face as he blinked with a sleepy smile. Wes brought a hand to his eyes to rub away the tiredness. “Quite contrary… I was eating fantastic barbeque in an award winning pit restaurant in Texas, which was probably waaaayy more riveting.” The students around them were starting to chatter and leave their seats, but Wesley stayed seated and leisurely stretched out in his auditorium chair. “But… what did I miss?”

“Oh, well, thanks for the invite,” Bradley said. Whatever traces of melancholy that had plagued him since this morning vanished as he watched Wes slowly but surely rejoin the real world. It was a routine he’d grown accustomed to over the last two months. “No class on Wednesday. We’re all getting into teams to do a scavenger hunt instead,” Bradley said, delivering the news with some half-hearted jazz hands, as if to say, “Can you fucking believe this place?”

“What, really?” Wesley’s eyebrows shot up with excitement. Wes loved games and competition, and a scavenger hunt sounded way more fun than going to class. Clearly his best friend was not as amused as he was. “Get hyped, B-rad. We’re totally gonna win! You, me, and Griffin —er— once we go pick him up, at least. Dream team, dude!”

Bradley grinned, made happy simply by seeing Wes’ excitement. He relished it for a moment, a part of him impressed by the way he took things in stride. “As fun as that sounds, Wayman said that teams are assigned, and I’m pretty confident the universe hates me too much to put that God-tier team together,” Bradley said.

“Oh…” Wes replied sadly, his shoulders sinking slightly. For a moment he looked like a deflating balloon a few days after the birthday party. But it wasn’t too long before he perked back up. “Well, if we aren’t on the same team, I guess I’ll have to kick your ass then, Barron.” Wes said with a grin and stood up quickly. “Either way, we gotta go fetch our dude.”

“That we do,” Bradley said, clapping his hands against his legs before standing up. The two boys had promised their third Musketeer, Griffin Pierce, that they’d be there when they finally discharged him from the medical building. For a week or two, all anyone could talk about was how he got wheeled out on some stretcher, but by now, most of the talk had subsided. Bradley, stoic as he was, could admit that it would be nice to have their friend back. It had been kinda weird without him, and maybe he could use a buffer between him and Wes. Someone to keep him from completely fucking everything up. “C’mon. We can check our teams on the way,” Bradley said, leading them into the back of the herd that was exiting the auditorium.

Wesley took a look at the teams announcement that all of the students were crowding around. It didn’t take long to find his own name, and consequently have his hopes of the dream team totally dashed. That said, this was an opportunity to make new friends, and he was competitive as hell — so they still had a shot at winning regardless of who these mystery teammates were. “Talya… that’s the stunner whose dorm is across from yours, isn’t it? Dope. Not sure who Savannah is, though.” He looked now for Bradley’s name. “Awe, man, you got Teddy and TJ, you lucky fuck!”

Bradley laughed at Wes’ description of Talya, though internally his stomach was wrapping itself into knots. “Tal’s cool. Savannah’s the one with the pink hair, kind of always looks like she’s about to run for the nearest exit? She’s chill too,” Bradley said, trying his best to ignore the pangs of jealousy. He focused his attention on the list, confirming what Wes had said about his team. Not bad, not bad. “Hate to break it to you, but I think my team’s gonna crush your team,” Bradley said, smirking.

“Oh now you're feeling big?” Wes teased and punched at his friends shoulder. “Where was that font of confidence and excitement a few minutes ago?” Having gathered all of the information they needed from the assembly, Wes headed for the doors. Once outside and en route to the medical center, Wes spun around on his heels to face Bradley. It was hard to believe that this ball of energy was just passed out cold, but that was Wesley's life — cycles of extreme on and extreme off, rinse and repeat. “OH! Have you heard about this weekend, dude?”

“Well, that was before I found out that I’d have a six foot four, man of muscle on my team,” Bradley shot back. As they stepped out into the evening, Bradley inhaled deeply, glancing over to where the last bits of sunlight were slipping away past the horizon. It was a nice night, the afternoon heat having dissipated, leaving a pleasant coolness in its place. Maybe he’d be able to convince Wes and Griffin to go out later. “What’s going on this weekend?” He asked, looking back at Wes.

“A party, that's what!” Wesley replied excitedly, flashing a stunning smile. “Like a proper high school party, not some school-sanctioned shit. San Agustin would certainly not approve.” He punctuated the sentence with a mischievous eyebrow wiggle and a pep in his step. “Pretty sure Erica and TJ are hosting, so you can probably get better deets, being teammates and all. Whadya say?” Wes looked at his friend expectantly, “Feeling like causing some trouble as my party date?”

“Yes!” Bradley said, quickly and with much more enthusiasm than usual. He hadn’t even had time to think about it before the agreement came tumbling out of his mouth. It only took a split second for him to piece together that Wes had meant date in a metaphorical sense, and not in the sense that the night could end with them making out. Because that was impossible. “I mean, yeah, yeah, it sounds fun. Maybe I can find out where they’re getting the booze from? Maybe there’s other kinds of contraband we can smuggle in,” he added, hoping to move quickly past his slip up.

Thankfully for Bradley, Wes was completely oblivious to the misunderstanding. He was just pumped for the party and the fact that his bestie was equally excited to go. Brad’s mention of further contraband also piqued his interest. “And that, my friend, is why we get along so well.” Wes said as he swung his arm over Bradley’s shoulders in a friendly gesture as they walked. “I like the way you think. Any ideas on what? And how?” The pair approached the threshold of the medical center and Wes thought twice about their conversation. “On second thought, let’s put this discussion on pause until after we get Griffin.” He leaned in closer and whispered the next part, eyeing the security camera at the entrance, “Big brother’s always watching.” Wes parted from Bradley’s side after that with what would be a stoner giggle, except he’d never smoked a day in his life. At least, not yet.

Bradley looked up at the security camera, fixing his gaze on the lens for a few moments, Wes’ words running in a loop through his head. “Good call,” he said, returning his eyes to the entrance. There’d be time for plotting the vandalism of their school later.

Meadow University

Most of her fellow students had already gone crying to mommy and daddy about the recent events at college following the Bash she had missed out on. Shiloh, however, had not yet. It wasn’t that she was afraid to, far from it, her parents probably wouldn’t give two shits about it. It was mostly that she just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. She instead was focusing on her classes and getting ready for the school year to start in full swing after recovering from her cold.

Now was probably as good as time as any, sitting at her desk beating her face for a night out with the boys. With any luck the night would involve more than just the boys… a girl would be nice, but time would tell. With dark eyeshadow applied to only one of her eyelids so far, Shi dialed her dad on Facetime and sat the phone back down on her desk, propped up at an angle towards her face.

After a few rings, the dark curly haired, middle-aged rocker answered. “Hey BettySketty, the hell you doing going a whole week without talking to your old man?!” He greeted in his familiar, excitable tone. Wes Clay had a way of talking that made it seem like he was always just about to tell you the craziest, most outlandish news… when in reality he was just shooting the shit with you.

Shiloh turned from her mirror to smile into the phone, makeup brush in hand as she paused from application. “Hey Pops, sorry, I’ve been... busy.”

“Holy shit, I’ll say. Busy getting punched in the eye, looks like.” Ah yes, glorious dad jokes. How would she ever survive a single semester without them?

Rolling her eyes, Shiloh shook her head and laughed. “Woww you’re soooo funny. If you guys get tired of Mutiny, maybe you could go on the road as a comedy show instead.” She replied sarcastically and went back to applying her makeup. “Is mom around?”

“Awe, what? Is unfunny dad not good enough?” Wes replied with a mock pout.

“Ha, no. It’s just that I wanted you both here to talk about this.”

Wes’ jokester mood immediately shifted to paternal concern. “She’s at work still. Why? What’s going on, Betts?”

“Well, I don’t know if the school e-mailed you guys or whatever. But the whole junior class got put on academic probation because there was a big party last weekend and there was a fight and it all got recorded and posted by some narc.”

Wes was quiet for a few moments. Long enough for Shiloh to look away from the mirror to check if he was actually upset or something. “Damn, did you at least have a lot of fun at the party?” That was the dad she knew, all was well.

“I wish… I didn’t go. I had strep throat, remember?”

“Oh shit, right. What the hell then, and you’re being punished anyway?”

“Yeah. Well, kinda. I asked Theo about what academic probation even is, I thought it was a jock thing. But it seems like as long as I keep my grades up and remain on my ‘best behavior’ I should be fine.” She said, air quoting best behavior. They both knew that Shiloh never had best behavior, it just wasn’t in her DNA.

“Well, even if you don’t, Betts, you’ll be fine. I know that school was your top choice, but if they want to pull some kind of shit like that and actually expel students over parties they didn’t even go to, then there are plenty of other colleges out there that would be lucky to have you. Your mom and I support you no matter what, you know that.”

“Yeah, I figured. Which is why I didn’t rush to tell you like everyone else here seemed to do with their parents. With the amount of extra rich and annoying Karens and Kevins that are probably flooding the administrations inboxes, I doubt this is even going to last.”

“Ugh, wouldn’t want that job.” Wes replied jokingly and lit a cigarette on the other end of the line. “I see you’re taking the best behavior thing seriously... where you lookin’ to go cause trouble tonight?”

Shiloh was finished with her makeup now, twisting the mascara wand back into the tube. Looking back to her phone, she explained, “Not sure, some bar or club. I’m meeting up with Theo and Connor in a few.” Shi tapped her phone to see what time it was. “Actually, I should probably hang up now, I still have to get dressed and head to the manor.”

“Alright, be safe and knock ‘em dead, Black Betty.”

“Always, love you!” Shiloh replied and hung up the call. Rushing towards her closet, she selected her dress for the evening. It was a simple draped black fabric dress that hung close to her body and had cut outs exposing the sides of her stomach. She paired the dress with some bangle bracelets and topped the ensemble with her signature pink and black leather jacket. An outfit wasn’t properly Shi-ified without a punk touch. Heading out the door, she sent out a text in the group chat with her, Theo, and Connor.

To: The Three Musketeers
leaving now
ill be at the manor in 5

Project Untamed

_{Location | Cafeteria}

Wesley really wasn’t trying to stare at Teddy. That would be rude, and Wes tried his best not to be rude. Meddlesome? Yes. Problematic? At times. Mischievous? Most definitely. But outright rude? Never! That was no way to make friends. That said… he couldn’t help that his eyes kept wandering back to his shirtless, hunky friend. Concentrating on his protein-packed breakfast, he prayed to any gods that there might be for some kind of distraction.

This blessing came in the form of a fashionable and somewhat flashy woman with long braided hair. Wes recognized her from around the halls, but they had never been properly introduced. Thankfully, the charismatic girl made quick work of rectifying that. “Well gooood morning, you two! Theo, lookin' good as always. How are you two doing this morning? Oh, I'm Zakya, by the way... if you didn't already know. I don't think we've ever been formally introduced or anything like that. But I see you around all the time!”

“Likewise, nice to finally meet you. Zakya’s a cool name, I’m Wes.” He replied with a wave and flashed one of his prize winning smiles. He couldn’t help but notice that her eyes were mostly on his breakfast companion. Not that he could blame her, so were his only a few moments ago. Teddy greeted her in return and explained his shirtlessness by stating that they had just gone on a run. Zakya seemed to act like it was no big thing, probably not caring why he was shirtless and just glad that he was shirtless. Once again, he couldn’t blame her there.

“Word on the street is there's gonna be a party this Friday night... hosted by those lovely ladies over there. You two plan on attending? Cause you definitely should!” Her eyes lit up as she dished the scoop on an upcoming party.

“Oh? ...Yeah maybe… what do you think Wes? Was Teddy’s lackluster response.

“What do you mean maybe?” Wesley’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. It was as if his friend just said that he didn’t like ice cream or something. Everyone likes ice cream, even lactose intolerant people! “Hell yeah I’m going, this sounds like the most exciting thing to ever hit this campus. Literally. Do you think they’ll manage to get booze?” The wheels were already turning in the troublemaker’s mind.

“I’ll spread the word, hopefully it’ll be a banger. Anyway, I gotta get to class.” The lanky teen stood up and grabbed his lunch tray. “Catch ya later, Teddy, and nice to meet ya, Z.” He said with a wave goodbye and made his way to the trash to empty his tray.

Now empty handed, Wes walked over to his lab partner’s breakfast table, where he was still chatting with his friends. “Yo, Leo!” He greeted the jock. “You coming to class? We’re probably already late, man. But more importantly, have you heard about the party this weekend?”

Cancelled - until next time family. Thank you for understanding.

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Perhaps volunteering to drive the RV had been a bit… premature of him. Chris couldn’t help it, he saw a friend in need and he had to help, so his mouth just went ahead and offered to drive before his brain could catch up. AJ was in no shape to drive after Val’s swift kick. His boy needed a break to sleep it off, or something like that. So here Chris was, sitting behind the wheel of the largest vehicle he had ever operated. Seriously, aside from his mom’s old honda civic that he learned to drive on, he pretty much solely stuck to his motorcycle. This tank was much larger than a bike… and a civic.

That said, with Chris being a gearhead through and through, driving the RV went completely smooth. No rich kids died in the making of this road trip. AJ had passed out in the passenger seat, clearly comfortable enough to do so. All was well, and the rag-tag group of gearfits arrived at the Bellagio right on schedule. Chris leaned down to take in the sight of the place through the windshield and remarked a simple, “Damn.” This place was swanky as fuck.

“Aight, everyone get the fuck out. I need to park this thing and stretch my legs.” He instructed. His words were harsh, but his tone was friendly enough. He was excited to properly get this show on the road, and it was starting to show through his rough exterior. Once all of the teens piled out onto the sidewalk with their luggage in tow, Chris put the beast in gear and dialed in the address of this temporary parking area on the GPS.

AJ had offered to come along with Chris to park the RV, but he assured him that he’d be fine on his own. He would use the alone time to relax, decompress, and have a smoke outside. AJ’s compromise was to at least pay for Chris’ lift back to the hotel, which the punk happily accepted. Who the fuck knows how much an Uber in Las Vegas costs anyway, it would probably be obscene.

Chris lit up a Marlboro as he waited outside the temporary lot for his ride to show up. Staring out at the streets, Chris exhaled a stream of smoke as he took in the skyline of the strip in the distance. Shit, he was really out here in Vegas right now. Who would have thought making friends with a kid at a street race would lead to this? He took another drag and smiled gratefully at his situation as a sleek black car rolled up to the curb. Seeing the light in the windshield, Chris flicked his cigarette to the ground and stomped it out before hopping into the backseat.

“The Bellagio, huh?” The driver asked after a few minutes spent in traffic. The question was accompanied by an inquisitive raised eyebrow that Chris caught in the rearview mirror. He smirked, of course there was doubt.

“Yeah…” Chris responded as he watched the wide variety of people out on the street through the window. “Landed me a rich girl with a bad boy fetish, we’re gonna have a good time.” He lied smoothly. Why lie? Why the fuck not? Plus, maybe there was something to that whole ‘speak it into existence’ mentality. Anything’s possible in the span of a teenage summer, right?

The driver nodded and laughed. “Good deal man, good deal.”

The rest of the ride was silent up until they pulled up to the hotel and said their goodbyes. Twirling the RV keys around his index finger, Chris walked up to the valet man waiting at the front door entrance. “Hey man, where should I turn in keys for vehicles to be picked up from the Uber-Lyft pick up point?” The well-dressed worker instructed him that the valet office desk was right through the glass doors and immediately on the left. Nodding, Chris made his way inside and laid the keys down at said desk. The woman behind the counter asked for the name of who would be picking the keys for the vehicle up. “Uh… Sonya Kable. Make sure to ask for ID, this thing is worth more than my actual human life, so I’m not gonna be responsible for it getting stolen.” The woman laughed politely and assured him that it was their policy to always check IDs. “Thanks, Linda.” Chris replied, tapping the desk twice with his hand before turning to enter the hotel lobby fully.

The place was massive and marbled, with opulent gold accents. It looked like a scene straight out of a movie — in fact, Chris immediately thought of the Continental from John Wick. The leather-jacket clad teen most definitely looked out of place as he looked around, mouth agape. He took a moment to shoot a text to AJ asking which room he should head to before walking towards the elevators in the back right side of the lobby.

“Can I help you, sir?” One of the women, a blonde, at the front desk asked as he passed by. He turned to look up from his phone to be greeted by her somewhat judgmental looking gaze. Chris’ eyebrows knitted in confusion, “Oh, no. I’m just heading up to my room. Already checked in, thanks.” He offered a fake smile and turned on his heel back towards the elevators.

“And… which room is that?” She asked with an equally fake smile as his back was to her. You gotta be fucking kidding me… Chris thought to himself and took a moment to silently grind his teeth before turning to respond to the obvious grilling.

“Dunno,” He shrugged, letting his arms swing out wide at his sides. “I just texted my buddy to get the room number.” He replied honestly, but he could already tell where this train of questioning was headed.

“What’s your buddy’s name? I can look it up in the system for you.” Another fake customer service smile.

“AJ—A-Alfie Tyler.” He corrected with an awkward stutter, realizing AJ’s full name was probably needed.

After a few seconds of tapping on her keys, the blonde smirked proudly as if she’d just won a massive bet. “We don’t have any rooms listed under that name.”

“What?!” Chris asked incredulously. Was she playing a fucking game right now? Just as she looked like she was about to call for security, he threw his hands up in surrender. “I’ll call him, alright? I’ll have him come down, chill, jesus…” Chris aggressively tapped through his contacts to ring AJ.

“Hey man, can you come down?” Chris asked as soon as the line picked up. “These assholes—” He made a point of glaring directly at the blonde front desk worker. “—at the front desk think I’m too poor to be here and plan on stealing their sparkling water or some shit. Let’s go get some food before my hunger makes me really make a scene right now, because I’m feeling a little bit profiled, not gonna lie.”

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