Hey Im Jordan

CANCELLED.

_{@Fabricant451, @Lovely Complex, @Silent Observer, @Silver Carrot, @Me
Starring: Henry “We Gonna Have a Good Time” Green, Min “Anxiety Ridden” Seo, Stella “Light ‘Em Up” Locke, Trixie “Black is my Color Now” Kingsley, Marshall “Stripper Pout” Radley, Luna “I Got You” Locke, and Charity “Is This God’s Plan?” Spencer
Featuring: Ty “Being a Dad is Hard” Locke, and Juliana “It’s Really Not, Ty, These Kids Kept Me Up All Day Now You Drive Them to the Party” Locke
Location: Sunset Spa}

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Henry was headed toward the spa his half-mom owned. Step-mom? Part-time mom? Henry wasn’t sure what title to place on Julie, as she had been integral in raising him as much as anyone else, but she wasn’t his actual mom. She was family, though, and that’s what mattered. Even if she wasn’t, her children were still his half-sisters! And those were really who he was here to see. Luna and Stella were gonna help him out.

He looked over at Min-seo, who was the only other person in the car — Parker had been traded off to Butler for the evening, leaving a rare opportunity where Min was able to sit in shotgun beside him instead of in the back. “Don’t worry, the twins are gonna get you more party ready than you’ve ever been. They live for this kind of shit.” He explained, giving her a smile and a pat on the knee. Henry had sent a small text message off to the twins explaining the situation:

To: The Twins

bringing my date. makeover pls. u know what i like

And without waiting for a reply, Henry had left. He was on a time crunch, after all. Brian wanted him at the boat early, for who knows what reason. Brian was confusing to talk to, let alone work with. But, he was cool. “We’re gonna have a great night, Min. Trust me,” Henry said, giving her a wink as they pulled in front of the spa. “I’ll wait here until they come get you.”

There was a certain sense of excitement in the car and it wasn’t just from finally being able to ride in the front seat. The party was only a few hours away and Min-seo was going to attend as a guest of honor instead of the help; more importantly, she was going as a date. A date! Her first real, honest American date! Kit had helped her keep the excitement going, and while she wasn’t exactly sure why she needed to go to a salon, if it meant a better party experience, then she would give it a shot.

“You did not have to...it is a lot of trouble...for me.” Min-seo was glad to be going to the party, of course, but part of her couldn’t help but to think she was putting Henry through a lot of unnecessary trouble for her sake. “But...I am happy. I am...excited.”

Henry grinned at Min. “Hey, it’s okay. Besides…” Henry, at this point, leaned forward and pressed his lips against Min’s. Henry let it linger for a small length of time, before he pulled away from her, smiling all the while. With another wink, he finished his statement. “...I’m sure you’ll make it up to me tonight. Come on, let’s go inside.” He said, hopping out of the car and strolling into the spa.

Once inside, he went straight to the receptionist desk, and smashed on the bell. Ding! Ding! Ding! “Where are the twins?”

Min didn’t immediately follow Henry out of the car as she was far too stunned to move. On a normal enough day she lagged behind others due to the language gap, but here the sluggishness was for an entirely different reason. Henry had kissed her. That’s what he did. He did it so...suddenly and without any form of warning, like he had done it before. Min had never, until that moment, and her first kiss being so...casual was not at all how she pictured it.

By the time she had even come down from the realization the car was empty and Min-seo was still unsure if the kiss was good. It was sudden, but it didn’t feel bad. It wasn’t the magical moment that she pictured, but if she could do it again...she would. The confusion and minor conflict carried as she left the car and entered the spa proper, standing just behind Henry and not meeting his gaze.

”Maybe they...at lunch?” As unlikely as it was, at the moment it made as much sense as getting kissed in a car out of the blue.

The person to arrive to the scene was not the twins, but the owner of the salon and Henry’s sorta-not-really-depends-on-how-you-look-at-it mother. With a bounce to her step, Julianna’s short, blonde hair fluttered in the air and her black and white outfit clung to her body divinely. Approaching the desk, she beamed at the two waiting for her, “Henry! And… Min...seo.” Hopefully she got it right. “I’m assuming you’re here for the girls? They’re finishing up Trix and Marshall right now.”

There was a blonde girl sitting on one of the chairs in the waiting area, reading a magazine. She had also rang the bell not even five minutes ago and had been told that Trixie wasn’t quite ready to meet yet but shouldn’t be too much longer. Hopefully, Julianna had passed on the message to Trixie that Charity Spencer was here. Charity looked up from her magazine when she heard Henry’s name. She had to admit, she was surprised that he was here. It must be a coincidence. From what he’d told her earlier, he and Trixie weren’t on good terms.

“Yeah, they’re supposed to do me a favor and get Min-seo party ready? I guess I didn’t give them a whole lot of warning. Maybe they forget.” Henry frowned, making a face toward Julie. The party would be a helluva lot less fun if Min-seo didn’t get a makeover before it. Though, Henry supposed he could always bring her in the next day, and they could have a party of their own… Still not as much fun as showing her off.

Henry’s thoughts were broken by the sound of an older man, “Henry’s here! ...Henry’s here. Why is Henry here?” The voice belonged to none other than Henry’s father. Henry looked up at his dad and a grumpy look appeared on his face.

“I can come here if I want, dude. It’s a free country.” Henry grumbled, folding his arms over his chest. Ty stared at Henry for a few seconds, before giving an apologetic grin, scratching behind his head.

“Right… Forgot I’m in trouble. You’re gonna have to give it up eventually, dude.” Ty said, before he took his place beside Julie, waving at Min. “Min’s here too! It’s like a double whammy! What’s up, Min?”

“Henry, they didn’t forget. This here is a business and my babies have been working all day with me. We are more often than not extremely busy, from dusk to dawn, which is why appointments are recommended but because you are my son and Trixie, my niece, I did fit Min and Charity in. I can’t always do that but luckily it’s a Tuesday and not the weekend.” At this point in her life it was hard for Julie not to consider Henry one of her children. That’s what happens when you watch a kid grow up, beside his mothers and father. The dynamic of their family was undoubtedly weird but it was her family and she wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Before anyone could say anything more, the twins were the first, more so Stella than Luna, to rush into the lobby, throwing the glass door open, which led to the salon part of the Castle. Stella cleared her throat, to get the audience’s attention, while Luna held the door open. Waiting. “Friends!” Stel’s eyes went to Min. “Family!” Then Henry. “And people I do not know!” Her eyes stopped at Charity. “After minimal effort, because these two are absolutely gorgeous without the Locke twins’ magic, I give you the fashionable, the ready to rock, the ready to party, the ready to get LAID, our hottest NOT-Couple of the century. Trixie Kingsley and Marshall Radley!”

Latched on her gentleman’s arm, her token guy for the night until they regrettably did something stupid and probably got involved with the guys that have been consuming their minds the entire day, Trixie strutted down the hall and out where everyone was waiting. With her dark hair of wool, wildly down and over her shoulders, and her head held up high, she waltzed in effortlessly and with the prominence that made her an IT girl in the first place. The clicking of her heels added an unspoken rhythm to their catwalk. She was still very much in her ‘black’ phase, which accentuated the sensual woman inside of her, with the obvious goal to turn heads. Her brown eyes scanned the room at all the faces she knew and a smirk fell on her face when she saw both Min and Charity.

The aforementioned not-couple strutted out through doors as if it were a high-fashion runway. They walked hand-in-hand, which would have been adorable, if they weren’t looking so damned fierce as they did so. Marsh extended his arm outward in a snap to spin Trixie out and then pulled her back to dip gracefully in the threshold. He smiled down at his friend before leaning back up and releasing her to continue strutting towards the newcomers on her own, like the absolutely queen that she was. Still very much in the moment of their dramatic entrance, Marshall gave the ‘audience’ his very best stripper pout before dropping it low the ground. He bit his lip sensually as he slowly, very slowly, returned to a standing position. Once he was standing again, his tipsiness caught back up with him and he burst into a brief bout of giggles, hiding them behind a cupped hand. Swooping over to the twins, he kissed each of their cheeks in turn. “Fabulous job, as always, my loves.” Marshall turned his gaze to his freshly-arrived classmates now, he spoke: “Hello ladiesss… and… not lady.” His eyes settled on Henry last.

“No need for compliments, we’re amazing, we know.” Frankly, Luna had the right to be boastful. Trixie and Marshall were masterpieces. 2 down. 2 more to go. Then, and only then, will she and her sister get ready for the party. Of course, they were going! Rarely did they have opportunities to go to a Beverly Hills High bash, due to beauty school obligations and hanging out with their own friends. But this party was on a Tuesday night. Worked PERFECT for them. “Now, we’d love to play catch up but we have a bigger project ahead of us.” Both the twins looked at the religious girl with contemplation and determination on how they’d transform her. Min would be easy. Min had a body of a model. This girl though… Charity? It would be a Princess Diaries kind of transformation. “Final goodbyes while—”

“—I start on her immediately.” Stella was quick to grab Charity’s hand, marching back into her fortress with she made the impossible possible. The christian girl was too confused to fight, and let herself be led off her seat while trying to say something, but though her mouth moved, nothing came out.

Henry looked at Trixie, then looked at mom #3, and then at his one and only father, then back at Trixie, then at Marshall. Finally, Henry folded his arms over his chest, and made his comment. “Ya’all gonna turn this party into a goddamn murder scene, ya got Owen’s ex lookin’ like a snack and Owen will gouge out the eyes of whatever dude hooks up with her.” Henry said, before giving a shrug of his shoulders. Not his problem. He stepped back over to Min and stood in front of her, looking down at her.

He smiled at her, satisfied that his sisters were going to take care of Min for him. He took his hand, and put it on the small of Min’s back, pulling her a bit closer to him, before he leaned down and kissed her again, this time a little less of a peck, and much more of a kiss. After it ended and he finally pulled away, Henry winked at her, “Be good, Min.” Then he looked over at Luna, “And you be good to her.” With that, Henry was outta there, walking out of the door without looking back.

“Bye, Henry.” Ty called to his son. This was met with an immediate reaction from Henry: he raised one hand high above his head, flashing a middle finger at his father. Ty frowned, and looked at Min, then Henry’s finger, then to Juliana. “Well, I guess he’s definitely my son, huh?”

Juliana responded with a impish giggle, “Your one and only.”

After responding with an eye roll to Henry’s words, yet internally absolutely agreeing with him, Trixie turned on her heel and trailed behind Stella and Charity. “I know you’re here to talk about something vital to your life, that probably cannot wait, but, I’m going to be selfish and make you wait. Let’s transform you into a showstopper then we’ll see how I’m feeling. Okay?”

“AND you should have some Sex on the Beach. So delish! We can’t possibly let you go to the biggest party of the year SOBER.” Stella chimed in exuberantly. Peer pressure at its finest.

“Wait!" Charity started to protest, before she actually stopped to think about it. Maybe this was a sign. Pamela had suggested she write about both parties, and not knowing what happened at the beach party was why she was having so much trouble with her current story. As long as she committed no sin, there would be nothing wrong with simply attending this party, observing it, and writing about it. She wouldn’t even have to go into much detail with the other party! Perhaps this was God’s plan. “Actually, nevermind. I will not be drinking, though."

“You ready, Min?” Luna approached the foreign exchange student that took the place of Cyndi for a semester or two. “I know what my brother wants, but I also know what’ll look fantastic on you. I want you to feel comfortable in what you’re wearing. So, if you don’t like anything I do, let me know, please. I’m sure my brother wants you to be happy and I’ll do exactly that. Tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen. Want to make my brother’s eyes not stray from you? I got you, babygirl. Want to hide your naughty bits and leave it to his imagination? I can do that too and still make you fine as hell.”

Min felt like she had walked into a tornado. Everything around her was just moving so fast and everything was spinning. The salon was empty, then it wasn’t. Familiar faces and not. People coming and going about who looked like they were wasted, talent wise, at a spa of all places, but maybe it brought them joy. The poor girl already knew she was in slightly over her head when Henry suggested it, but it only proved itself to be true the more people showed up - with Min doing little other than waving to the ones she recognized and flicking her eyes back towards the door as if running out for some air would be the ideal solution. Since stepping through the doors she felt as if she had said maybe two words, but the way everything was playing out, between fellow schoolmates being shown off like models, down to the vibrant conversation, Min felt almost like she was suffocating. Drowning, much as she had felt at the beach house when her only concern was accidentally killing someone via alcohol poisoning.

Again she thought of home and how different it was. A salon at home was a bit less...chaotic. Appointments were made and the atmosphere was more muted and relaxed. Women came there to get their hair done or be gussied up before a date or meeting; Min-seo was only familiar with them at the behest of her stepmother who took beauty and fashion and marriage seriously; seriously enough to instill the belief that a political or social marriage was all Min-seo was good for. Needless to say, spas and salons were not the highest on Min-seo’s preferred haunts.

Just as the transfer student was about to have a slight bit of a panic attack, everything went muted and slowed to a crawl - except for herself and Henry as she was, unexpectedly, pulled into a kiss. A different one from what had been her first one. Had Henry picked up on her unease? It didn’t matter why he did it, just that he did, and it was damn near enough to have Min-seo overwrite the first kiss in her mind. It wasn’t under the stars or set to some serenading music, but it was...good. Soothing. It was exactly what Min-seo needed to keep herself from being a nervous mess surrounded by all the white noise of the spa.

When the kiss broke, Min-seo was calmer. Calm enough to feel like the tension was floated out of her. Calm enough to go through with this whole crazy idea. She was on her own now, Henry was leaving and Min-seo had little choice but to trust in these people. ”What I..want?” Min-seo found her voice again, it was still soft spoken but there was a bit of assurance there all the same. ”I want to...make happy. I will...trust you. Okay.” Her attire, her makeover, was now in hands other than her own.

CANCELLED.

_{@Lovely Complex, @smarty0114, @Silent Observer, @Silver Carrot, @melissahart, @Universorum
If I forgot you, fuck off. That’s a lot of people.
Featuring: A “Wyatt’s Abandoning Me” Double, Q “I’ll Make you Feel Better Tonight ;)” Last Name Not Applicable, Topher “Come to the Party!” Jones, Wyatt “Actual Abandonment Issues Oh My God” Durand, Gabby “I Have a Dream(land)” Garcia, Rif “Food Is Life” Raf, Rose “I Wanna Party!” “Don’t Call Me Ilyana” Powers
Location: Wing It!
Time: Lunchtime
Interacting With: Motherfucker, there are like 12 characters in this post. Do they really need to interact with more?}

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The weathered sign above the restaurant declared the location as ‘Wing It!’ and it had stood vigilant for longer than any of the people walking into it had been alive. Wing It! had endured no less than seventeen rebrands, had been passed around like a peace pipe between four owners (all family), and one untimely felon case (weed cookies with meals were illegal in 2017, who knew?) in its earlier years. Nowadays, it was relatively slow, but it made enough money to turn a profit and stay there. Through all of this, one constant remained: the head chef stayed. Rick had been through thick and thin with the restaurant, and most people referred to the place as ‘Rick’s,’ rather than whatever name the owners had decided to dub it at the time.

It was Rick who made the recipes. It was Rick who lovingly tested different seasoning combinations, and created different rubs. It was Rick who breaded and fried the chicken tenders, the chicken thighs, the wings, even the whole breasts. Rick remembered A Double’s and his company’s names, Rick cared about those kids, dammit.

As a result of such, despite the looks oncomers gave them (likely a result of the weed smell that followed them wherever they went), Rick was delighted to see the kids pop in for another delicious lunch cooked by him. “A Dubs! Rose! Q! Wyatt! Raf! Two new people!” He said from behind the bar, where he was wiping the counter down; another slow day.

A Double waved, then pointed to Gabby and Topher, “hi, Rick. This is Topher and Gabby. What’s on the menu?” He asked, though A Double knew exactly what was on the menu; he could almost recall the entire thing verbatim. In response, Rick walked out from behind the counter and grabbed a stack of menus, leading the group to the bar, where A Double pulled himself up onto the centermost stool, and began to spin in circles. It was a practiced maneuver, executed by a professional. Once everyone was seated and supplied with menus, Rick gave them a nod and disappeared into the kitchen. Soon enough, the waitress would be by to get their orders.

A Double looked at Gabby and Topher, “lunch and dessert are on me! To celebrate new friends! So eat as much or as little as you want.” He said with a beaming smile and a thumbs up. Despite talking, A Double never ceased his spinning on the barstool.

As Gabby looked over the Menu, she smirked at Topher. “Fancy meeting you here!” she chuckled. “Though with those game designer skillz, it was only a matter of time before your paths crossed with this group.” Gabby then turned to the rest of the table. “I met Topher for the first time earlier today, at programming class. You guys have to play the games he makes. They’re pretty darn good!” she advised them, before looking back at her menu, and muttering “I can’t deciiiiiiide...” to herself.

“Thanks, man.” Topher gave an appreciative smile to his new friend A Double. He didn’t go out to eat too much, as he was ballin’ on a budget, so this was an unexpected surprise. Looking over to Gabby as she spoke, Toph nodded awkwardly, as he didn’t usually lead with the fact that he programmed. Usually, his music and his songs came up first in conversation, or his intimidating air, but as this was a new crowd for him, he decided that a change in pace wouldn’t hurt. “Yeah, A Double invited me to tag along during our smoke break.” He replied, running his hand through his hair as they sat down at the bar. “The games themselves need some improvement, but if you guys would be interested in test driving them, go right ahead.”

The beanie-clad boy gazed down at the laminated menu in his hands. So many delicious options, and the only things Raf had decided upon were potato wedges… and some type of wing. The sauce and dust options for said wings was the tough choice, as there was an entire page dedicated to just those options alone. Jamaican Jerk… Wild West Mesquite… The Godfather’s Garlic… Satanic Sriracha… It seemed that Riff wasn’t the only one struggling to make a choice, so when Gabby spoke up, he responded. “When I can’t decide, I usually just get both options. Everything’s better in pairs anyway.” He looked back down with the menu, eager to follow his own sagely advice. Four choices was fine… two’s good, four’s better, even numbers were the dankest kind of number to eat things in, especially Oreos.

When the new guy spoke up, Riff looked up again. He seemed alright so far, although, pretty much everyone was alright in Raf’s book. “Oh, word, you make games and you smoke. Gib-Gab’s right, how come you’ve never chilled before? I mean, you’re here now, so I guess that’s what matters. What kinda games?”

Quincy looked over at the newcomer, Topher, and grinned, her right hand wrapped in A Double’s left. “You play guitar right? I think I saw you playing at an open mic once. You were good,” she said, leaning up against A Double.

Toph laughed, “I usually just roll on my own, but it’s nice every now again to hang with people,” He explained, looking up from the menu. Turning to Quincy, he smirked. “Thanks, I like to think I have a chance in the music industry.” By the looks of it, Toph could tell that Quincy and A Double had something going on. Good for him, she was quite cute.

While everyone chatted with the newer face, that wasn’t Gib-Gab, instead it was a musically inclined boy named Topher, Rose was coming down from her happy high. No, not the weed kind of high. Her high from the experience this morning with Quincy, where she learned more about her friend than she ever expected to learn. Today marked the day that Q officially graduated in the friend department. She was now Rose’s token girl best friend. Maybe Q and her would have something like her mom and Auntie Lala had. Their understanding for each other was beyond your average sisterhood. They were soul sisters. She wanted Jennifer to be her soul sister.

Even with her being slightly preoccupied, Rose was still attentive to the conversation. What kept her busy was the fact that she caught sight of a canon moment of Q that she didn’t want to miss. A picture of her looking happy and snuggly with Adubs. A Day in the Life with Quincy Hart would not be complete without a picture of Adubs. The camera she chose to bring in from her trunk was the polaroid camera, just in case there were friend moments she absolutely had to take a picture of. Yeah, sometimes Rose was that friend, who took a thousand and one pictures of the group.

Bringing the camera to her eyes, she aimed it toward her brother and his lover. After counting in silence in her head to get to the ideal moment, she snapped a picture of them. Once she was done the camera went down and she grabbed the polaroid from the slot, as it slowly printed out. Shaking it to her side, she encouraged the musician with an honest smile, “You totally do have a chance, you just gotta’ meet the right people.”

Rose stopped shaking the picture to look at the image fading in. She continued to talk to the new person, “Hey, do you want to have a jam session some time? Those are always fun. I wouldn’t say music is like my forte, but I know some acoustic and my mom says I got a nice voice. And, which this isn’t any trouble at all, I can totally hit up some of the music peeps at this school. Might help and give you good vibes. You know what they say. Two heads are better than one. Imagine three heads, or four, or five! That’s a party.” Mm, the scent of wings filled her nostril. She needed to figure out what she wanted.

Gab had snorted and muttered “Hehe. ‘Both’... as if the prospect of having your eye on less than four different things was preposterous. In the remaining time she still studied the menu and narrowed it down slowly but surely. She didn’t want anything spicy or too big for lunch. BBQ sounded pretty good though. Thinking about it, something sweet and smoky was exactly what she was hungry for. When she put her mind to it, even the challenge of this menu, dwarfing all the challenges that school could possibly throw at her, could be solved. With that done, she looked back up at the table. Rose had taken a picture of A Dubz and Q. Topher was into music, apparently. And so was Rose, for that matter. It was again brought to her attention how little she knew anybody here. That will be fixed in time, though. She was sure.

“Anybody else decided yet?” She asked out loud to everybody, though only looking at Raf when she asked the question. She looked around after she finished speaking.

Toph grinned over at Rose, “Yeah that’d be chill, always down to jam with people. What kind of stuff do you sing?” He asked, afterwards letting his eyes dart down to the menu that rested in his hands. What should he get? He was dining this afternoon like a king, after all, so he shouldn’t let the opportunity of good food pass him up. Looking over to Gabby, he replied with a smirk. “I’m definitely getting buffalo wings with blue cheese dip- that shit’s the bomb.” Toph could feel his stomach rumble, he was definitely hungry.

“Folk rock mostly…” Rose quietly answered. She didn’t want to give off the vibe that she was a musician, by any means, she simply dabbled in many things. Her hobbies were endless. Strumming on an acoustic guitar and singing her stories out loud, by herself, in her bedroom, was one of them. Ms. May from Drama thought she could sing, so that was at least something. Now for the real matter at hand: food decisions.

Four different flavors split among a pound of wings was excessive. Rafael didn’t need to be that extra, he could be, but he didn’t need to be. He could surely narrow this choice down to two. He pondered between sweet, savory, and spicy, and decided that he felt totally in a spicy mood right now. Double spice. “Potato wedges, extra crispy, of course. And a pound of wings, split between the Satanic Sriracha, and the Jamaican Jerk.” Riff nodded at his own decision making and set his menu down. He smiled at his group of friends, including the newcomer, his new friend. “So, we gonna kick it at this rager tonight, or just get dreamy instead?”

“I hope I don’t sound like too much of a square when I say that if I go to this party, my mom will kill me, Gab replied to Raf’s question directed at the group. “I’m only going if everybody else is, else it won’t be worth it.”]

“I wasn’t gonna go.” A Double said to Raf. A Double wasn’t a fan of parties to begin with, and the last one had went terribly. He didn’t want to participate in another one. Plus this one? It was on a boat! “It’s on a boat… we’d be trapped on a boat with people who are terrible. You guys can go if you want, but I’m just going home and playing Mario Party and eating food and… probably getting high.” A Double explained, looking around at his group.

“Now you guys can go if you want! I’m just not interested in tagging along. I’ve been to enough party for the rest of my life, honest.”

Toph shook his head, these guys had to be at the party! It was going to be a lot of fun — knowing the Helmsley’s — and they shouldn’t miss out. “I really think you all should come! I’m going to be there, and it’s going to be a blast. The Helmsley’s throw a mean party, and that’s exactly what everyone needs right about now.” He stated, looking around at everyone. “I rest my case, it’s going to be fun and you’ll be mad if you miss it.”

Rafael had yet another tough decision to make. To party, or not to party? Of the group of burners, Riff may well be the one that enjoyed a rager the most. That being said, he was also very much a burner, so the idea of a night of weed and video games was equally as tempting. What truly tipped the scales, was Gabriela mentioning that her mom wouldn’t want her to go to the party. Decision made, no party, it was. “How about Mario Party at Dreamland, then? Would tu madre be cool?” Raf asked Gabby.

“I was thinking about going… taking pictures for the yearbook, saying hi to Shi, eating free food, looking at the lights for about an hour, taking in the sea for another hour. You know, just little things. AND I think a change in pace could help me finish my mosaic! My inspo has been really poo lately. For a lot of things.” Really though, Rose wanted an opportunity to talk to a specific someone, but the likelihood of him being available, at a Helmsley party, was slim to none. It was worth a try! Sitting around and thinking about the incident was getting her nowhere. She needed to charge at the issue at full speed, like a bull, end the chapter, and continue doing what she does best: be herself. “Honey barbeque is my favoriteeeee.” Yeah. Rose knew what she wanted.

Wyatt was torn. He’d been minding his own business, stoned and waiting for food, when the word party came up. Party, which was a favorite of his, or Mario Party, another favorite. The new guy would go, and so would Rose it sounded like, but A Double and Q would be at Dreamland, with Raf and Gabby. That sounded like a make out fest. Wyatt looked over at Rose and Topher. “I’ll go with you guys. I missed out on Damian’s thing anyways,” Wyatt said, grinning.

“Oh, yeah,” Gab answered Raf, grinning her usual giddy, slightly goofy grin. “I think I’d have a much, much easier time convincing my mom to let me go to somebody else’s house and play games than go to a boat party at this school! Plus it sounds way more fun anyway, we’ll actually be able to hear each other speak.”

A Double looked at Wyatt and frowned. If Wyatt wasn’t going to be there, who would he team up with? Wyatt was his best friend, and the idea of playing games and sitting around the house without him? That didn’t sound very fun… He didn’t want to take his friend away from what sound fun to him though. A Double could have complained, and maybe even convinced Wyatt to change his mind and come by Dreamland, instead.

Instead, though, Double A steadied himself, and nodded. If Wyatt was interested in going to a party, it was his right really. A Double wasn’t exactly in a position to tell him ‘no, don’t!’ Wyatt was AA’s friend, and at the end of the day, that meant he had to make sure Wyatt lived his best life. So, A Double forced the frown off of his face, and replaced it with the smile he was more known for. “Alright, man! Have fun.” As A Double spoke, Rick reappeared from the kitchen, tossing a basket of wings and a basket of potato wedges in front of A Double.

A Double smiled again, “Thanks!” He said, before the uncharacteristic frown again crept onto his face. He looked at his food, and then at Q, and then back at his food. And then at Q. And then, he did something entirely un-A Double-y. “Did you want some of mine?” Boyfriendly duties accounted for.

Q looked over at A Double, cocking an eyebrow, as if confused by A Double’s sudden gesture, but kept her mouth shut. Who was she to turn down potato wedges. She took one, biting into it and then looking over at Topher and Rose. “You two keep Thing 1 over there out of trouble. Leave him alone and he’ll get his ass killed,” Q said, gesturing to Wyatt.

“Hey!”

“Remember Halloween!”

“One time!”

Quincy shook her head, smirking, but refraining from going into any specifics on what exactly happened on Halloween. None of them needed a recap of that night.

A Double was bummed. Really, he was. There was no easy way around it, he was sad. A game night without Wyatt?! It was blasphemy. It was heresy. It… well, it sounded terrible. If there were less people there, he probably would have pouted. A Double wasn’t sure what to do, but he knew he had to figure out a plan with Quincy; they were a team, after all! And he didn’t want everyone else to know he was so upset… Munching on a wing with one hand, A Double pulled his phone out with the other.

To: Q Q Ka Choo

im sad. i dont know if i wanna have a mario party without wyatt :(
and rose too!! doesnt sound fun
can we go to bed early??
r u staying over? you should
im sad

Unknowingly, A Double had masterfully pulled off the cliche of texting your significant other to say something you didn’t want everyone else to hear. He was a natural at this whole ‘boyfriend’ thing.

Q’s quickly fished her phone from her pocket as it vibrated against her leg. Reading the text from A Double her face remained notably cool, as if she was simply texting her mom back. Texting about the people in her presence was a skill she’d learned during her days as a prep. It wasn’t something that was easily forgotten.

To: A Dubs

we’re getting Raf laid tho
Wy and Rose probably just don’t want to be the only single ones
and maybe
if you can beat me at mario party

A Double looked at his phone, before shrugging and putting it back into his pocket. Good enough, he supposed. He’d have to sit down and talk to Wyatt about this, before it got to be too big of an issue. He wasn’t sure if his relationship with Q was going to be a problem, but he knew that he’d vastly prefer handling it before it became an issue.

With the night’s plans seemingly in place, Rick finally came over with his notepad, looking at the collection of teenagers, “Alright. What do you guys want?”

CANCELLED.

_{Location: Ophelia’s Room
Featuring: Ophelia “I’m A Piece of Shit” Brycen
Interacting with: Cassandra Clark@smarty0114 via text}

---

---

Ophelia had a lot on her mind lately. She had come to the realization, maybe a few weeks ago, that manipulating the break up of Owen and Trixie was probably a bad thing. At the time, though, Ophelia hadn’t felt like she’d had much of a choice. Hailey had put pressure on her, like never before, and it had been kind of scary! Like, what was she to do? Tell Hailey to get bent and do it herself? Then, Ophelia and Trixie would be sad and forlorn, because Hailey would have fucked them both. And not even in the good way.

She stared into the mirror she was seated in front of and ran a hand through her blonde hair. Looking into her own eyes, Ophelia had a sad a realization. She had a very real, very powerful guilty conscience. She suspected she got this from her mother. She didn’t know her parents really well enough to judge, they were always off on adventures, but she knew her grandparents relatively well. Neither of her paternal grandparents was ever guilty, about anything. On the other hand? Her maternal grandparents were both almost always guilty about something. Ophelia assumed this was because of some dark secret they held, but it nonetheless pushed her to assume the guiltiness inside of her was from her mother.

The guilt over ruining what had made Trixie happy for so long was earth shattering for her. It didn’t help that she couldn’t really tell her friends about what she’d done — Cassie knew, but no one else did. If she told Marshall, what would he think!? He hated cheaters, and she’d engineered a fake cheating scenario to push Owen away from the love of his life. Marshall would hate her. Trixie would certainly hate her. Owen already hated her, which made attending the Lyon family dinners rather awkward, and a wee bit terrifying. If looks could kill, Ophelia would be pushing up daisies by now.

If it weren’t for Kylie getting angry with Grandpa Bash over something, and keeping her little family away from the family dinners, then Ophelia feared Owen would have ended it all for her by now. Luckily, the last few had been relatively peaceful! Just after school, though, she’d been told that Kylie’s family would be back at the next dinner. By Ophelia’s math, that gave her until Saturday to live a full and fruitful life!

At least she had a party to look forward to, that was a positive thing, right? Ophelia was waiting for the two people she was responsible for delivering to the party, sitting in front of her mirror and putting a few finishing touches on her look for evening. She was effortlessly attractive, yes, but with a bit of work, she upgraded into a blonde bombshell. However, the young woman knew enough about appearance to know that baseline looks weren’t everything.

What really mattered was how you carried yourself. Two people could be hot, but if one radiated self-confidence, and the other had a clear lack of self-esteem, then most people would flock to the confident one. It was a matter of charisma, who had the ‘it factor.’ Ophelia understood and acknowledged that. Plus, she had a fantastic teacher. Belle in her younger years had been a bit of a social chameleon, and being raised by her, Ophelia had adapted a lot of her tactics.

Ophelia looked into the mirror and saw herself maskless. She was a sad, guilt ridden, pathetic looking young woman, but she was an expert at social situations. No one ever knew she was sad, unless she wanted them to. She hid her emotions behind a perfect mask, and emulated and pretended like she was as confident and as proud as ever, when the reality was she had done something that no one should be proud of. She had ruined one of her best friend’s lives, and in the same breath created the monster of Owen Lyon that they’d seen at Damian’s party.

She wasn’t long for this world. By her reckoning, she had until Saturday before she faced, well, her reckoning. If Owen’s attitude and general air at the beach party had been a show of things to come, then she was dead. She didn’t want to die holding this guilt. If, and only if, she had a chance at the party tonight to catch Trixie alone, then she would spill the beans. Maybe then Ophelia could be really happy again.

“Miss Ophelia? There’s a young woman at the door for you.” Ophelia’s Assistant spoke up, breaking the trance she’d found herself in. A young woman?

Oh, it must be Kit. Ophelia paused for a moment, taking a moment to compose herself, breathing slowly and deeply. After a few seconds of quietness, she smiled into the mirror, happy to see that once again, she had the mask of happiness back on her face. “Okay, send her up. And can you give me a keyboard so I can text Cassie? She’s not here yet.”

“Of course.”

After the Assistant spoke again, the mirror glossed over, before revealing a small keyboard on the LCD screen. Ophelia reached out with a hand and smiled.

“Thank you, Lara.”

To: Bae

kit here. youre not here. kit too young to kiss. hurry.

CANCELLED.

_{Location: A Car
Featuring: Kit “I’M NERVOUS KINDA SORTA I DON’T EVEN KNOW” Thomas and Oliver “I’m A Doctor, Not a Teenaged Daughter Counselor!” Thomas
Time: Right after school}

---

---

A party on a Tuesday was a pretty wild idea, Kit thought. In addition to be on a totally random date (Tuesday! Not even Hump Day!), this party was on a boat. She wasn’t totally convinced that attending it would be a good idea. Kit hadn’t went to the last party, at Damian’s house, because she’d been on a binge. Actually, she’d never been to any parties before. But this time she felt almost obligated to go? Ophelia, Cassie, and Marshall had basically adopted her, and she was Min’s friend. Min was going on her first date! Kit had to go, just in case the date went bad and Min needed a shoulder to cry on, or if Min got too drunk and needed someone to hold her hair out of her face while she threw up… Kit needed to be there, just in case!

After school, her father had been there to take her home. Oliver always was. If nothing else, he was a present and attentive father, even if his work sometimes required him to be elsewhere. And if he did miss the school, her mom was usually here! If not one of them, then one of her grandparents. Or an auntie, or even an uncle, sometimes an older cousin! Kit’s family was extensive, and she was fairly popular in it. Oliver made sure she always had a ride home from school, even if she didn’t get a ride to school.

Kit fiddled with the repositioning lever of her chair, sliding it forwards, and backwards, and changing the angle. The whole nine yards. She was fidgety, she was grumpy from lack of sleep, and she was worried that daddy would say no. He never had before, but this might be different! Kit usually asked for food, or weed, or video games. Sometimes a collection of all of them. She’d never said ‘hey can I go to a party and drink loads of alcohol even though I’m wicked underage?’

How did one tackle this? How did one convince their father that they would be careful? That the inevitable bad choices wouldn’t be that bad. How was she supposed to convince her father to let her party on Tuesday!? It may have been doable on a Saturday, or maybe a Friday. Those days, there wasn’t school the next day. School nights were different! She’d never been hungover in her life. Kit didn’t really drink, but what if she did at this party!? What was the protocol? Would she get in trouble if someone at school noticed?

Kit didn’t know. Kit didn’t like not knowing. She was a scientist for God’s sake, their entire lives were often devoted to knowing things. This wasn’t easy though. There were no scientific journal articles about teenager parties. There were no grand studies done on whether or not a teacher would punish you if you were found to be hungover at school. She had no frame of reference! She was like Donny. What happened to Donny? HE DIED AND THEN THE DUDE AND WALTER GOT HIS ASHES ALL OVER THEMSELVES.

Kit continued to fidget, until finally, almost mercifully, the silence in the car was broken by Oliver. “Hey, Kitkat, you okay? You’re being EXTREMELY quiet, compared to the Kit I know and love.” Oliver asked, glancing over at his daughter briefly. He dealt with the problems of others day in and day out. But… he wasn’t sure he was ready for some kind of deep emotional confrontation with his own daughter… However, he steeled himself and prepared for the worst. Was she having sex? That would be a conversation with Molly — she might go ballistic.

Kit stayed silent as they continued the drive toward their house. She had to figure out how she wanted to get this out… “Well, Doc…” Brace yourself, Ollie. Here it comes… “I kinda got invited to a party! And I really want to go, like it seems exciting and stuff, but it’s on a school night, and I’m kinda spooked because there will be drugs and alcohol and it’s on a boat and that’s scary and I’m just a Kit! I’m built for staying at home, and playing video games, or watching Netflix. I’m not made for partying. Partying in MMOs, sure, but REAL parties? With real, live, breathing, physical people? Count me out! But this time I think I have to go because I just made new friends, like actual real friends, other than True — True’s great and I love her, but she and I are friends because she’s family, not because she saw me and liked me one day. We woulda been close no matter what, because I grew up with her! This is different. One of them is Korean! And I really, really think I want to go. It’s scary, but it’s also exciting?” Kit stopped, finally out of breath. Oliver had to recap everything in his head, thinking about how he wanted to respond. There were a few different options, but he wasn’t sure where to take this…

“Is that all? Geeze, Kit, you had me worried.” Oliver shook his head, thinking about things in his head. Really, a party wasn’t that big of a deal. The more he thought about it, the less he was worried. He just had to make sure that a few things were covered before he said: Okay, go. “Just a couple of things. Do you have a ride to and from the party? Who’s hosting it? Where is it? Are you gonna keep your cell phone?”

“Yes, Brian Helmsley, a boat, and yes, duh. Geeze, dad. But what if I get drunk and then tomorrow at school the teachers pick on me because I’m hungover or something?!?” She asked, suddenly feeling ill again. Apparently she had free reign to go to the party now, but what about the aftermath!? Nobody ever told her that high school would be this hard.

“You can take a day off from school tomorrow if you’re that twisted after the party. But try not to be? Being hungover is shit, Kit. It’s just shit.” Oliver explained, and Kit once again brightened up, for a fleeting second.

“But what about mom? She wouldn’t want me to skip a day, I bet!”

“I’ll talk to her, and I’m sure she’ll be fine with it. If she isn’t, though, I’ll pull a card for it. No worries, Kitkat.” Oliver and his wife had a system set up, when they were in high school and had realized that arguing was almost inevitable between them. Resetting once a year, on their anniversary, they each had three cards they kept in their wallets that were ‘I win the argument’ cards. Oliver, for the life of him, couldn’t remember the last time either of them had used one, but Kit knew what they were.

“Really?! You’d do that for me?” Kit asked, and Oliver nodded. Kit was all smiles once more, and now felt more confident than ever in her ability to go to this party and have a good time! If her mother and her father would give her a day off, then she had nothing to fear. No teachers would pick on her, no students would bully her. She could party without feeling worried. These were exciting times for the budding teenager. Just one last step, she had to get to the Candy House! “Can you take me to Belle’s? Ophelia is going to be my ride.”

“Sure thing, Kat.”

“I’m sorry, is there an ‘A’ in Kit I didn’t know about? Geeze, Doc. Come on.”

“Sometimes you sound just like your mother.”

CANCELLED.

<sub>Note: The attached gif is unrelated. It instead represents my feelings after trying to make a collage for this.

A Hailana post
Written by @Universorum & @Fabricant451
Location: Hailey’s game room
Taking place after school, duh. They’re good students, they wouldn’t skip class to play video games.</sub>

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---

“Fine, I’ll do it myself.” Hailey hissed at the servant who had been trying to help her and Hana set up Hana’s station in the game room. Across the hall from Hailey’s bedroom proper, the game room was designed for Hailey to relax and play video games, but today she was going to play with Hana beside her. Hailey had set one of the newest hires in the Green household to plugging things in, and had taken Hana to her bedroom for twenty more minutes of getting to know each other, but when she’d returned to the game room, the boy was standing there with the job half done, at best. Was it that hard to plug in cables? She knew there was enough room on the desk for both of them! It shouldn’t have even been a remote challenge.

The boy couldn’t have been much older than Hailey herself — perhaps 19 or 20 — and he stared at her, before shaking his head, “n-no, I’ll handle it, really. I can do it!” He protested. He turned to look back at the machine and finish getting it setup, before Hailey snatched the ethernet cord he held away from him, waving it in his face.

“Boy, I would reconsider your current course!” She scowled, though she may not have looked as intimidating as she’d intended to; not many people did, when threateningly waving a network cable around. Regardless of how she looked, her voice was dripping with venom, and it was effective. “Go away, before I force you to the unemployment line.” She snapped, and the young man quickly hurried out of the room, and Hailey looked at Hana.

“The nerve of help these days… Absolutely useless. I shouldn’t have loaned Butler out. Now I have to do everything on my own.” She grumbled, leaning over Hana’s case to plug the ethernet cable in.

Some might have considered Hailey’s tactics a bit harsh, but given the nature of what was surely a simple task Hana had no sympathy for the hired help. Had the two of them not spent the previous twenty minutes in a state of comfort, they likely could’ve been finished with the task and still have fifteen minutes to spare. The wires and cables were all clearly labeled as were the ports they plugged into! Hana, who remained silent as another verbal shellacking happened to poor help, cracked a smile when the room was whittled down to just the two of them.

While the rest of the school was concerning themselves over a party, Hana and Hailey were having their own - and in Hana’s mind superior - type of party; that, of course, being a LAN party. Abby had given her younger sister a strange look when Hana brought down her rig and explained she was spending another night with her friend Hailey, but after Hana explained that at least Abby wouldn’t have to call in the middle of the night this time.

”I guess the standards for hired help are lax around here?” Hana offered in a light hearted manner as she aided Hailey by connecting the cables that were left on the floor. ”Are you sure you don’t want to go to the party? I mean, don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining. I just thought someone like you would, like, have to make an appearance.”

“My parents insist on taking on any little yahoo from the streets to work around here. I swear, the only trained staff we have are the three Butlers, and mine is the only one on premise; and I had to give him to Henry for the evening. I felt bad. That Parker girl is autistic, sad, and apparently she lives in a tent. She doesn’t deserve that. So, Butler is helping Henry move her in.” Hailey explained while screwing in the video cable connected to the monitor. “Let the record show that even I have a heart.”

After that, Hailey set about plugging in the various USB cables, carefully running them through the guide in the monitor’s stand, to keep them out of Hana’s way while they were busy with gaming. Speaking from behind the computer again, Hailey dismissed Hana’s question, “yes, absolutely. I hate parties. They’re unnecessary, and in a lot of ways frankly quite gross. I was at the beachfront one solely to stir things up. Having succeeded in that, I left before I even had a drink, and I returned home where I happily slept in the comfort of my own bed, and woke up the next morning with a mind as sharp as ever. On the next school day, two important things happened.” At this, Hailey straightened up and stepped toward Hana, smiling down at her.

“Number one. I decided that I was bored with being a queen and that my game was won and there would be no challengers. Because of this, I transferred all duties of my position to Selena. Now, number two.” Hailey leaned down and placed a feathery kiss onto Hana’s lips, “I met an angel, and I claimed her as mine.” Another kiss from the queen. “Now I doubly have no reason to attend parties, because my angel is perfectly happy here, playing video games with me.”

Hana wasn’t overly familiar with this Parker girl but it seemed Hailey was, no doubt due to the fact that Henry seemed to keep her around like a puppy; and she was certainly loud enough like a barking pup. That wasn’t important, what was was the admission that Butler was otherwise indisposed for the moment which was a bit of a comfort for Hana. Butler seemed nice and knew when to stand on the other side of the door, but he was still kind of an intimidating presence, and not in the way she loved with Hailey.

”I know you have a heart, Hailey. You’ve stolen mine, after all.” Hana’s comment made her blush but it was said as sincerely as it sounded, and it stood as a prologue to the kiss, which lingered on Hana’s lips as her body warmed at the compliment. An angel? She could get used to that. ”The only party we need is a dungeoneering one.” The romantic moment had passed and Hana swung back into her nerdy self.

”I would’ve brought my laptop but it’s not exactly up to par gaming wise.”

Hailey waved her hand and spun on her heel, plugging in the final USB. “This is hardly a big deal. We’ll just have to have a better discussion with the person who I tasked with setting this up. I’ll do it when I’m not around — you aren’t exactly in a position where you need to see me discipline someone.” Hailey explained, hitting the power button on Hana’s machine — like clockwork, it booted up. “See how easy that was?”

She sat down at her own station, turning on her machine, before casually adding, “I was thinking I might just buy you a computer for here. That way it isn’t such a pain to play with me. I’d rather you be able to play often and frequently than us have to go through this experience everytime. You’ll have to tell me what kind of LEDs and games you like, so I can make sure you are properly represented.” Hailey explained, turning to smile at Hana.

“Now, there is no wrong answer here, I want to stress that. But you can sit down at your side of the desk and troll around the internet, or you can sit on my lap and we can make out while we wait for the games to patch.” Hailey explained, as both computers loaded up the patcher. She gave Hana a smile and gestured with her finger. Wasn’t really a question.

The chime of a system starting up was like a beautiful symphony that lasted all of a few seconds. The hard part was over, and judging by the fact that she could still see light through the window, Hana suspected several hours would soon whiz by. ”You don’t have to go through the trouble for me, Hailey. I’ve still got your brother’s cocaine money, so I can buy a rig and leave it here.” As much as Hana might have enjoyed being doted on, she remained firm in her stance that it wasn't because of money that Hana was with Hailey - and she knew there would be those who assumed as much.

”I disagree, though. There is definitely a wrong answer.” The question was straight out of the ‘false choice’ handbook. Who in their right mind would have opted for simply browsing the internet; everyone knew patching made internet browsing a little bit slower anyway. The answer, and thus Hana’s choice, was clear.

”It might be a bit. I haven’t updated in a few patches.” That was a boldfaced lie, but if it meant extra time enjoying kissing her girlfriend, Hana would take it.

“Six hundred dollars from giving Henry drugs isn’t going provide you with a machine capable of doing much other than playing Minecraft, and even then not very well. Shush, I’ll handle it.” Hailey said as she pulled Hana onto her lap, “besides, you’ll have to buy a chair, a new mouse, a new keyboard, LEDs, RGB… It’s just overwhelming and far too much,” Hailey explained with a teasing wink and a poke on Hana’s nose. Hailey had a feeling what Hana was trying to do. Don’t use Hailey for her money.

Admirable, but ultimately pointless. Hailey already knew that Hana was more or less with her because she loved her (though Hana had yet to say it). The line about stealing her heart had solidified that for Hailey. She was confident and comfortable that their relationship would last for a while, unless someone interfered, but who would dare? No one.

“You should save that money for something nice. We ought to get you some of those gel bracelets.” Hailey suggested, idly fiddling with the gem hanging from Hana’s necklace. “You know? The different colored ones. I’d like that.”

”You’re forgetting the ten thousand he gave me for the New Year’s party. But if you insist, I’m not going to press it. Thank you, Hailey.” More to the point, Hana saving what were her final two drug payments meant she could use them on more important things than computer parts. That, of course, meaning a gift for Hailey. Hana was convinced that they would certainly last longer than any spectator’s might assume and wasn’t it common for there to be a little one month anniversary gift or the like? Ten thousand was enough to get something that Hailey would love.

”Gel bracelets?” Hana couldn’t hide the smile she had, not at the mention of gel bracelets but from the way Hailey was admiring the gemstone in Hana’s choker - which she had not taken off once since being given it. ”I guess those could be cute. Despite my style I’ve never exactly been good at accessories. Will you help me pick them out?”

“Actually, I had every intention of picking them out for you,” Hailey explained, her eyes staying on the gem. She didn’t speak for a few seconds, before looking up at Hana and smiling warmly, “would that be alright?” She asked softly, before leaning forward and kissing at Hana’s neck. Hailey was getting bored with talking, and the games were still patching.

Though Hailey was now showering Hana’s neck and collarbone with feathery kisses, she still patiently waited for the answer to her question. Was she distracting? Maybe a little, but Hailey had found that a distracted Hana was the most fun. Besides, Hana was about to experience what it was like to be a proper pocket healer, and that would lead to more than a few distractions. Hailey was just doing her the good service of making sure she had a bit of practice before being thrown to the dogs.

”Well, you have a good eye for style. You picked out this necklace for me, which I adore, so I trust you with the bracelets.” Hana was fond of the choker, it matched her eyes and it made her feel special. Who else had a necklace like that? From Hailey Green herself no less. How could Hana not feel special about that?

With the question answered, talking seemed to slide down the list of priorities as Hana turned her attention to turning her neck into the kiss. Lips had so many more uses than just sitting there talking and chatting up a storm. Why bother when they could be used for something much more appealing. Hana purred, the warm feeling of the night before returning as she gazed into Hailey’s eyes, preparing herself for what was sure to be another great memory shared between the two of them.

Hailey nodded, “then we’ll grab them before our brunch tomorrow,” she said, before she pressed their lips together, and slid her hand up Hana’s shirt…

This continued for a while, until Hailey was sure she had Hana up on the edge. Then she broke their kiss, and looked at the computer screens, “Oh! The game’s finished,” Hailey cooed in delight, gesturing at Hana’s chair, “let’s play now.”

Never before had Hana been annoyed at a game for something other than its content. Hailey had a way of making Hana forget about anything and everything around her other than Hailey and herself and this was no exception. As they had been locked in the throes of love and passion, the idea of a LAN left Hana’s mind. There was only her. And there was only Hailey.

Reality was like a bucket of cold water on wakeup but Hana was savvy enough to not let her slight disappointment linger by forcing a smile before turning to confirm that, yes, the games had indeed been patched and ready to play. ”Well...there’s...no time to waste. Drops and spawns and queues and all.” It was only with a heavy sigh that Hana even had the motivation to move from Hailey’s grasp to the computer chair.

Hailey rolled her eyes and reached out with a hand, giving Hana a little slap on the rear. “Oh, don’t be such a baby. If you’re a good pocket healer, I promise you’ll have a wonderful night.” Hailey teased in a voice that was perhaps more firm than she’d intended, as she rolled her chair closer to the desk and got situated, punching her information in to login into the game.

As the screen spun and she waited, she looked over at Hana, “You’re not allowed to heal anyone else without my okay. Understood?” She asked with a small smirk on her lips. “This is your first chance to really impress me — let’s see if you have what it takes, alright?” She asked, blowing Hana a kiss. Hailey had every intentions of making Hana look like a bad group healer, but ultimately that wasn’t going to be Hana’s job. Some other player would have to take over the job of healing the rest of the team. Hana’s duty? To keep her Hailey alive.

If ever there was a way to get Hana to focus fully on a task, Hailey’s tone was it. The voice hadn’t even been near to the intimidating or commanding that Hana had witnessed firsthand but the teasing promise and the way Hailey made Hana promise to solely pocket heal was enough to get her focused on the game. Fortunately she did have a healer at an appropriate level, though not with the full set of amazing armor that her former main character had. Somehow she doubted that would matter.

Hana logged into her healer and quickly checked her keybinds and shortcuts. ”I promise you’ll never wipe, Hailey.” It was a bold claim, but if this was a chance to impress then Hana was taking it seriously. Her only hope was that no one in their groups noticed or pointed out the preferential treatment Hailey was going to be getting.

Hailey gave Hana a nod as she logged into her tank. She turned in her chair briefly, “well, we’ll see about that, won’t we?” She asked, before spinning back to face her screen. She sent Hana a party and a friend request, before admitting: “I don’t have a proper guild we can play with. Do you? I try to keep a relatively low profile on the internet — I’m sort of a celebrity. If not, we can just queue with randoms, but I think it’ll be much more fun if you do this in front of your friends,” Hailey explained with the same crisp, brutal honesty that she always had in matters such as this.

While they got ready to queue up, Hailey set about jumping in circles. “I think it’s important you use voice chat. That way if anyone has anything to say about your playstyle, they can speak up as they feel is necessary. After all, we want people to voice their concerns, don’t we, my vanilla bean?” Hailey asked, trying out a new pet name for her sweet angel.

The party request was accepted as was the friend one, and Hana even made sure to add a little note on the friends list consisting of a simple ‘<3’. ”Uhm...kind of?” Hana had a strange history with guilds. She never ran one herself but she had been a member of a fair few in her time. She’d been part of some raiding guilds but left and when her video guides garnered attention she was getting guild invites on the regular. Since then Hana had kept her main character out of guilds but her healer was a member of a casual, though still serious about content, guild.

”There are some people online. Do you want an invite to it?” Hana was putting the feelers in guild chat but was hesitating on the voice chat comment. She had a habit of getting...angry on voice chat. But that was when she was tanking. When she was leading. She hadn’t even considered using voice chat. And then Hailey called her a vanilla bean and she was practically melting into the chair.

”Y...Yeah...voice chat...okay.”

“Yes, invite me. Do you like that pet name? I was trying it out. since I know how much you love vanilla, and I know how much I love you…” Hailey explained with a smile, before she pulled her headset on and turned on the party chat. This would be the way they’d communicate for now! That way their eventual team could communicate with them. “We’ll just be doing a Deltascape. After all this is your practice run. If you do good, maybe I’ll let you pocket heal me on harder raids. If not, then you’ll just go back to your tank, and we’ll find another game to play together.” Hailey explained, leaving no room for error. The string was pulled to its tightest.

Time to be the clutch player you’d always considered yourself, Hana.

”I love the name.” Hana’s enthusiasm was clear as she sent the guild invite and rounded up some DPS players to join the trial run. She had loved the nickname. It made her smile and it made her blush which was all she ever wanted out of a nickname. Plus it was specific to Hailey; she was Hailey’s vanilla bean. ”I...I won’t..let you down.” She wasn’t exactly swimming in confidence but Hana was nothing if not determined to prove her mettle as she adjusted her microphone and connected to the voice chat.

With the party formed, Hana hit the queue button and before long they were all ported away to a mechanical cavern looking place. Hana’s character stayed practically in lock step behind Hailey’s as the dungeon began. Hana was used to simply grabbing all the trash mobs and taking them down but the trash mobs seemed to be causing some trouble for the party, who were taking hits they could’ve avoided. ”Jesus, DPS, are you even trying?” Hana’s game persona was poking through.

Hailey was enjoying herself. Was she trying? It was questionable; otherwise the mobs may have been pulled and micro’d a bit more professionally. Hailey was enjoying the attention she was getting from Hana, and she smirked to herself as Hana got a little snippy. The next voice to enter their headsets wasn’t Hailey’s, or even Hana’s. It was one of the people they’d queued with, “I’d do better if I was getting healed…” The masculine voice muttered.

Hailey leaned back in her chair silently, AOEing a few more mobs into her range. She could handle this relatively easily; it wasn’t a complicated map, or raid. It wasn’t even something new to her, in fact she’d ran this more than a few times. She could have spoken up for Hana, and helped her out, or explained things… But this? This would be more fun! Besides, it was a test. Still, Hailey decided she’d pick up her play — best they not get a bad rep in the guild.

”Excuse you?” Hana heard the DPS speak up and criticise. Typical DPS, they take one hit and they practically begged to be healed even though they still have ninety percent of their health. If they weren’t good enough at their rotation to kill things quickly and while taking minimal damage, it wasn’t Hana’s fault. ”Learn your fucking rotation. That red cone isn’t there for you to stand in. Idiots.” As Hana refreshed Hailey’s heal over time stacks, she continued to insult their lackluster DPS.

Hana tended to take these things seriously, even when a more casual setting was involved. It had made her an effective raid leader over the years. If this was a trial run or a first run through or even one of her lessons she hosted she wouldn’t have gotten so worked up. But these people were said to be experienced with the content, it’s why she invited them from the guild. ”Look at the meters, the tank is doing better numbers than you.”

Were vanilla beans usually this toxic? Hailey made a mental note to look into later, but she looked over at Hana as she continued to berate their teammates. Hailey decided she’d had enough. Her character stopped moving, and she leaned across to Hana, raising up a hand, and flicking her girlfriend on the nose. It wasn’t hard enough to cause pain, but it was hard enough to be felt. With that, Hailey spoke — knowing full well that her mic wasn’t muted and she was going to be heard loud and clear. “Hana, play nice. Apologize to our friends. You’ve been very rude.” She said, meeting Hana’s eyes with a sleek smile and a wink, before she got back to her side of the desk.

Speaking into the mic, Hailey stole the chance to speak for Hana. “I apologize for my healer. She’s a bit feisty. I’m working on it.” Hailey was cut off by the voice from their DPS speaking before she was finished.

“It’s, uh… okay.” The voice said, and Hailey’s face crinkled into one of disgust, before she spoke in a snappy, fierce voice.

“Shut. Up.” She hissed, and then Hailey waited, counting her head to five to make sure that she wasn’t spoken over again. Once she was certain, she spoke again, this time to Hana. “What do you have to say for yourself, Hana?” Hailey asked, finally giving Hana the chance to speak. Honestly? Hailey was very much enjoying herself. This was more fun than she thought it would be.

Had Hailey not stepped in it was quite likely that Hana would’ve continued to show off more of her domineering side. She had a reputation for a reason; while many felt she could be too strict, none could deny that it got results. Hana was around for various world firsts for a good reason. But when her nose was flicked and she let out a little pained gasp, it was like Hailey found the ‘off’ switch and Hana was quiet and more similar to how she had been the night previous. Albeit without handcuffs limiting her movements.

She was out of line. That much was obvious, and Hailey was there to remind Hana of that fact. There was quiet in the voice chat for a moment as Hana searched for the proper words. ”Sorry…” Her voice was softer, fidgety, and like a complete one eighty from before. ”I didn’t mean it. I was...I was out of line.” Hana offered a verbal apology and looked to Hailey for approval - though before doing so she gave one of the DPS a heal in apology. It seemed like a way to apologize in case her sincere words didn’t cut it.

Hailey was very nearly satisfied. Things were going perfect. There was an apology, and Hana was back to being diminutive and submissive, the way she normally was. Everyone got a little salty at video games, but Hailey drew the line. If she and Hana were going to play together, she was going to keep things under wraps and down to a certain level. The flick had put things back in perspective, but then she healed the DPS.

Hailey’s aura and tone shifted immediately. “Hana, why are you wasting your mana on someone else? I don’t recall giving you permission to heal someone else. Do I need someone else to focus on me? Because apparently you’re not good at it…” Hailey sighed deeply, and the DPS spoke up again, in apologetic tones.

“Uhm, it’s okay? I’m sorry for being healed? Thank you, though.”

While Hana had earlier shown off a bit of her ferocity, it was still nothing compared to Hailey’s barbed words. They had gotten Hana to apologize and now they had her stammering and squirming like a dog who was having their nose rubbed in it. Of course, it was to be expected. Hana remembered now. Hailey had said at the start that she wasn’t allowed to heal anyone else without permission.

”I..I..misclicked. It...it was...an accident…” Hana knew her excuse was as flimsy as wet paper but it was the first excuse she could think of. ”I’ll heal you! I...I can do it!” From domineering to demure in five minutes, and all in front of others.

“Uh-huh.” Hailey said dryly, in an attempt to convey that she didn’t yet fully believe Hana yet. Hailey was playing a game with Hana and she reached over to Hana’s knee and grabbed it, squeezing it to give her a brief physical reassurance. She didn’t want Hana to think she was starting to hate her — just that she expected a better job from her. “Let’s get this done now, please, people.” She said back into her microphone, returning her attentions to the raid.

After the past few minutes, Hailey had risen to being the leader of the raid. She looked over at Hana, who was shifting and fidgety in the chair. “Mmm, Hana. When you get like that, it really puts a smile on my face.” Hailey purred, and indeed, there was a smile on her face.

“You two are weird.”

“Don’t be jealous, you virgin.”

“...ow, my pride.”

The simplest things had the greatest effect. The physical affection shown to Hana’s knee had a calming effect but it still made her shaky and nervous, with fingers shaky as they hovered over the keyboard. It wasn’t nervous fidgeting but happy; being touched just so by her girlfriend was exhilarating and that brief contact made Hana momentarily forget that they were still very much being verbal. So much so that her little gasp of a squeak at the touch transmitted to the party, and that just made her go red.

Weird. That’s what one of the other voices said. And with it, Hana’s little squeaking titter became a happy little sigh. Didn’t she say she was weird earlier today? And didn’t Hailey say that that was why she loved her? Suddenly ‘weird’ was a compliment where Hana was concerned.

”We can clear it. I know we can” Hana was still fidgeting in her seat, but her determination was there, and as the raid continued she again stuck to Hailey like glue, going so far as to purposely not using her AoE heal ability. That would go against the rules.

Hailey was all smiles by the end of the raid. Hana had done a good job, and under Hailey’s lead they had made it through with almost no casualties. Once they arrived to the zone before the raid boss, Hailey paused the group. “Alright, Hana. I suppose you should go ahead and top the others off.” She said, then immediately the DPS from before spoke up.

“Finally.”

Hailey scowled at the screen, “Not him. His demeanor is that of a pouty child.” She said, looking over at Hana expectantly. “Don’t AOE him on ‘accident,’ either.” She said firmly, before Hailey set about the best part of MMOs: making your character jump around in circles.

Hana was about to hit her AoE heal when the particularly snippy DPS spoke up only to put his foot firmly in his mouth. Rather than him getting heals, he had to watch as Hana topped off the other members of the party and then put her cursor back over Hailey’s character. She didn’t feel all that bad, actually. There were potions and food in the game for a reason. ”Oh, Hailey, your buff stacks…” Hana had almost forgotten to refresh Hailey’s buff to health and defense, but Hana made sure to top Hailey off.

All things considered Hana figured this was a good run. She wasn’t used to healing at this level so she had a tendency to overheal Hailey and thus draw aggro but Hailey didn’t seem to notice or mind as far as Hana could tell. They’d made it to the final room without a full wipe even with the complaining - some of it done in the party chat - and even if the DPS failed and died to the boss, Hana was confident they could clear it. Because their tank would always have full health and in that battle of attrition they had the advantage.

”Okay...ready up!”

Hailey smiled, comfortable in her position of power. Being a tank was fun, she’d decided. She more commonly played DPS, but they didn’t get to boss people around. Maybe it was just her personality, but the entire raid had been listening to her — possibly because they didn’t want to get snapped at like the one boy who kept speaking out of turn. “Here we go,” she said, as the final members of their small raiding team hit the ready up button…

After a few minutes, they’d won. Hailey glanced at the loot table for a quick second, before she took her headset off and stepped behind Hana’s chair, draping her hands down into Hana’s lap. Hailey tipped the chair backward and bent her body forward in a fluid motion, then kissed Hana on the forehead. “You did very well.”

Hana let out a sigh of relief when the boss was downed and the color-coded drops littered the ground at his feet. There were a few hiccups but by and large the first run of the night was successful - in spite of some sour DPS that were being needy and rude. The newly mained healer was about to see if there was anything that dropped for her - perhaps a new mainhand or something to increase her healing numbers - but her world was taken over by a bit of Green.

The kiss to her forehead and the congratulatory remarks were better than any piece of legendary gear. ”I only did so well because I had a wonderful tank to protect me.” Hana turned to offer a happy smile at Hailey. It must’ve been a good run, a passing test, if her reward was a kiss - to the forehead or otherwise. ”I think I can get used to being your healer.”

When Hana turned to face her, Hailey smiled back down at her. She had a good time, and that was what was most important in this sort of thing. After all, it was still a game at its core, and Hailey strived to not take it anymore seriously than necessary. “Good, vanilla bean. I hope you can used to it — because I wouldn’t let anyone else heal me, anyway.” She reached down and twirled some of Hana’s hair around her finger, staring into her girlfriend’s eyes the whole time… Enough video games. There were physical games to be played.

Hailey leaned down the rest of the way, and gave her a proper kiss on the lips, before she spoke into the mic boom. “We’re leaving now. Bye, boys.” With that, Hailey took the headset off of her girlfriend and looked at her watch, “If we order pizza now, I think we’ll have twenty minutes before we get here. I can make twenty minutes last a very, very long time, Hana.”

Vanilla bean. It was just as good as being told ‘good girl’; it had the same effect to boot, that being to get Hana smiling, lowering her eyelids, and being consumed by affection towards Hailey. It meant a job well done, and it meant that Hailey was happy. That happiness went both ways even if Hana was still figuring out how to showcase that publicly. There was no one else Hana would want to pocket heal, and that counted for everything.

”Well then what are we waiting for? Twenty minutes, I’m yours.” For the first time in her life, Hana suspected she might be upset to see a pizza delivery person.

CANCELLED.

_{Featuring: Owen ‘Domestic Sentencing’ Lyon, Troy ‘Seriously?’ Lyon, and Oreo the cat
Location: Owen’s Room}

---

---

Owen had been home from school for a few hours now. He was planning on ending up at the gym, yes, but not quite yet. He had a few things he wanted to accomplish on the homestead before that happened. For now, though? He was patiently lying on his bed with Oreo on his stomach, enjoying the peaceful comfort of his home and his own bed. That stopped, however, when there was a knock on his door. “Come in.” He said, sitting up and pushing Oreo to the side. After the door opened, revealing his father standing there, Oreo immediately set to hissing at him; though that ceased when Owen put a hand on his head.

“Hey, bud. I got some bad news.” Troy explained, and Owen tensed up, waiting for the blow. What was it going to be this time? His life was turning into a bad Hallmark movie. First he got dumped for something he didn’t do, then his ex-best friend got him fired up at a party, then Jamie, then Jamie again. What could have possibly happened now? “You’re suspended. For that fight you got in today. Until Monday.”

Owen balled one of his hands into a fist, and Oreo hissed again, feeling the emotions his human was. “Oh.” Owen closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to cleanse his mind before he got snappy. They hadn’t even really talked yet, he could handle this. “I don’t think I did the wrong thing. Do you know what happened? They were beating Jamie up. Jamie Callaghan? I think it was because he’s gay. I don’t know. I just don’t like bullies, dad!” Well, Owen was getting heated.

“I hate Jamie, don’t get me wrong, I hate him. But I can’t watch as someone just takes advantage of someone else. What would you have me do?” Owen stood up from his bed, his temper now ignited. Why was he being punished for this!? “Three on one. Three. On. One. Was I supposed to stand idly by and let them kick his ass? What would you have me do? I did the right thing. I did the only thing. I gave them a chance to walk away, and they didn’t want to, so I put them the fuck down. What would you have me do?” Owen demanded, stepping closer to his father, who hadn’t moved from his spot in the doorway, his arms folded over his chest and his face a stony mask of indifference.

“I did what I had to do, and if they want to punish me for it? Then fine. I’ll take it, I don’t care. I’d do it ag—” Owen said, though he was suddenly cut off by a question from his father.

“A roundhouse kick? Seriously? Are you a bad Steven Seagal movie?”

Owen’s passionate rant was cut short by his father, and he froze, before shaking his head, “Huh? What’s a Steven Seagal?”

“Ugh. You’re making me feel old. Why did you use a roundhouse kick? That’s flashy, and not effective. I taught you better than that, didn’t I? In a situation where you’re outnumbered — and you were — speed and efficiency is preferred over making a show. Or were you showing off for someone?” And just like that, Troy had turned the tables. From being on the offensive, to immediately having to defend his decisions. Troy was good at this, if nothing else.

“Yeah, I was outnumbered. By three douchebags in the school hall — I was never going to lose that fight. I thought if I did the roundhouse, it might make the other two run. It obviously didn’t work, but it was a calculated decision. You and Gramps always tell me that any move in a fight should either better my position or worsen my opponent’s position. It was intended to do just that. I wasn’t wrong,” Owen protested defensively, and Troy rolled his eyes.

“Whatever man. It’s still fucking gay and it made you look like a asshole.” Troy said, chuckling to himself as Owen sat back down on the bed. Anger defused.

Owen ran a hand through his hair, and asked a question with a hint of finality: “...so, what’s my domestic sentencing?”

Troy waved his hand, “Nothing. Your mom and I talked about it already, and we can’t punish you for doing what I would have done. That’d make me hypocritical, and I’m not that. Just keep your head down for a bit, and we’ll be fine. Besides, I know you aren’t long for this place anyway. You’ll be back at the gym before we can blink,” Troy shrugged his shoulders and turned to leave, adding over his shoulders. “Ya did good, kid. You did good.” With that, Owen’s father left the room and shut the door behind him.

Owen threw himself onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling as Oreo climbed back onto his chest. “Well. How about that?” He asked softly, scratching Oreo’s head as the cat happily meowed.

AWE: American Wrestling Entertainment

@sly13Yeah, sure, once I get out of bed I'll send it your way.

CANCELLED.

_{A @Universorum and @Fabricant451 collaboration
Starring: Kit ‘Just Send Lewd Things!’ Thomas and Min ‘Is This How America Does It?’ Seo
Location: Professor Savage’s Classroom}

---

---

Kit checked her phone’s clock and frowned. She was probably going to be late to science AGAIN. Which meant that, once AGAIN, Professor Savage would have some kind of snippy remark to make. This time, however, Kit had been distracted by flyers! There were flyers all over the place in this damn school. Flyers for a party, flyers for clubs! Kit had exactly four she was carrying to science class. Two of which were for her, and two of which were for her lab partner!

Kit looked up and could see her target at the end of the hall. She checked her clock again… Forty seconds remained! Oh man, maybe she could be on time. Kit moved as quickly as she could, wiggling between the larger students in the hall, she put her hand on the doorknob and slipped inside… Ringggg! The bell went off, and though she wasn’t in her seat, perse, Kit was in the room! “Yesssssss! I’m the best.” Kit exclaimed happily, scurrying to her spot beside Min-seo before Professor Savage could say a word.

As the class began and the children set about working on their class projects once more, Kit settled in beside Min-seo, once again setting up her table to catch what she was saying and quickly write it down for Min to read and respond to. After that, Kit handed Min the two flyers she’d brought for her: one for a, no, the party, and one for a club. “Did you hear about the party? It seems bretty dope. If I know the three Helmsley kids — and I do, I go to their house for food all the time — then it’ll be litty. You wanna come with me?” Kit chose to not yet acknowledge the second flyer. She’d get to that later. “...like friends, not as a date or anything.” Kit added quickly, before her inner shitposter took over.

“Baka.”

Min-seo was unusually quiet this morning, which was saying something as she was typically quiet in classes other than math. In her defense, she had quite a lot on her mind and the day was still rather young. Still, where before science was a class she dreaded now there was at least something to look forward to, that of course being her first friend she had made on her own terms. Her friend who was, looking at the clock, dangerously close to being late. What did that girl do that made her so late? Maybe an alarm clock would help.

There was a third member of the lab station today, and he was even more quiet than Min-seo. Donald Duck was seated on the desk and until the door swung open to reveal a buzzer beating Kit, Min-seo was communicating with him by way of lifting his hands and fiddling with his hat. As cute and wonderful as Donald was, he wasn’t exactly a very talkative sort no matter how many times Min-seo adjusted his hat or poked at his billed feet. Fortunately, Kit had the luxury of being human. A fast talking human, but a human all the same. Min-seo was determined to have a conversation without the use of a written medium between them.

When Kit sat at their lab station, Min-seo regarded her with a nod, and even waved Donald’s hand as it would have been rude for the third member of their station today to go without saying hello. It seemed this party was the talk of the school. Americans seemed to really enjoy any excuse to drink and embarrass themselves.

"Party...yes. I..I hear.” Min-seo nodded but her face showed a bit of worry as Kit continued. "Oh..no I...I am going with...someone. I was asked...Henry...and...yes.” Min-seo seemed genuinely upset that she had to decline her friend. "I can ask...if you come too?”

Oh, hey! Min had a cute stuffie. KIt was jealous. Stuffies were pretty much one of Kit’s favorite things. She loved to cuddle them while she laid in bed and tried, often unsuccessfully, to go to sleep. Kit eyed the Donald Duck for a few seconds, before she grabbed safety glasses from their desk’s drawer, and stuck them on the stuffed animal, before she looked over at Min, “gotta make sure he doesn’t get anything in his eyes!” She said excitedly, before finally considering all the stuff Min had said to her. Min had a date to the party…? Geeze, Kit sucked at dating.

“Nah, definitely don’t. I don’t wanna be a third wheel, I’ll just stick with Ophelia and Cassie, they’re actually being pretty cool with me… You have a boyfriend now!? That’s crazy, Min, I’m jealous. You’re getting way ahead of me, way fast…” She shook her head in amazement and patted Min on the shoulder with a beaming smile on her lips. “I hope it goes well! Are you making sure you text him lots?”

If Min-seo had known the gesture she likely would’ve slapped herself on the forehead. Of course! How could she have forgotten the safety goggles? This was a science lab after all and it wouldn’t do well for Donald to get some dangerous chemical in his eyes. The image of the stuffed duck with a pair of glasses resting on his bill was too cute not to snap a picture of. Min had to be quick about it, but fortunately their table was nearer to the back so sneaking a phone snapshot was easy enough.

"Boyfriend?” After saving the photo on her phone she could return to the topic at hand. "No...no boyfriend. But...maybe? He asked me so...so I think...maybe?” Min-seo wasn’t exactly against the notion, especially since she had learned that she was vastly incorrect in her assumption about Parker and Henry. Her only concern was if it was considered strange to go on a date with the host family’s son...but there hadn’t been anything in the forms saying she couldn’t. Besides which, Henry had asked her. It would be rude not to go with him.

"Text? Should I? What do I text?” This was why she was glad to have a friend outside Henry and Parker. Kit knew things about American boys. An idea came to her and she showed Kit the process. The photo of Safety Glasses Donald was attached to a message and Min-seo sent along the message ‘Donald in class!!! Learn lots!!!’ and sent it to Henry. "I did it!”

“That’s a good start! And you should think so. Look, boys around here don’t specifically take someone to a party unless they wanna date them.” Kit tapped her chin after watching a reply zip in from Henry, a simple, happy emoji. Hmm, what would Ophelia recommend that Min-seo do in this position? What about Cassie? Or Brynn? Or Marshall? Kit had only really learned one lesson from them, and it had to do with attitude. “You should text him, like…” Kit’s voice dropped to a low whisper as she leaned in closer to assure that no one else would hear her.

“_{...lewd things.} American boys love it when girls do that,” Kit said with a sage-like nod. Clearly, she was an expert on this subject, and Min would do well to follow her every suggestion.

Emojis were basically the universal language so when the response from Henry came back positive, Min-seo smiled in response. Texting wasn’t so bad, she’d texted people back at home but her list of contacts on this side of the ocean was a lot smaller than anticipated; which of course made the ones in her contacts all the more important. To her right, Kit was making a lot of sense. She wasn’t really asked to the beach party so much as she was dropped off and told to serve drinks. This one was specifically a date. Henry had said as much, and it was only on reflection that Min-seo realized the seriousness of those words. She had to do well on this date. What were the chances of getting another?

"Lewd things?” Min-seo’s voice went above a whisper and she was certain the students in the stations around them heard, or at least she assumed their snickers were because of that. "What is that? Example?” Min-seo had typed the words ‘lewd things’ in the text window for Henry. Had she not turned to Kit for advice it was likely she would have sent it as is.

Kit froze and shook her head, holding a finger to her lips to try and indicate that Min should talk in hushed tones. Kit reached out and touched the backspace button, quickly deleting what Min had already typed, then Kit spoke again, trying to lay it out as simply as possible. “No, Min, not like that. Like, uhm, sexual stuff. Naughty stuff. Inappropriate things,” Kit explained, in her best attempt to make it as blunt as possible. She wanted things to go well for Min!

“Henry’s pretty cool, so I want you guys to work! I’m sure if you put in the work, he will… too. I don’t fully know what that means, but I’m pretty sure that’s what Brynn would say — and Brynn has lots of boys that like her.” Kit said, with another sagely nod.

Things definitely were different here and Min-seo’s face was burning at the simple mention of ‘sexual stuff’. That was a few steps up from what she had considered appropriate to send a date and potential boyfriend. What she had been thinking of were simple phrases that were used back home. Phrases like ‘jeongmal jalsaenggisyeoseoyo’ which just meant how handsome girls thought their crushes were. Flirting and texting was on a whole different level here, breezing far past the cute giggling phase of things.

"I can’t...we’re in class. Everyone will...see.” Was that the only way? Kit seemed to know what she was talking about, and why wouldn’t she? See was cool and cool kids always had the best advice. "What about...this?” Min typed another message for pre-sending approval. It was a bit more involved than ‘lewd things’ but still hovered in the ‘PG’ range of things. The message in question simple stated ‘I am excited for you tonight’, aided by Min-seo’s grasp of English, it perhaps sounded more risque than she had aimed for.

“That’s better! Send that. No, wait, add an emoji.” Kit suggested, tapping to add a blushing kiss emoji, before she nodded happily. Then, she tapped the send button, and laid back, waiting for the response. “Trust me, this is gonna make sure that your night owns.” Kit said encouragingly. She patted Min on the shoulder, and watched as Henry’s response came in. This time it was significantly quicker: Ya? ;)

“See, dude? Told you. Just keep it up and I’m certain you’ll have a boyfriend by the end of the party. Maybe even before it.” Kit cooed encouragingly, holding her hand up to Min for a high five. This was great! She was a professional, once she found someone easier to crush on, she’d have a significant other in no time.

Min-seo had to hand it to Kit, she clearly knew her stuff. The response from Henry was not expected so suddenly but it also wasn’t at all unwelcome. She was getting the hang of it, or at least she assumed she was. A winky face meant she was doing well, and it meant that Henry was equally as excited as she was to go to the party. Her initial uncertainty after her little secret being divulged was slipping away, though it was easy to claim excitement when removed from her date for the night; it remained to be seen how Min-seo would be once they were actually at the party and dancing and having a good time.

"I should...reply?” She asked Kit but it was also her confirming the idea for herself. Another message she tapped out. ’tonight you have greatest memory’ and not one but two blushing kiss emojis. If one worked, two would have to work twice as well. She didn’t even ask Kit for proof-reading, instead giving her a thumbs up and a word of thanks. "I will be happy just going, I think.” Min-seo nodded to Kit; despite Min’s enthusiasm for texting, she was honestly just looking forward to being on the other side of the fence for a party.

Perhaps this time she would not be left alone ten minutes in.

CANCELLED.

---

---

_{Location: School Hallway, After School
Featuring: Jamie “Talks Too Much” Callaghan & Owen “I Still Hate You” Lyon}

---

---

Jamie was already having a shit day when they showed up. By now, the school was mostly empty, and Jamie was just about to head home, after he put away his books in his locker. And then, Jeremy Macintosh and his two henchman slammed his locker shut. Jamie looked over at the culprit and sighed. Today, was not the day. ”What is it today, Macintosh?” Jamie asked, rolling his eyes.

Jeremy Macintosh, up until last month, had been dating Kristina Mcpherson. That is, until Jamie published some very incriminating pictures of Jeremy with Kristina’s best friend, Maddie White. Needless to say, Kristina didn’t take it well. School had been out for break the next day, so Jeremy hadn’t had a chance to catch Jamie alone. But today he’d gotten lucky.

”You broke me and Kris up, you piece of shit,” Jeremy hissed, seething. By now, Jamie was no stranger to disgruntled subjects. It’s what happened when you published the secrets of the students, with zero anonymity. But, most of them were scared off by his close proximity to Trixie, and in turn, Hailey. Except today, the Helmsley’s had returned, pulled Damian out of the pits of Hell that Hailey had cast him into, and effectively became heroes to those who hated the It Girls. Fuck

One of Jeremy’s henchmen, Derek Clayton, made his way over to Jamie’s left side. They had effectively trapped him up against the locker, with no way out. ”I don’t remember telling you to cheat on Kris, Germy. Now scatter, before I let Trixie know to make an announcement that the three of you, are blacklisted. Wanna have a dry spell that lasts until you graduate? Huh?”

Jeremy smirked. ”Callaghan, I think you know better than me, Trixie and the rest of the Bitch Brigade aren’t in anymore. We ain’t afraid of them,” Jeremy sneered. ”Aren’t.”

”What?”

Jamie sighed. ”You said ‘We aint afraid of them,’ but what you should’ve said is, ‘We aren’t afraid of them,” Jamie explained.

”Okay, so now you’re smarter than us?” Jeremy asked, his voice raising.

”I kinda thought that was a given.”

Jeremy screwed up his face in rage and pulled back his fist. ”Fuck you, fag!” Jeremy launched his fist forward, at Jamie’s face, but missed, hitting the locker behind him. Jamie had ducked down, evading the punch. ”Alabama called, they want their mindset back Jeremy,” Jamie taunted. Derek and the other lackey, some meathead sophomore, hauled Jamie up, pinning him against the locker. Jeremy, out of retorts, resorted to going straight for the gut. One. Two. Three. Like sledgehammers his fists fell into Jamie’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Fuck.

Owen Lyon was having an okay day. All things considered, it had went alright. Sure, his hand still stung. On the bright side, however, his cousins had returned from their extended vacation to Sweden, and with their help he was relatively confident things would shift back to normal. He’d had his moment with Marshall in the morning, which had briefly reignited his anger; though it was quickly quelled by something he found in his locker: a note from Trixie. Maybe, just maybe, he was doing things right.

All good things, though, had to come to an end. This one came to an end because he saw Jamie, who was becoming somewhat of a thorn in a side. Jamie Callaghan had escalated from a thorn in the side to a huge pain in the ass, as Owen rounded a corner and found the self-proclaimed investigative journalist shoved up against the wall, getting his ass handed to him.

Truth be told? Jamie probably deserved it. Kid had a big mouth, and Owen very much wanted to abandon him, and leave him there until he was properly beaten and pissed blood. The only thing that made Owen interfere was the thought of what his father would do. Troy would have saved Jamie, no matter what was happening. Owen would do the same.

With a heavy sigh, he approached the situation. “Ay! Drop the asshole, or we can get retarded. I’ll fuck around and you’ll get slaughtered.” Owen said, and for emphasis, he popped the cinnamon gum in his mouth, standing his ground.

This is so on brand

Jeremy froze in the middle of his next punch, slowly turning around to face Owen. ”Owen, why don’t you simmer down, okay? Look, I’ll let you have the next few punches even, just chill,” Jeremy said, grinning and stepping back from Jamie, offering Owen the next chance to torment the journalist.

Jamie meanwhile, was still upright against the lockers, doing his damndest to keep the pain off of his face. He looked up at Owen, his left eye swollen and bruised from their last encounter, and fixed him with a blank stare, daring the boy to join in. He wasn’t going to beg for mercy here. ”Come on. Do your worst.”

Owen let out another one of those sighs, while staring at Jamie. “Jamie, if I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. Never forget that.” Then, he turned his attention to the three surrounding boys, lifting up and pointing with his busted up hand. “If you guys don’t bug out of here, then I got some bad news for you. Your head, is going up his ass. And your head is going up his ass. And you,” Owen pointed at Jeremy. “You drew the short stick, because your head is going up my ass.”

Jamie was a little shocked to see that Owen was actually on his side with this one. He was fully expecting Owen to hit him square in the face again, but he had to admit, he liked this scenario a bit better. Not much better. He was still having his ass saved by Owen Lyon. But ass saved was better than ass whooped.

Jeremy motioned with his hand for his goons to form up on him, Derek taking the left and the sophomore taking his right, letting Jamie free from their grip. The boy rubbed his wrists, wincing, but glad to be free, for now.. ”I think you’re all talk Lyon. Ain’t no way you can take the three of us,” Jeremy taunted.

Aren’t!

Though Owen didn’t look at Jamie, it was clear his words were directed at him. “I don’t like bullies.” Owen said, before he spun on his heel and lifted his foot up, kicking Jeremy in the chin, and watching him crumple to the ground — a spinning roundhouse? Excessive, but flashy enough to hopefully make the other two fuck off. Then, he turned his attention to Derek and the remaining kid. “You got one chance to dip.” He said firmly, planting his foot back down on the ground. A spinning roundhouse, really? Owen supposed he was doing it to show off; being flashy and acting confident was an easy way to make people think you’re a threat — which Owen thought he certainly was. Owen still chose not to acknowledge Jamie. He would deal with the snake after the two more immediate threats were dealt with.

Derek, for all his looks, wasn’t exactly a bright boy. Rather than run in the opposite direction he charged at Owen, shoulder down, going for the tackle. His friend, the sophomore, came at Owen from the other side, trying to catch him off guard. Owen blamed Jamie for this. He so, passionately blamed Jamie for this. He only had one hand, for god’s sake! And it was his good hand that was taped up! If he could stand to look at him long enough, Owen would have demanded Jamie buy him food after this.

Undoubtedly, Owen had to eat one of these hits. It was just a matter of which one he wanted to take. Of course, the choice was simple. Derek was a football player, and the sophomore kid was just that: a sophomore. Besides, Owen was a trained fighter. A couple of douchebags? They might as well have been stationary targets. Owen held his leg out, twisting his body to the side slightly away from Derek and toward the sophomore. He put his hand on the back of Derek, using his own momentum to send him tumbling down and across the hall, into the rest of the lockers. He accepted the rush from the sophomore, which pushed him back a bit, but Owen was quick to handle that one as well.

He caught the kid in a grapple, holding him in place with his superior strength, before he brought his knee up to the younger boys stomach, slamming into it.

The youngest boy fell to the ground coughing, and luckily, stayed there. Jamie looked down at the scene around him, pleasantly surprised. This had gone a lot better than he’d figured. He bent over and grabbed his bag and began walking over to Owen, giving Jeremy a swift kick in the stomach as he passed. ”Uh...thanks. I owe you one,” Jamie said, looking over at Owen. He wasn’t happy, saying those words to Owen, but he wasn’t so proud that he couldn’t recognize that Owen had helped him out. As much as it pained him, Owen had saved his ass.

Owen turned his still fiery gaze onto Jamie, and pointed at him accusingly. “I can't be everyone's guardian! Learn to handle yourself.” He hissed, before stomping past Jamie, making a point of knocking his shoulder against the other boy. Fucking idiot.

Jamie watched Owen storm off and shook his head. It couldn’t have been anyone else?

CANCELLED.

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_{A @Universorum and @smarty0114 collaborative effort
Featuring: Connor ‘Yeah, Take Your Shirt Off’ Prince and Damian ‘Fuck a Shirt’ O’Connor
Time: After school
Location: Some shitty basketball hoop by a tasty place to eat
Interacting with: Joy ‘We’re Dating?!’ Darling via Text Message @Lovely Complex}

---

---

Honestly? This was ghetto part of town.

They could have went anywhere, and Damian drove them to the shittiest court in all of Beverly Hills, parked his very unshitty car in the parking lot, and led Connor to the shitty blacktop with the shitty hoop that may have once had a net, but now had a chain dangling from it, and the shitty chainlink fence surrounding them looked like it might have an inch of rust on the backboard. “You may be wondering,” Damian said, grinning over at Connor as he walked up onto the court, dribbling the ball they’d brought along, “‘why? Why did Damian bring me to this shitty ass court?’ Because man, it’s comfy. Plus, there’s a place across the street with dope food. So after we play, we eat. Then we swing by my girl’s place, pick her up for the party, drop by the Wells’s place for a bit of sweets, and probably pick up Riley, then we’re off to the boat.” Damian bounced the ball into Connor’s hands.

“Hey, is it cool if I take my shirt off again?”

Connor was making friends. It was strange thing to say, mainly because he’d set out for California with a firm goal in mind of hating every facet of life there. And sure, the weather was lame and the air sucked, but the people...well they weren’t the worst. Damian was cool enough, more genuine than the most of the school. So, in the spirit of friendship and a good time, he’d agreed to come along to play basketball, and then to the party.

Connor shrugged at Damian’s question. ”I don’t mind,” he said, dribbling the ball around. That was a lie. Connor did mind. Very, very much. He hated being around other dudes who were missing any portion of clothing. It made him uncomfortable, and Connor was very used to being comfortable. That said, he couldn’t exactly say that to Damian. So he took a deep breath, and braced himself for the storm.

Damian gave two thumbs to Connor and then pulled his shirt off, balling it up and throwing it off to the side. “Sweet. See, a lot of dudes are real weird about that shit, y’know? Being shirtless around other dudes I mean. But me and you, we seem to be on the same page.” Damian stretched his arms high above his head, clasping his hands together and leaning backwards, then over to each side to make sure he got limber and stretched out. “I’m really feelin’ loose. Dig? Lubed up. That’s how I like to feel before I play a game.” Damian stretched out his legs, before bending down to touch his toes and looking up.

“Where was I? Oh, right. We’re comfortable in our sexuality, you know what I mean? You’re a handsome dude. I know I’m a handsome dude. In fact, ask any girl in this school, I betcha they tell ya I’m the hottest guy in school. Why can’t we appreciate each other’s handsomeness? You know what? Why don’t we both be shirtless? It’s hot. We’re gonna get sweaty. Let’s just ditch the shirts and shoot hoops.” Damian said, nodding to himself as he continued to stretch, “the gayest thing you can do is call another dude gay for saying that you look good man. I work hard to look this good, I appreciate compliments from people of all shapes and sizes. I’m sure you feel the same way, right?”

Connor’s eyes darted around the court, to the net, the blacktop, his own shoes, anywhere except for Damian’s shirtless body. He nodded along with Damian’s assertions, the irony of the situation practically punching him in the jaw. Of course, his first friend at BHHS was a nudist. When Damian suggested he take his own shirt off, he caught the ball, his hands going clammy. He could feel that wall going up, the one that he always put up as he got closer to any guy. Swallowing he shook his head. ”Nah man, it’s cold as balls,” Connor said, evading the situation as deftly as he could. ”So, you ready to stop strippin’ and play?” Connor said, his discomfort quickly turning to charm, a new mask already replacing the one lying on the asphalt.

“Yeah, yeah. Just know that we're aren't stopping to get you clothes if you get gross and sweaty, ain't got time for that in my busy schedule.” Damian protested, before grinning and stretching down to touch his toes one last time before he looked at Connor. “Alright, your ball, dude. Loser pays for potato wedges from the place across the street.” He said, though Damian had no plans to either keep score, nor make Connor pay for their food.

”Deal,” Connor said, before throwing the ball to the ground and darting past Damian, spinning around just in time to catch the ball and go into a dribbling stance, maneuvering around Damian and towards the net, slowly but surely. ”So, what’s the deal with Selena Sterling? You know her?” Connor asked. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but the blonde had left a mark on him. Or at least, he’d been thinking about her since their first encounter, which was rare for him. If a girl could stay in Connor Prince’s mind for more than twenty four hours, she must be special.

“I dunno. She's alright? She's kinda… Bitchy? I'm not that into her. There are other blondes.” Damian said, before he stepped forward and snatched the ball from Connor, getting ready to toss it into the air. “I kinda think she might be gay. She's never really been into me, and I mean… Look at me, dude. I'm even into me.”

Connor smirked. This guy was confident, that was for sure. ”I don’t think she’s gay. She seemed pretty into me yesterday,” Connor said, trying and failing to snatch the ball back as he guarded Damian, doing his best to keep him from gaining any ground towards the net. He’d played against guys bigger than Damian before. This would be a cakewalk, if he could just get the ball back. Connor was small and quick, he had the advantage here, in everywhere except height, and Connor had learned that height would only get you so far.

“Is she now? Well, good for you. Go hard in the paint for her,” Damian listened to Connor talk, then went to fake out to the left, and then popped the ball up into the air, and over the shorter guy from right there on the three point line. The ball sailed through the air, and sunk into the hoop, dropping down to the ground and bouncing away as Damian spoke in a sarcastic tone. “Maybe she only likes people who suck at basketball, huh?”

Connor smirked, running over to retrieve the ball, and then back to the court. He dribbled up to Damian where they got locked in a standoff, Connor ducking and weaving only to come up again against the wall of muscle that was Damian. ”So, what’s the deal here? Who should I look out for?” Connor asked, in between controlled breaths and the scrape of sneakers on asphalt.

“I dunno. Me personally? I just hang out with, y’know, whoever. I guess watch out for Hailey? She’s a bit of a bitch. I saw she had some Korean girl on her arm at school today though, and you know what? Girls cure all wounds, dude. Maybe they can even lower the bitch levels,” Damian shrugged his shoulders, spreading his arms wide to block. Damian was having a good time. This Connor dude? He was alright! Plus, the guy let him be shirtless. What more could you ask for from another individual? “Point is, everyone that goes to school here kinda runs with their own little crew. You can hang out with whoever, dude. Chill with me. Don’t chill with me. I don’t care.”

Connor jumped up, shooting the ball as he peaked, then fell back to the ground as the ball clattered around the metal ring, before finally falling through. He grinned. ”Good to know. Last thing I need is to end up on the school’s blacklist cause I pissed off the wrong person,” he said, panting ever so slightly. Sweat had begun to bead up on his forehead from the exertion and he quickly wiped it away, taking in a deep breath of the January air.

“Yeah, Hailey will do that to you!” Damian said with a shrug as he headed over to the ball to pick it up and carry it back to the center. Damian rolled his neck to either side and wiped his brow, grinning, “Alright, next ball either loses or wins it all. Ready?” He asked, getting ready to drop the ball to signal the beginning of the next play. Normally, Damian would take his time shooting hoops and chilling, but he had a schedule to make. And he had to call his godfather!

Connor rolled his neck and grinned. ”You’re on,” he said, getting into a more defensive stance. He knew he’d have a hard time guarding Damian, so he’d have to get the ball back, and quick. He looked Damian up and down, maybe spending too much time doing so, before bringing his attention back to the ball. Go time.

Damian nodded and got himself in position, before dribbling the ball and moving over to the left. Friendly competition or not, Damian was a competitive soul, and losing would suck. He’d look like a fucking idiot in front of his new friend. Damian smirked at Connor, and winked. “You ever been dunked on by a grown man?”

Connor’s stomach dropped and he sprinted forward, snagging the ball from Damian. ”I wasn’t planning on it,” Connor said, smirking. He launched himself forward once more, dribbling past Damian and going in for a layup. The ball fell through the ring of rusted metal, bouncing on the ground with a satisfying smack. ”That’s game, O’Connor,” he said, grinning and running a hand through his hair. ”Now, I think you owe me lunch.”

Damian nodded and smiled happily, walking over to the ball and grabbing it, “Guess I do, huh? I’ll dunk on you another time, wait and see, bro.” He smiled and dribbled the ball back to his car, tossing it into the trunk. He slammed it down and then grabbed his shirt. Rather than put it on, let it rest around his neck, and led his newfound friend across the street and to the deli.

Five minutes later, Connor and Damian were sitting with their backs resting against the cool steel of the chainlink fence, cramming hot potato wedges into their mouth. “So, anyway, you’re down to roll, right? Like, to my girlfriend’s house, my current place of residence, and then to the party? I don’t wanna drag you on some wild adventure without making sure you’re ready.”

”I’m down. I’ll figure out something to say to my uncle. I’m technically on a ‘party detox’ at least that’s what my dad wants,” Connor said, rolling his eyes and scoffing. He’d seen his dad on the news earlier, talking about his campaign. He wanted to say it hadn’t hurt, but that’d be a lie. Not that he could say that to Damian. Dropping all your daddy issues on a guy the first time you hang out is a pretty bad way to make friends. ”So, this party. Do you think Selena Sterling will be there?” Connor asked, nonchalance oozing from his tone.

“Probably, but I honestly don't care. See man, the people who mind don't matter, and the people who matter don't mind. Selena minds. But I guess she probably will be. It's technically a Helmsley adventure, and the Helmsleys and the Sterlings are tight. Tight like tigers. Tell your uncle you're going to your new friend's place, for a history project with me. I'm your partner. He can call my parents for verification. 545-9991. They'll cover. You're staying overnight at my place because we won't be out till late.” Damian said, as if he'd said those exact words a thousand times. Damian stuffed another handful of food into his mouth. “My parents are cool so they won't question it. Plus, they're respectable folks, so nobody else's parents ever trip.”

”Thanks, I’ll do that,” Connor said, shoving a potato wedge into his mouth. Damian was a good guy. He’d gotten lucky on that front. ”As for people who mind, well, it’s the challenge that makes it fun, Damian my boy,” Connor said, grinning and patting his new friend on the shoulder.

“All I got is challenges. My girlfriend? Her dad’s my godfather. He’s gonna kill me when he finds out. But she’s great, so I’m all in, fuck it. I’m gonna finesse this, though,” Damian stared down at his nearly empty bag, dumping the rest of the crumbs inside of his mouth and crunching them down, standing up and wiping his hands off. “Alright, let’s roll. You mind the backseat? I kinda want Joy in shotgun.”

”Nah, it’s cool,” Connor said, clambering into the backseat of the car. He pulled out his phone and shot a text over to his uncle, explaining away his absence for the night. He hoped that would go over as smoothly as possible. Setting his phone down, he looked up, and awaited the sound of the car starting, and the journey ahead.

To Joy:

hi babe. be ready in 30? dont worry about a cute outfit we have options to get u one

plus tbh you’re pretty much cute in w/e you wear soooo doesnt rly matter