Hey Im Jordan

CANCELLED.

_{@Universorum and [@Fabricant]
A Minry post
Location: Their room —> A place to see the stars —> heading to see Brian}

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The deed was done.

Henry was laying on the bed now, resting on his back. He had fought a bit to pull himself from Min’s grasp, but she seemed satisfied after he got comfortable and pulled her back into her arms and into a tight hug. They laid there for awhile, together and in comfortable silence (if a bit weird for Henry, he wasn’t normally the snuggles afterward guy), before Henry kissed her, and insisted they take a shower, during which Henry expertly washed her, avoiding her hair and face so as to preserve her hair and makeup.

When they were done, Henry turned his back to her as he pulled his shirt on, bending forward and revealing the claw marks that Min had left on his back. From the hot water beating on his back in the shower, to the ferocious rubbing of the towel, the marks were now apparent: bright red against the pale skin of his back. They didn’t seem to be causing him much discomfort, but they were nonetheless there, right up until he tugged the shirt down and turned around.

“Hey, Min, after we get dressed, before we go out, there’s oneeee last thing I want to do.”

Min was certainly more content to cuddle after the fact and relished the opportunity to do so. She didn’t feel the need to say a word, they had said enough during their act and now was the time to relax and let the bliss carry them. Min-seo had been all smiles that night so far, which was a miracle given her initial apprehension towards a spa treatment, but as the pair lay in the comfort of one another Min’s smile was the widest - and brightest - it had been. Min-seo would just as soon agreed to staying like this until the sun came up if given the choice and opportunity to do so.

But a shower wasn’t the worst idea she’d heard. The water was cooling and it was nice to have someone there to wash her back which was always the hardest part. The shower signaled the end of their first cuddle session and though Min-seo was a little saddened she figured it wouldn’t be their only one and took comfort in that. Her good vibes wavered when she noticed the marks on Henry’s back; mild panic set in as she looked to her nails and back to Henry’s markings. Was that her doing? Should she say something? An apology? Did Henry even notice? Before she reached a decision, the shirt was on Henry and Min had missed the chance to point them out.

"One..thing?” She blinked and was just shy of tilting her head; her mind was still on the markings and the deep hope that he wouldn’t be mad when he found out about them. "What thing?”

Henry nodded, smiling at her. It seemed that for now, he wasn’t upset about the markings on his back, but instead had something else on his mind. Henry finished pulling his belt back on, then sat down on the bed. “Okay, so… I guess there’s no other way to say this: can I do cocaine off of your stomach?” Henry asked, reaching into his pants pocket and withdrawing a small baggie filled with white powder. “Like, off the midriff. See, I have a thing for midriff, like a real big thing. And then I have a smaller, but still pretty big thing for coke. Combine the two things together, and you have one happy Henry.”

There, it was worth a shot. Henry couldn’t remember a time when Min did drugs, or really even drank alcohol. He was hopeful that asking for something like this wouldn’t impact their relationship, but hey Henry had came inside like a hurricane warning and that didn’t seem to ruin things. Hopefully, all went well and he got his wish.

After asking what was on Henry’s mind, Min-seo used the opportunity to collect her clothes that were strewn about the ground. She was just finishing with the hooks and making sure everything was in place when the request was made. Her lower dress was in hand and it was as if she was paused in a moment in time, blinking both at Henry and at the baggie in his hand. Min-seo couldn’t claim to have done any illicit substances but she recognized the look of one; for a moment it seemed as if Min was going to say no. In the explanation of the request Min-seo only parsed about a third of it, but she focused on two particular words.

‘Happy Henry’.

Even though she was not someone who took things like cocaine, she was almost certain that he wasn’t asking her to do it and that putting it on her stomach didn’t count as taking it. Cocaine didn’t seep into the skin, right? Regardless, her mind was made up. "If you...happy...then...I say...okay.”

Success! It was a day of successes, as far as things with Min went, and Henry planned to keep it rolling for the foreseeable future. Once she was dressed again, he laid her down on her back again, and kneeled down by her stomach. He opened the baggie and carefully dumped some of it out. He pulled his wallet out and took out a credit car, moving the blow around to be more of a line. He smiled up at Min, “Thank you, Ducky.”

After speaking, Henry took a cut-in-half straw out of his pocket and press it against her stomach, snorting the line up quickly, and then blinking a bit as he leaned backwards and smiled. “That’s… good. Too bad Hana’s out of the game now, I dunno what I’m gonna do.” He said sadly, before standing up and holding his hand out to help her out of the bed.

She could safely say that this was nowhere on her list of expectations, the one she made on the long plane ride over two months ago. It was quite the unusual experience, but she was hard pressed to think of something that wasn’t the least bit unusual on a daily basis, especially compared to what she was used to at home. The weirdest part wasn’t when the white powder was placed on her stomach, but rather how...normal it all seemed for Henry. Min-seo could tell from the hand motions that Henry had done this before; not necessarily the ‘from a stomach’ part, but making lines and snorting them up.

The powder was kind of ticklish though Min-seo made sure not to laugh or move too much for fear of the powder falling and going everywhere. When it was over, she made sure to rub her hand over her stomach just to make sure she wasn’t going to be walking around with some white powdery stuff on her skin. "Hana?” Min-seo blinked as she was helped to her feet, adjusting her dress and getting out any unsightly lines. "Hana is...your...ex? Out of...game?” It wasn’t a question of jealousy but one of confusion. Americans had so many expressions and terms that all said the same thing.

Henry turned to look at her in surprise and shook his head. “Nah, not my ex. Hana is my drug dealer, but now she’s dating Hailey — or Hailey owns her, depends on who you ask — but anyway, Hailey told her not to deal drugs anymore. I can only assume, she was told that to spite me, because Hailey hates me and everything that brings joy to my life. So, I’ll have to go out of bounds to get drugs now. Which is shitty, but whatever…” Henry shook his head and looped his arm around Min’s waist, directing her toward the door and stepping outside, back into the hallway that led toward the main chunk of partygoers.

“Okay, Min. Where do you want to go next? Honestly, this party seems like it’s going way better than the one I threw… I guess that’s what happens when Hailey is distracted by someone, and doesn’t show up to ruin things.” Henry kept his arm around Min’s waist, and had her nearly glued to his side, as if he didn’t want to risk her getting taken by someone else. Henry couldn’t let that happen — after all, he planned to take Min back to one of the private rooms.

There was a lot going on with the people at this school and hearing news that Henry’s sister owned another person made Min somewhat glad she mostly kept out of the affairs of others. On the plus side it meant she wasn’t wrapped up in drama which might well have been too much to handle; on the other it meant that it took her a bit longer than most to find her first friend. Min-seo blinked as she reminded herself to thank Kit when she saw her next, if it wasn’t for the text message guidance it was likely Min would’ve had a vastly different night tonight.

Back out into the hallway, to the party, Min enjoyed how close they were walking and she had her head resting against him, her face locked in a seemingly permanent smile. "Go next?” She considered a moment, letting her eyes take in the wondrous sight of hallway and flooring. "Anywhere. It will be...good. We can...walk...together.”

Henry followed her eyes to the glowing floor, and he nodded in agreement. They could just walk together, and nothing could ruin their night. Henry was working hard to meet her expectations, and as far as he could tell, he was doing a fantastic job of it. He led her across the glowing floor, and again directed her away from the large masses of people, instead taking her to the stern of the boat. While not completely alone here, they were mostly secluded, and Henry was certain Min preferred that.

He took her to the very end of the boat, and looked out at the Los Angeles skyline, with the still lit up skyscrapers dotting the horizon. “It’s a nice view here, so I thought you might like it.” While they stood and stared, Henry wondered if he should have done more blow than what he did; he didn’t feel that high, but he figured the thrill really came from doing it off of your girlfriend’s body. Like when you eat sushi off of a naked woman.

Never done that before, maybe he’d have to see if she’d let him do that one.

The order was a little out of whack, but walking together through a boat and taking in what sights there were was definitely within the lines of a good date activity. In her head, Min-seo always imagined her first date being a bit more out of a fairy tale with the night ending in conversation while being escorted home, but the reality had been surprisingly like a fairy tale of her own making. She had the makeover, got to wear a dress, and even got to dance in the center of the floor. And now here she was, enjoying the comfortable silence of ambiance and being led to a rather scenic overlook.

She’d never had the chance to see the city at night like this, but as she looked at the skyline she could almost see home. The night sky, the buildings lit up, some faintly glowing neon. Back in Korea she could overlook the skyline from the penthouse her family often lived in; but it was different here on the boat. Here when she looked out at the city she didn’t feel isolated and alone or overwhelmed. Likely because of who she was watching it with, Min-seo just felt comfortable. The night may have gone differently than she had built up in her head, but that hadn’t mattered. Because as she looked out at the buildings with her arm around Henry’s back, she could only have one thought in mind.

"It is...perfect.”

The night was silent, and it was theirs.

That is, until a whirring noise came from Henry’s pocket, and Henry froze for a second as the music ramped up. He looked at Min and kissed her lips softly, “Uh, one second.” He said, before pulling the phone out and putting it to his ear, “this is Henry. ...Uh-huh. ...Yeah, I guess we could. ...Damian did what now? Sighhh. I’ll be right there. ...Yes I’m bringing Min! She’s my date, idiot. ...Well, it’s a thing that’s happening now. ...Nah, don’t trip. This is right up my alley.” He hung up and pocketed the phone, looking at Min.

“Hey, lover. We gotta go see Brian, okay? He wants my help, and I usually try to be a good friend, so I gotta go…”

At first Min-seo didn’t know what that music was or where it was coming from. It wasn’t loud and muted enough to be the music on the dance floor and it sounded closer; up until Henry pulled out the phone Min-seo was ready to assume it was someone that was playing a game or something. There was surprise when it turned out to be Henry’s phone, mostly because of the choice in ringtone. It...it wasn’t what she expected Henry to have for his phone but the surprises never stopped today.

Min-seo took a step back as Henry spoke. The last thing she wanted to be was one of those girls who tried to listen in on conversations with their dates and boyfriends. Had Henry not told her to trust him? When the call ended and Henry explained the situation Min-seo was understandably a little disappointed, but understanding. She had been taking up a lot of his time and she knew full well that his friends were important too. "I understand. It is okay. We can...go see...your friend. Okay.” Min-seo didn’t sound the most enthused but she did give a thumbs up and a smile just to ensure that it was clear she was on board.

"You are...good friend…Oppa.”

CANCELLED.

_{@Universorum and @Lovely Complex
Location: The Lyon’s Den → Captain Cuddles
Featuring: Owen “No Notifications!” Lyon and Kylie “All I Own is Fuck Me Dresses” Lyon}

This was tragically hopeless! In her too big for words walk-in closet, Kylie Lyon was scrambling through a pile of shoes. The pile of shoes wasn’t originally there, but after a half hour, her once so neat closet turned into a junkyard. Cluttered and hardly anywhere to walk. Was she too dressed up for her date with her son? If she was, she didn’t care. She looked good and felt good (its been a while since her son took her out), plus she wasn’t in the mood for a maxi dress or something too conservative and boring. This dress spoke to her. Black, sophisticated, sexy. The only problem was she couldn’t decide which red shoe to wear. Such unfortunate circumstances. “Daddy! I can’t decide between this one or this one OR this one!” With all three left shoes in her arms, she displayed them for her husband, who was sitting on the lounge couch within her closet.

Troy often wondered if he’d know the difference between high heels and pumps if it weren’t for Kylie. He considered himself to be very masculine, and the fact that he not only knew the difference between different kinds of shoes, but knew the difference between different brands was just a testament to how fantastic of a husband he was. He had learned long ago that ‘just call Belle’ wasn’t the response Kylie was looking for when she asked for opinions on an outfit. In fact, that seemed to do nothing but make her cry and make him look like an asshole who didn’t care if she looked good or not. So, like any man would do, Troy had went (reluctantly) to Sofia, Belle, and a few of the other women within close reach to him, and had learned about fashion.

If any of his friends or family knew, they’d probably endlessly harass him for being gay, or worse, girly.

But, this was his life. Besides, Kylie often gave him not so subtle hints about what she actually wanted; she just wanted affirmation from Daddy that it was a good choice. “The Christian Louboutin's would look best with that dress, baby.” Troy said, smiling warmly at her.

“I couldn’t agree more, love!” After placing the unwanted expensive shoes ungracefully in the pile of other unwanted expensive shoes, Kylie took a seat beside Troy and started putting on her shoes. Their son was waiting for her downstairs. He had already sent three texts asking her what was taking so long.

BEAUTY TAKES TIME, OWEN.

“I’m so excited! It's been over a century since he’s asked me out. This means he’s getting better, which also means he’ll stay home and not leave me again.” Projecting her emotions at her husband, she slipped on her last shoe. Her gorgeous, red hair styled to perfection, ends with a little curl to them, draped down, curtaining her face from her lover.

“I hope so. I’m sick of my gym smelling like depression… I hope you guys have a good time, love. Really, I do. The kid’s gonna be alright… I think you made a good call by telling me not to punish him for getting suspended. I guess I can’t really punish him for his classmates being assholes. All of my friends were assholes, I did okay. Go on now, get outta here before Ty and JJ show up.” Troy said, leaning around to kiss her on the cheek.

Just when his face was near her, her shoe secure and on her foot, she turned her head and pressed her red coated lips on his. Lovingly. Passionately. With a tad bit of heat. She kissed her big man for a long, very long, second before releasing him and playfully grinning, “I know who you could punish later.” Winking at her husband, she stood up, brushed her dress for any noticeable wrinkles, her divine ass inches away from his face, before turning on her heel slowly. Troy smiled to himself and rolled his eyes, having a good idea of who he could punish later too. Reaching out a lazy hand, Troy smacked her on the rear, more of a love tap than anything — but a sign of what was to come later that night.

Pouting after his love tap, she was totally prepared to over exaggerate and do a cute ‘owie’, but instead she huffed, “It better be harder tonight or no lovin’ for you, mister!” Now facing him, she backed out of her closet and giggled, “Love you forever~”

“Love you always.” Came the ever present reply.

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Owen was patiently waiting impatiently for his mother to come downstairs so that they could go about their night together. Honestly, he was excited for it. He hadn’t spent much time with his mom in a while, and he enjoyed it when they did. This would give them some time to catch up, and Owen would have a reason to not be at the night’s party, something he very much needed after the events of the last party. Owen shook his head and pulled out his phone, looking at the two or three texts he had from Damian and Henry, both asking where he was, or if he was coming. Owen, in a way just like his father, chose to ignore all of these.

“Hey, do me a favor and block all notifications for the night. I don’t want to be bothered tonight.” He said to his Assistant, who quickly replied.

“What, all of them? Even the high priority ones?”

“Yes all of them! I said it, didn’t I?” Owen demanded, while slipping his phone into his pocket.

“Alright dude,” the Assistant replied, blocking the first notification of the night: a Snapchat from Trixie; who was at the top of the priority list, as far as notifications go. But, hey, orders were orders.

Kylie’s heels could be heard from upstairs and soon enough, she was sauntering down with her sexy date night dress on, more appropriate for her husband than her son. “Pumpkin, I’m ready!!” Approaching him like she was on a runaway, when she neared her son she fiercely twirled, displaying her dress, “You like? Your father helped me pick it out!” All with intention. After the date, it was inevitable that Kylie would return to her husband.

Owen shook his head, but smiled. In normal families, it may have been strange behavior, but the reality was this was just the kind stuff he’d grown up with. Maybe that’s why he and his sister were so fucked in the head… “You look great, I’m sure dad loves it. So, I was thinking we’d go get dinner, and then watch a movie? Or… we can reverse those.” Owen said, walking over to his mother and offering her his arm.

Yeah, they were gonna be on the front page of tabloids tomorrow. Oh well.
“Knowing me I’d be a fatass and eat popcorn until I puke, so to prevent that… dinner sounds like a splendid idea. What did you have in mind?” She graciously and tenderly grabbed her son’s arm, allowing him to lead the way. Tonight she was finally having bonding time with her son. She missed this. She missed him.

Owen nodded and led her out of the house and toward his car, parked in front of their beautiful home and to his equally beautiful car. Rather than let go of her and get into his seat, Owen instead took her to the passenger’s side, opening the door for her and helping her into the car. Then, he got in on the driver’s side and started the beast. “I was thinking we’d just go to Captain Cuddles — they’re still open, and I know you like pizza. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Dad.” Owen teased, smiling over at her before he shifted the vehicle into gear and pulled away from the house.

Her heart was fluttering. Her boy was doing everything a gentleman was suppose to do and as a result, her pride skyrocketed. He opened her door, helped her into her seat, planned their date around what she liked. As a seasoned gamer girl back in the day, pizza was her life. Then she got in a committed relationship and Troy was concerned for her health, so she had to cut down on a lot. Like pizza and mountain dew and ice cream. For someone who ate like a pig, she was blessed with a fast metabolism, but now that was older, she had to be careful. If she lost her shape, the magazines would go crazy. For as long as they could remember, she was presented to the world as one of the hottest celebs known to date, aside from the models in her family. Tonight would be a cheat night. “Pizza sounds wonderful, Pumpky.” She glanced over at him as he drove, a soft smile appearing on her face. She had a motherly stare that spoke volumes. That said "You are my world." Her family, her son, was everything to her. “Your dad will find out, you know he will. He always does, but that’s okay. I can handle him just fine. If you know what I mean.” She gave her son a playful wink and ended her comment with a lighthearted giggle.

At that, Owen rolled his eyes. Yes, he knew exactly what she meant — but he wasn’t that interested in his parents’s sex life. “Yeah, I guess I do. You know, I still haven’t told him about the gym. Grandpa did a good job, I think he cleaned it up well enough that Dad wouldn’t even notice… But he kinda has a sixth sense about that place. So he probably already knows.” Owen said, shrugging as he turned onto the highway, “so anyway, how are you? Have you done anything cool since the last time we hung out?”

“I don’t know if this would be considered cool, but somehow your sister ended up in Las Vegas and needed me to come pick her up. This was... three weeks ago? I asked grandma if I could use her card so your father and grandpa would stay in the dark about this one.” Kylie nervously laughed, before thinking back of anything ‘cool’ that has happened these past months. The cold era. Her days have been filled with sorrow and gloom because Owen had been distant with her ever since the break up. If she was being honest with herself, it was hard to think of the good. She was downright miserable without her son, who use to tell her everything.

Plus, she was still on ‘meh’ terms with her father for giving her son that god awful tattoo. “Oh! Belle and I went to this huge black and white party recently. Big names and a lot of people judging each other behind fake smiles. The usual. That’s sorta cool!” She paused and shook her head, not agreeing with her recent comment at all, “Eh-hem. Not really. I’m getting too old to have exciting adventures...” Living it Up with the Lyons, woo!

“That’s actually like the antithesis of cool? Those kinds of party suck — I hope I don’t have to be famous… Like, actually be famous, because it seems exhausting. People are super judgey. Let’s see… I got dumped by Trixie because of a lie that I’m pretty sure my own cousin started, which led to a downward spiral of my only friend no longer being my friend. Then I was asked to be part of the Elite with Damian, and Trevor, and Henry. Henry isn’t part of it, though, he’s just a consultant and he made a big deal out of it. Anyway, we threw a big party to make Hailey, Trixie, and Ophelia look shitty, and like it kinda worked. But at the party they showed up and picked a fight with me and Lia called me autistic so I flipped out and then Marshall stepped up and I was gonna put him down, but I didn’t because some blonde guy got in my face, then kissed me like some kind of fucking faggot.” Owen paused, briefly, to take a quick breath. “Then after that it was all for not because Joy showed up with red hair and I guess that turns Damian into a carnal, primal, horny dude because he made me let everyone inside so he could hit on her. Last I saw, they were making out and heading upstairs. Then they hooked up again while she was babysitting the little dude — and by the way? Damian is probably balls deep inside of her right now, just so you know. Your daughter is getting the Alpha dick so that’s either good or bad, depending on your perspective — then Jamie showed up to the gym and I beat his lil gay ass, and if he shows up again I’ll stomp his fucking face in till he can’t get back up. Then, today, I got in a fight with three assholes who were beating Jamie up for being homo and I can’t let that stand, so I beat the shit out of them and then guess what? I got fucking suspended for it.”

Owen paused and ran a hand through his hair, thinking if there was anything else. “Oh, yeah. Then, Brian decided that he was gonna be on the morning show and said that he and his sisters are throwing a party on their boat, which I didn’t go to because I’m not going to anymore parties ever again. But they threw that party because I think Brian hates the Weekend Warrior now. Anyway, that’s my week. It wasn’t cool, but I guess it’s been exciting. Wow, it feels a lot better to get all of that off of my chest...”

So many words. So many happenings. Kylie’s head was spinning, trying to digest every detail as fast as she could. Scanning through all the new intel, she back tracked, raising an eyebrow, “Which cousin? We have a large, very large family.”

“That super cunt Ophelia.”

The concern and stress was visible on Kylie’s face now. “Why? What does she gain from destroying your relationship with Trixie?”

“Hailey’s call. Hailey doesn’t like me because I told her to stop bullying someone that she had no reason to bully, so she didn’t want me to be a part of their friend group anymore. Because I told her what’s what. So, she took Trixie away from me.”

“And Ophelia… went along with it?” Kylie was in disbelief. Was high school ever this bad for her and her friends? The only real problems any of them had was Jude getting constantly bullied for being transgender, but Troy dealt with her bullies accordingly. Well, there was also that period where Troy stopped protecting the school because he didn’t feel appreciated and everything went to shit. But still. BHHS sounds like it has turned for the worst.

“Turns out, Ophelia’s a bit of a psycho. Or, Hailey is just that scary and demanding. Could go either way, I’m not sure.”

“Crazy isn’t so far fetch from someone who looks up to Belle… but the latter could also be true, Hailey has a lot of all her parents in her.” Kylie pouted at the thought that Lia ruined a relationship. Ruined her son’s relationship. Wasn’t she the Queen of Candyland? Neither Belle or Molly would be pleased with the results of their legacy. She’d have to make sure to update her girls about the potential end of their organization. Shaking her head in disappointment, she replayed his words from earlier and went to the next subject, “No one died, right? At the party? You don’t know anything else about the blonde guy that kissed you? Why did he kiss you? Trixie didn’t get hurt did she?” So much to discuss, so little time.

“Trixie is fine, as far as I can tell. Hailey had her falling down drunk though, I was so heated. Everyone just lets her fall down, but no one but me helps her back up. He kissed me because he got in my face to stop me from hitting Marshall, and I spun around I got in his face and told him he’d better hit me or kiss me. He kissed me. He’s Selena’s brother, I think?”

“Sean’s back? That’s nice. I didn’t know that.” Kylie smiled to herself. Truth be told, she’s changed the Sterling twins diapers in the past, but that has long passed. Kids grow up and people become distant with one another. She hasn’t seen Cassie in awhile. “You know Trixie is related to him, right?”

“I mean, I do now. Jesus, is everyone related to everyone? I’m not related to Trixie, am I? Because if I am, then I’m sorry mom — but incest is the best, and I’ll keep puttin’ a cousin to the test.” Owen said, chuckling to himself.

“No, you’re in the clear. I know. Family is everywhere. I actually met Cassie, Selena and Sean’s mother, because of Trixie’s mom. It’s hard to keep track of who’s related with who, but I would’ve let you know years ago if you were related to Trixie!” Honestly, she was proud she remembered some of these relations. As a celebrity, you meet A LOT of people. “I’m getting distracted.” Intentionally, Kylie went over all things Joy, because she was the enabler and the one that dyed her hair… she was the one at fault. Next subject! “Why do you hate Jamie so much?”

“He’s snakey and wants to use Trixie as a springboard to get what he wants. Also, he does whatever Hailey wants, and I don’t appreciate that. And he came to the gym and was digging in my personal business — dad taught me to never allow that or take it lying down. So naturally, I hate him. I can’t stand people who use others...” Owen explained, shrugging his shoulders in response.

“What about Trixie? Hasn’t she made you feel used? She didn’t hear you out. You can blame everyone else for her believing the lie, but she still believed the lie. She convinced herself you didn’t love her anymore and then tossed you to the side.” Kylie wasn’t completely for Trixie since she did hurt her boy to the point that he closed himself off to his mama. It would take some time for his first love to earn her forgiveness. Hmpf.

“She did, and she’s at fault too. Dad also taught me that you forgive, you just never forget. Trixie made a mistake, but she’s just scared. Of stupid shit, but still scared. Once I get to talk to her, and get to tell her my side, then I think things will be okay. I wasn’t ready to forgive her, in fact I was ready to abandon all hope, and I gave her all her stuff back, but then she left some stuff back in my locker… Mom, we’re kids. We’re not perfect, and everyone makes mistake. Trixie has years of my life and time to give me reason to give her a second chance — Jamie doesn’t. All I know about Jamie is he sucks and Scott hates his sister. And AJ, who I also kinda don’t like, fucked him.”

“Stuff? What stuff did she leave in your locker? And, so..." Kylie paused and asked the question she actually wanted to hear the answer to, “She still loves you?”

“A bunch of stuff. The ring I gave her, some of her… clothes, her chapstick… just, stuff. She’s keeping my stuff, too. She has my jacket and some of my other things too.”

“And the answer to the last question?” Kylie observed her son’s expression, contemplating his wisdom and how strong he was. She supposed she didn’t have much right to talk. The beginning of her and Troy’s relationship was rough. Loud and constant yelling, neither unyielding, but over time they grew out of that. They started to realize what actually mattered.

“Yes, I think she does.” Owen said with a smile and a nod, “I really do. I won’t know until we get to talk, but I think she does right now.”

Having not looked away from him this entire time, she brought her hand to his hair and gently ran her fingers through it, “I’m amazed you’re my son.” There was small hope for him that he could get back with his first love. That’s all he needed to know to persevere. She could see him learning from everything he’s been through. No more will he digress. No. Her baby was ready to handle his business and she couldn’t help but be proud of him. “Thank you. For sharing all this with me. We haven’t talked like this in what seems like forever.”

Owen nodded as he pulled into the parking lot of Captain Cuddles and threw up his door, “hey, so I noticed you chose not to address that stuff I said about Joy, and I’d really prefer it if you did.” He said, stepping out of the car and over to her side, opening the door for her. “I figured if I added in some of her, maybe you’d like… judge her a bit too.” Owen explained, holding out a hand to help her out of the vehicle.

What’s there to judge when she was the one that caused all those actions with Joy and Damian to transpire? “Let’s save it… talk about it over pizza?” Kylie gave her son a guilty grin. Ugh. She was going to get in trouble, especially if word got to Jude and Ender.

CANCELLED.

_{Written by @Universorum and @Fabricant451
A Minry post
Location: The dance floor —> A private place
Interacting with: No one else matters tonight}

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Henry wasn’t sure whose idea it was to play slow songs and shift the mood below deck of the boat. It could have been Brian’s call, or it could have been that of the DJ. No matter who had made the call, the mood shift in the room that had just minutes before been a classic blacklight party was abrupt and apparent. Henry thought it fit the night, though, and he was happy to be on the floor with Min-seo.

Below deck of the ship was all glass, so they could look out into the ocean. No longer an explosion of color and harsh, flashing lights, the dance floor was lit by a soft blue, and the shadows of the ocean danced on the few pairs of people who’d stayed after things had calmed down. The music was quieter and less hype now, instead of a trap-heavy club track, a softer, more romantic tune played.

Henry and Min had taken the center of the dance floor. Henry had dragged her there, and now he was holding her close to him and they slowly moved on the dance floor. Henry was leading her in the dance, and he’d been uncharacteristically quiet. He was focused on the music, and keeping his feet moving in the right direction… and her. She was definitely a big part of where his mind was.

Henry had very much been a bit of a hit it and quit it boy so far, bouncing between one night stand and one night stand, but this was different! He hadn’t expected it to be different, but here it was. Maybe it was because he knew her, which was something he typically avoided. They were friends, and now they were becoming… more than that, maybe. Henry was still intent on having sex with her, but this intimacy was, for him, a breath of fresh air.

And it was welcome.

In a word, Min-seo was surprised; in a modifier to that word she was pleasantly surprised. Given her track record with parties that were somewhat grand in scale, she had expected the date to be loud and exhausting. Fun, sure, but still loud and still exhausting, especially given the experience that was still so fresh in her mind. She didn’t know if strings were pulled or if fortune was smiling on the pair of them but she was happy that she was able to both hear herself think and talk, such as it was, like any other normal date. Min-seo had ideas as to what her ideal date would be like, but given her first kiss from earlier today she found that it helped not to get hung up on the ideals and fantasies. Sure, her first kiss was surprising and not what she pictured for so long, but the second had gone above and beyond even her wildest imagination and would likely occupy the space in her mind for what a great kiss could be.

It was seeming possible for this date to share a similar fate.

The quiet little feast of snacks was a good way for the awkwardly cute portion to bubble to the surface. Light conversation, light compliments, light snack, all of which added up to a satisfying whole. Much to Min’s continued surprise, she didn’t expect there to be a dancefloor that seemed like it would fit right at home within the castle in Beauty and the Beast. When it came to dancing, Min-seo assumed that it would be dark and close and somewhat vulgar but such were the things one did when wanting a date to go well. But a slow dance? Henry might not have spoken Korean but he was speaking Min-seo’s language.

Given her father and step-mother, Min-seo attended many a fundraiser or social gathering in her time, and even when she was a little girl she found herself dancing - often just a playful sort of twirl with her father (or, most often, her father’s personal assistant) - but dancing all the same. She could tell from the start that Henry seemed a bit unsure, maybe he wasn’t an experienced slow dancer, but Min-seo still just smiled and went along with the leading rhythm. He was trying, and he was doing better than someone who would only use a slow dance as a means of grabbing a bit below the waist, and that was what mattered most to Min-seo. The effort. The sincerity. The fact that Henry cared.

It didn’t matter how short or long the song was, while they were dancing Min-seo had felt like they were doing so forever.

As the moved together slowly on the dance floor, Henry took his hand and slid it up her back to the back of her head. Rather than pull her in for a kiss, though, Henry just let his fingers run down through her hair, slowly gliding through locks of her hair. As they moved across the dance floor, Henry stayed quiet. He moved his head, to rest it against hers. He normally never stopped talking, but he wasn’t sure what he could say without the risk of breaking their moment, which he wanted to avoid.

He stepped back the slightest bit, and took Min-seo’s hand in his, lifting her arm up over her head and twirling her round in a circle, before he dipped her down backward. Did the move go along perfectly with the music? No, maybe not, but he wasn’t doing it for anyone but the two of the them. As the song came to a close, Henry leaned down and kissed her on the lips, pulling her back up straight while he kept their lips together. Once they stood up straight, and the room was quiet before the next song began playing, Henry finally broke the silence.

Henry slowly leaned down and forward, toward her ear, “...how was that?“ He asked her, in an almost whisper, directly into her ear.

Min-seo had never really been too conscious about her hair, it was straight excepting the days she opted for a different style, and long enough to rest past her shoulders. Yet now she found herself hoping beyond hope that there weren’t any knots, that it was smooth, that Henry’s hand didn’t caught in some unseen wayward curl. Of course the twins took good care of her and she knew that any worry was just in her head; given the situation, though, she felt it was warranted. Happily, it was a smooth transition from back to hair and Min-seo let out a sigh that almost got in the way of the rhythm they had been dancing to, but she managed to stay upright.

A highlight of her outfit for the evening came with the twirl. As she spun, the hem of her skirt lifted upwards with the rotation, and sewn into the frills were little stones that caught the light, making it appear as if Min-seo was glowing. Truth be told she was, though moreso in her face than anything else; the accoutrements were just a bit of extra flair thrown into the mix. For a moment, Min-seo twirled and felt on top of the world.

And then came the kiss.

She hadn’t been expecting it, but where she had felt on top of the world she now felt as if she was at the center of the universe. It was the kind of kiss, and the setting of it helped rather tremendously, that would make a person believe in magic. Min-seo’s eyes closed and in that moment there were only two people on the boat where she was concerned; it was like a Jack and Rose affair. When she was stood upright again one of her hands was resting, pressing almost, on Henry’s shoulder while the other was pressed palm-first onto his chest, just shy of grabbing his lapel and holding tight.

“It was...perfect.“ Min-seo whispered in response, the truth in her words tangible in her delivery.

As he listened to her response, Henry could feel his pride swell up. He had been called a lot of things in his adventures, but never perfect. Henry could feel her tugging at him, and it made a smirk pull at the edge of his lips as he pulled back to gaze into her eyes. A much more natural reaction of Henry came next as he winked at her, and reached out with a hand to gently brush some of her hair out of her eyes. Not knowing how long the moment would last, or if there would ever be a better chance to ask, so Henry shot his shot. “Min-seo… do you wanna go upstairs with me? So we can have a little more privacy.“

To emphasize his question, and to try and convince her just a little bit more, Henry cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her head back, leaning down to kiss her again. Henry again let it linger, and he would have used his tongue — if he didn’t want to save that for when the door closed.

The question wasn’t as much of a surprise as Min-seo thought it might’ve been. Going upstairs was a term she knew and one she had incorrectly attributed just a few days ago but there was no mistaking it this time. Several different scenarios played out in her mind but none of them ended in a way that would turn her off the idea. Henry wanted to go upstairs. With her. Out of everyone. He had pulled out several stops and made Min-seo feel like a genuine princess in a night that she was bound to never forget. There was only a slight pause from the transfer student that was interrupted by another kiss. She was getting used to those, and that was not at all a bad thing from where she was standing.

“Ne.“ She responded almost as soon as their lips parted, though she had to laugh at herself after the realization set in. She had responded in Korean in a way that sounded like she was saying ‘nay’. “That...that means yes.“ Min-seo was blushing as she explained herself but whether it was from the little bit of lost in translation or because she had agreed was anyone’s guess.

Min-seo was all smiles either way.

Henry could feel heat rising to his cheeks after her initial response. She didn’t want to? Then he just looked like a jackass. Luckily for him, the misunderstanding was quickly explained away and he could feel the same heat leaving. He nodded happily, and took her hand once more. He led her out of the room where they had danced, and up the stairs. Henry paused in front of one of the personal rooms, where the tablet next to the door indicated that it was not taken.

He glanced at the tablet and read the message on it: ‘Please sign the name of you and your partner, and the door will unlock. Thank you and have a beautiful night!’ Henry looked at Min-seo, and furrowed his brow. “Really? That’s weird, Brian… Whatever.“ Rather than question it or wait, Henry instead signed his name with the provided stylus, handing it to Min. “Sign your name.“ He explained.

This was something that wasn’t covered in the extensive amount of research done. It must have been a new thing; Min-seo likened it to a hotel check in only without the necessary payment and credit card information. It was odd, sure, but not something that would cause her to rescind her agreement. She had said yes, and she meant it, and this was just a rather strange part of the experience. There was only one question, did she sign in English or with her name characters?

It probably didn’t matter but it gave Min-seo a little pause as she held the stylus in hand. “So...weird.“ She shook her head and took stylus to tablet, writing out the Hangul characters of her name as she would have done back home. “Is this...normal?“ She had to ask as the stylus went back into the tablet’s holder.

Henry shook his head as the door made a noise to signify that it was unlocked, he turned the knob to let them in, pulling her in behind himself. He clicked the lock shut, and then explained, “nah, it’s definitely not normal. Brian’s kinda weird, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if he set that up himself.“ Henry wrapped his arms around her waist, “don’t think about that. Just think about… me.“ He said, smiling at her as he kissed her again.

This time, the kiss was different. It was passionate, yes, but it was less romantic and more… carnal. Henry lifted her up into his arms, keeping his lips pressed against hers. This time, Henry used his tongue, pressing it softly against her lips until she parted them to let him in. Henry pressed her back against a wall, and broke the kiss, instead finding her neck with soft, rapid, and feathery kisses.

Crossing the threshold of the door was like stepping out of the fantasy into reality. It marked a subtle change in demeanour that was picked up on by Min-seo who had expected a shift though was still surprised by its intensity. The feeling of being overwhelmed was a creeping threat, but this time she knew she’d be able to weather it out just fine given that she was with someone that cared and was making her feel special. There came a gasp of surprise when her feet left the ground but it highlighted the key difference in height and size; plus Min just found it to be another stroke in the plus column. Was it not within her rights to like a man that could sweep her off her feet and literally?

When the tongue came knocking at her lips she hesitated a moment out of uncertainty of what to do, but she figured it out well enough. When tongue was involved it was like an entirely different experience, one that lacked a bit of the romantic vibe of the dancefloor but contained a desire that made up for it in spades. Her back against a wall caused Min-seo to gasp again before she rolled her neck and exhaled a gentle breath as kisses were given like samples, a reaffirmation between parties that this was the desired outcome. Her lack of experience was showing as she didn’t quite know how to respond other than naturally, another exhale that came with her pressing her fingers onto Henry’s shoulder. The time for thinking and imagining the ideal was long past, Min-seo was just going to go with it.

It had been working so far.

The natural reaction was really all Henry needed. Hearing her little gasps, and feeling her move her neck was a good thing, and Henry was living for it. His hands finally went for the kill, slipping below the waist as he went underneath the skirt and squeezed at her thighs, going so far as to bite at her neck. Henry pulled away and looked directly at Min-seo, and he paused for a second, lifting her up and placing her bottom down on top of the dresser.

A sudden realization had washed over him. It was probably because he was stone cold fucking sober, but Henry was realizing that if they did this, it’d change their whole relationship. He wanted it, yes, but he had to be sure that she wanted it. This wasn’t like the rest of his one night stands, where he could chalk it up as a drunken mistake.

He wasn’t drunk, she wasn’t drunk, and most importantly, this was Min. He cared about her.

Damn feelings.

Henry was breathing heavily as he stared at her, leaning forward and resting their foreheads together. Henry put loving kisses on her lips, not the passionate, primal ones of moments before. “Min…“ Henry said in a breathless voice while he kissed her again and again, “You want this… right?“

Again Min-seo’s eyes closed to let the feelings wash over her, and they were strong feelings at that; with her closed eyes came Min-seo’s slightly increased breathing and fingers raking upwards before clutching down at Henry’s shirt as she braced herself following the teasing squeeze to her thighs. There was a brief moment of tension that worked itself out as quickly as a breath. And almost as soon as things had started, they came to a pause.

Min-seo opened her eyes, blinking once, then again as the kisses continued like droplets of dew. She had to give Henry a smile, a genuine curve of the corner of her lip as she instigated one of the kisses this time. It would have served as a reminder of itself, Min being the one to seek Henry’s lips out for a lingering lip lock, but she punctuated the gesture with a small, self assured nod. “Yes.“ Min-seo wasn’t fluent in the language, but it didn’t matter in the slightest.

“I want...this. Yes.“ A reiteration that was sealed, as many things had been that night already, with a kiss.

CANCELLED.

_{Collab with @Fabricant451
Featuring: Henry “She’s 12/10” Green and Min “Feels like the First Time” Seo
Location: An empty dining room —> The dance floor for couple’s song}

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Every guy, whether they tell people about it or not, has a scale he rates women (or men, or both) on. Henry Green’s scale went to ten, but... Twelve was Henry’s favorite number, so he liked to liken really attractive women to twelves on the scale of ten. Before tonight, only one girl had hit that number, and she’d later been downgraded after he really got to know her.

Henry didn’t know how they did it. Women were kind of like magicians. When one combined mastery of /r/makeupaddiction and good genes, then you could make a six look like a ten out of ten. That was as far as looks could take you, though.

It took more than just looks to be a twelve. Riding on just looks alone, you could be an eleven or an eleven point five after a heavy makeover and wearing just the right stuff (in most cases, short dresses). You could even be a physical seven and be a ten on the scale if you were a good person. The scale didn’t rate just looks, but took personality and character into account. A twelve was a girl worth marrying — or at least dating and not just hooking up once.

If Henry had been asked to rate Min-seo on his scale before seeing the commercial on Parker’s phone, he would have comfortably given her a six and a half. It hadn’t really registered in his head that Min-seo was a viable sexual or romantic partner, because he’d only ever looked at her as a friend. But, Min-seo was a good friend. A very good one, in Henry’s humble opinion.

She was kind and patient with Parker, and that meant a lot to Henry. On top of that, she was nice to him and had even been happy to sell her soul for a night to work behind a bar with him, where he knew she’d struggled to figure everything out. Min-seo was also one of the few people that Henry trusted to watch Benedict and Arnold when he wasn’t around. She had a certain air of ‘awwww, that’s cute’ to her, mostly stemming from the way she hadn’t yet grasped all of the intricacies of American society. Even before the events of the past twenty four hours, Henry was of the opinion that Min-seo’s infatuation with ducks was a very cute quality. Her reaction to the Donald Duck stuffie he’d gotten her had made him smile.

Min-seo wasn’t perfect, nobody was, but she tried. She tried really hard, and Henry could see that — honestly? she probably tried harder than he did — and he appreciated it and in a lot of ways admired it. It wasn’t easy to jump across an entire ocean, and try to find your way with nothing but a family that had agreed to host you. Especially a family like his, headed by a sociopathic woman and her slightly less sociopathic partner, who had raised on sociopathic child, one child that was likely to end up in prison before he turned twenty-two, and one child who had been traded for Min-seo…

It wasn’t easy, and Henry knew it wasn’t easy. He’d been there with Min since the first day she’d landed at the airport. He wouldn’t have stood a goddamn chance in the scenario she’d thrust herself into, and it was cool that she did it! So, because she was such a nice person, she got a six point five by default, without Henry taking her looks into account — why would he?

Today, through the power of the internet, Parker Ashford had either made a mistake or she had accidentally played matchmaker. Henry had learned today that Min-seo looked pretty damn fine when she was dressed and trying to be hot, rather than trying to be unassuming. This made her a nine. Henry had asked her to the night’s party there, and then he’d dropped her off with the twins, the magicians who would wave their magic wands and turn Min into Cinderella for the night.

Henry hadn’t seen her yet, but he was excited! He trusted Stella and Luna to do her up right, especially since they were his sisters, and knew what he liked. He knew that they’d have done something truly magical, and whatever he saw here was the absolute top of Min’s looks — at least until she got married and got to wear a flowing wedding dress and all that jazz.

Henry’s sisters had texted him where they’d left Min. Per Henry’s request to leave her someplace private, the two girls had abandoned her at the empty dining area near the boat’s ballroom (which was more of a rave room tonight), and Henry had decided to get himself and Min-seo food. He was walking now, with a plate full of finger foods. He strolled into the empty room (people didn’t want to sit and eat a party, who knew?) and held the plate up, “Min, I brought us some food…” Henry was now able to see the result of the twins’s handiwork, and it made him stop in place, and nearly drop the plate. His breath taken away, Heny spoke in a voice that was oddly soft coming from him, and barely audible over the loud noises emanating from where the actual party was. “Oh, wow.”

There was now a second woman who was, in Henry’s opinion, a twelve out of ten.

There was an older show that used to air its reruns on a regular, near daily basis; the idea of the show was similar to many reality dating programs in that a bachelor or bachelorette had a series of suitors carted off a bus one by one. The bachelor could move onto the next suitor at the snap of his finger and often this was done as soon as a suitor stepped off the bus. Physical appearance mattered tremendously in this case. It was a silly show but it was fun to watch if only to get a sense for what certain people really were looking for in a date: namely someone that had minor to no actual imperfections. It was not a coincidence that many of the bachelors went home without a date because of their desires. For some reason, Min-seo found herself reminded of that show, along with many other dating shows that she often watched in the two months she’d been here.

The day had been a whirlwind. Moreso than usual and it started with that car ride. There was a whiplash of emotion going from ecstatic over the Donald Duck stuffy right into fear when Parker accidentally stumbled onto Min-seo’s biggest secret. That fear gave way to a whole plethora of emotion that culminated in Min-seo agreeing to be a date to a party. Not just any date, of course, but Henry Green’s date. Even in her brief time in America she had heard stories about her host family’s ‘favorite son’ though given the language barrier many of it had been lost in translation.

Min-seo had gotten to know Henry over the two months though she didn’t really have a clear opinion of him until the second month. That first month was still so overwhelming, but sticking around had allowed her to see a side of him that she doubted many got to see. The side that acted very mature given that he was sometimes like a cool older brother to Parker - when he wasn’t being an enabler - the side that had a fondness for animals. The side that surprised Min-seo with a gift of a stuffed Donald Duck. That the biggest slight against him that Min-seo could think of was his questionable choice in girlfriend spoke volumes; of course learning that Parker wasn’t his girlfriend was as much a shock as American culture.

Now she was sitting at an empty table in an empty area of an unfamiliar room on a boat, having been deposited there by people who had done their hardest in dolling her up. They were efficient and worked faster than the makeup team that had been on set of the commercial work she had done back home. Min-seo didn’t even have to say much at all, they seemed to have the girl well enough in hand. There weren’t any mirrors in the dining area but she trusted them enough to believe that they did their job well.

And certainly they had.

It started at the top. Min-seo’s hair had been brushed and washed, styled to be sleek black and volumetric, it practically bounced at simply turning her head; this stood in contrast to Min-seo’s often unruly hair that had a bit of bedhead to it as well as hanging on her head loosely, like someone who was stressed beyond measure. Her eyes had a smokey contour to them, a marked difference from the confused sleepy gaze she had so often rocked; the makeup brought up the most of her brown eyes and the lashes helped. There was makeup and lipstick on her face, but it wasn’t caked on or layered on to where she looked like she was trying to stand out on the street corner. Pink lipstick to bring out their already thinly perky shape, and her face was blemish free and her cheeks were rounded in line with her chin, hiding the stress lines.

Then there came the outfit. It was as if someone put Min-seo in a short dress and chopped off the middle half. The dress, or half-dress, was a slinky red number that worked well with her makeup. Sleeveless, the top stopped just above her navel, exposing the fit midriff that all but started it all. Below that was the lower half of the dress, a skirt that was light but had an elegance to it and was hemmed perfectly to rest above her knees. If there was one asset she had, it was her legs and her outfit made that rather clear, down to the chic flats on her feet - wearing heels all night would have been absolute murder.

She was in the room for what seemed like hours before finally she heard footsteps and heard Henry just as he arrived. Min-seo stood up, standing in front of the table and the full breadth of her makeover was on full display. She smiled towards Henry and waved with a demure fashion. ”Henry...hello. It is...good to see you.” She was still quite nervous, but she was owning it as well as she could.

Henry’s face had an initial mask of happy surprise as he took in Min-seo’s entire ensemble. He brushed it off though and replaced it with a genuine smile before he spoke. “It’s good to see you too. You look… amazing, breathtaking even.” He smiled wider and held up the food again, “I brought us some food.” He said, before he danced around Min and sat the food down on the table. He took a seat at the table, and looked over his shoulder, gesturing for Min to sit across from him.

“I thought it would be better for you if we didn’t like… jump straight into the deep end, I guess? The whole party, I mean. Since it’s your first date in America, I thought it’d be more special if we were, alone for a bit. So that it didn’t seem like I just dragged you to a loud party just to… well, y’know what I mean.”

It was impossible for Min-seo not to blush and look away with a smile at the response from Henry; she might not have been fluent but somethings were universal and even she knew a genuine compliment when she heard one. She just wasn’t used to hearing them. As far as first time experiences went, this first time date was off to a good start. ”Kamsa-hamnida” Min-seo found her response coming out in her native tongue before she could even catch herself; it only added to her flushed tone with a mild embarrassed turn of expression. ”Ah...I mean...thank you.”

She took a moment to collect herself, to take a breath, and most importantly to try and stop trying so hard to be perfect. Min-seo had it in her mind that Americans liked things a certain way when it came to dates and the last thing she wanted was her own lack of experience on the subject matter to be a detriment. But, as she reminded herself, this wasn’t like those dating shows she watched on the side. This wasn’t a blind date sort of thing. They knew each other, now it was just a matter of getting to know each other on a different sort of playing field.

Min-seo sat across from Henry and exhaled a small breath, nodding at Henry’s reasoning even if she picked up only about eighty percent of it which was, by her estimation, an improvement. Being around quick talkers while in a salon booth for a few hours had a few benefits to it where listening was concerned. ”I like it. Party is...fun but...loud.” Min-seo gestured with her hand by her left ear. ”I want you...to have...good time. I am too.” Min gave a smiling bow of a nod before reaching for a small bit of food. ”Jal meokgesseumnida.” Some habits of Min’s were unlikely to pass.

Henry was happy to see she was enjoying herself. In a moment very unlike himself, Henry had earlier found himself idly wondering if he’d be able to make sure the night lived up to what he assumed may be unrealistic expectations from Min-seo. He wasn’t sure how much she’d played up her first date, like in her mind. In a different place, under a different light, Henry was confident that he could meet and exceed those expectations, but in this place, with this many people surrounding them and denying them intimacy?

It was questionable, at best. Henry figured he had a thirty three point three-three (repeating, of course) chance, at best, of beating those expectations.

He would try his best though. Underneath the table, he reached out and put a hand on Min’s knee, giving it a squeeze and nodding. “I know I’ll have a wonderful time. There’s only one way tonight can go for me, and that’s up.” He assured her, using his free hand to grab a bite to eat himself, while the hand on her knee rested comfortably. “Were the twins nice to you?”

There was a brief moment of confusion when Min felt something on her knee and for the initial seconds she assumed it was some kind of bug or, worse, a rodent. She had every intention of slapping the creature from her knee until cooler heads - and senses - prevailed and she understood that it was the furthest thing from a gross insect. It still made her twitch, but not unpleasantly so; she would just have to get accustomed to such direct gestures of affection. She came from a place where dates were full of awkwardly cute pauses and difficult eye contact. Score one for American bravado.

”The twins? They...they are good with their work.” Her language was still choppy but it was sounding less robotic and sluggish every day. There was no mistaking her for a native speaker but it was clear she was putting forth effort where she could. ”But...I think...I won’t go back...unless...serious. It is very...in-tents there.”

Henry nodded. He could understand that. The whole Sunset Castle could be a bit much, if you were rushed in by someone who decided you needed a makeover right then, and given to the twins. Henry decided to fight the good fight for his second mom. “I understand where you’re coming from. The twins were a little rushed, by me.” It’s important to note that Henry’s speech patterns were slowed down a little at this point, and he was enunciating more clearly. This was to make it easier on Min-seo. He wanted to be able to talk to her, not just ramble and hope that she caught everything he said. “I promise it can be a lot better than that. Next time, we’ll give them a notice and I’ll make sure you’re relaxed, rather than rushed.”

Henry squeezed her knee again, trying to reassure her. Realizing that he wasn’t sure the gesture would be accepted positively, or even wanted, Henry did a quick once over on Min, to see if there were any obvious signs of confusion or discomfort. Seeing none, he instead munched on another snack. “Sorry that’s it’s kind of all snack food… They didn’t have much else. It’s still a party.”

It was the little gestures that mattered most of all and while she didn’t say as much, Min did appreciate Henry’s slower manner of speaking. When she was around people that spoke rapidly it often felt like the teacher from Charlie Brown, which was part of the reason why she’d still had trouble with some of the more simple concepts like articles. But she knew that Henry wouldn’t get on her case for her pronunciation and she truly did try to improve for her sake as well as others. ”Food is...food.” Min offered with an appreciative nod and an accepting bite of a little hot dog wrapped in a pastry.

”The food is...second. What is first is...time together, yes?” Min-seo all but tilted her head in response, but it was a genuine response. It didn’t matter to her if they were having a five star meal or bags of corn chips from the vending machine. As if to drive the point home, Min gave the hand on her knee a gentle pat before she took another nibble of the plate of food.

At this, Henry’s face lit up in a bright smile. It was reassuring to hear it from Min-se like that, and he turned his hand upside down and interlaced his fingers with the Min’s before she could pull her hand away. Holding hands under the table, Henry ate in silence for a moment, before he leaned toward the wall the music was leaking from. Later into the night now, he could hear that the music being played had shifted from the more intense and loud music of a rave, to something slower. Something that seemed to encourage slow dancing, as opposed to the fast paced grinding and sleazy dancing that Henry knew was going on.

He tilted his head at Min-seo, and thought about it. Was he a very good dancer? He was okay. He and Evelyn had taken mother/son dance classes, as a birthday present to her, and he was alright. So he wasn’t worried about that… It was just embarrassing, and he was certain Min-seo wasn’t aware that he knew how to dance. Oh well, all good things must come to an end. In the name of love, and doing it all for the nookie, Henry smiled at Min-seo.

“They’re playing slow songs. Do you want to go dance?”

CANCELLED.

<sub>A @Universorum and @Fabricant451 collaboration

Featuring: Butler “Eat your Fries” Butler and Parker “But Brownies!” Ashford
Location: All over the place, but where does it end?

Home.</sub>

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Butler wasn’t used to assignments such as this. He wasn’t used to being told, quite plainly, that he was going to be a babysitter and a moving mule. He could not, however, find a way to decline. Miss Green seemed preoccupied with her new friend — they were having a ‘LAN party’ in her room, whatever that amounted to. And, unfortunately, Mister Green’s Butler was still on vacation. He’d have to call her to make sure that this never happened again.

That left James, Hailey’s Butler, in the truck with Parker, Henry’s friend, in shotgun beside him. Currently, they were headed toward Parker’s place of residence, where he had been instructed to obtain all of her belongings, and take them home, and transfer them to the room across the way from Mister Green’s room, where the freshie stayed. His objective after that was to take Parker shopping: furniture, clothing and whatever she designated as ‘essential.’

Butler brought the car to a stop at a red light, and turned his massive frame to look at Parker, his charge for the evening. “How many trips do you think we’ll need to get everything from your house? There’s plenty of room in here. However, if you feel we may need a U-Haul trailer, then I’d like to know now.”

Parker was bouncing in her seat; the fact that she was excited wasn’t because she was bouncing - she did that anyway - it was because she wasn’t looking at videos on her phone. The idea of getting bunk beds and sharing a room with a cool sister like Mincy was even more exciting than having crackers and peanut butter after a bath. But it wasn’t more exciting than grape juice. Of course that wasn’t a fair comparison. Nothing was more exciting than grape juice.

The man driving the car was someone Parker didn’t know, so naturally she assumed he was Henry’s dad. They didn’t look alike but sometimes the people in movies don’t look like their children so maybe it was like that. She didn’t ask questions. He looked like a dad so that’s what he was. Simple as that. "I DON’T HAVE A HOUSE!” The standard answer that came up whenever someone asked about her living conditions. For a dad, this guy didn’t seem too up on things, but it was okay, Parker didn’t go around telling people she lived in a tent. Not even her best friend knew until this morning.

"IT’S OKAY, YOU LOOK STRONG!” While not really answering the question about trips, Parker offered reassurance. She didn’t have much to pack. A tent. The cooler that once housed her grape juice boxes could be replaced by a mini fridge. Her clothes were in a toybox looking chest. And her handheld gaming device. "IT’S THERE!” Parker undid her seatbelt and opened the passenger door while the car was rounding the corner towards her house. She was on the sidewalk and running towards the front door as the car door was swinging freely. Parker almost tripped going out, but she moved with the grace of someone who had clearly done that before.

Did she just jump out of the car? Butler brought the vehicle to a complete stop in front of the home and opened his own door, turning to look at the girl for a brief second before he walked to the passenger’s side and slammed it shut. Then, he lumbered toward the front door, “This is a home, you realize?” He asked the little girl. Before she could respond, he added, “Don’t jump out of the car again. You could be hurt, and I don’t want that to happen on my watch. Now, lead me to your room so that I can grab everything that belongs to you and load it up.”

Idly, Butler wondered if this technically counted as kidnapping. From what he understood, they didn’t have the girl’s parents permission, nor had they even asked. They were simply extraditing her from her current home to the Green estate. While not a morality problem, Butler wasn’t interested in the potential trouble the Green children could find themselves in if this went the wrong way. On the other hand, having the loud one around on a more permanent basis may serve as a way to stop Henry from being so many random women around. That was a positive.

This was the second time in as many days that Parker had someone over and the reasons for it couldn’t have been more diametrically opposed. Shi-Shi had been really cool and even hung out with Parker for a little bit before Parker got bored and went to Henry’s house with her new friend; this older guy seemed a bit less willing to hang out on the air mattress and look at Parker’s collection of Pocket Monsters. She had an entire box in the game full of the same bird type because when the game told her to ‘catch ‘em all’ she assumed first that it meant ‘catch all of them in the first patch of grass’ and it wasn’t until she asked how many birds she had to catch that her error was corrected. No, this adult was acting very parental and while Parker still thought he was Henry’s dad, she didn’t think he had to be so...dad-like.

"WAIT HERE.” As with yesterday there wasn’t the same enthusiasm to Parker’s tone when she told Butler to wait in the front while she bounced up the front steps and entered the house, closing and locking the door behind her. Before she popped up in the backyard to open the fence, she made sure to grab the photo of a woman on stage from off the mantle. "IT’S THIS WAY.” The gate to the backyard swung open and Parker led the way, gesturing to her tent.

"YOU TAKE THAT.” Parker pointed to a chest normally reserved for lawn chairs which contained her clothing - only it was a mix of clean and dirty clothing and not exactly organized. Parker crawled into her tent to grab her handheld gaming device and the nearly finished bag of Lucky Charms marshmallows. Between the chest, the marshmallows, the gaming system, and the tent, along with the photo cradled under her arm it was safe to say that Butler was seeing everything Parker had to her name. "CAN WE GET ICE CREAM AFTER?”

Parker didn’t seem to mind that her life was essentially worth no more than a camping set.

Butler looked at the chest that Parker had gestured at, then back at the moving truck he’d brought, then shook his head. “This is it?” He asked, walking over and picking it up. He looked inside, and dug around for a second, before frowning. Did this child live alone? Did she have a parent in her life? He hefted the chest, and looked at the girl, “young lady, we are going shopping. Apparently, you need everything.”

He sighed. This was turning out to be more of a time consuming venture than he’d wanted it to be. He had to take her to get clothes, furniture, and who knows what else? He’d probably have to feed her. From the looks of things, she didn’t eat very well — was she just carrying a bag of Lucky Charms marshmallows? Yes, it appeared she was. “We can possibly go get ice cream, if you’re well behaved.” Butler said after a few moments of silence. He wasn’t sure about this plan. Was it wise for the Green family to step in here? Had the matrons even been approached about this?

Butler was a firm believer in the idea that it took a village to raise a child — after all, Miss Green had been raised by three parents, and he liked to think that she looked at him as somewhat of a role model. After all, he’d been by her side since the day she was born. As a firm believer in that rule, he felt that perhaps Parker moving in with the Greens could be a positive thing. Maybe she’d learn, and grow as a person. Maybe it’d be better for her. At the very least, she would be able to eat better meals.

“Let’s go. We’ll do furniture shopping, then clothes shopping, then we’ll get something to eat. Something real. And filling.”

"BUT I LIKE THE MARSHMALLOWS. I LIKE THE RED ONES, THEY’RE THE BIGGEST!” Parker went on the defensive at the sheer suggestion that marshmallows were somehow not a real meal. They were her only source of food since she wasn’t brave enough to use the oven and the microwave was too tall to use. Sometimes she ate burgers at the diner but only if the customer sent them back, otherwise they came out of her paycheck which sucked but if it didn’t then Parker would probably eat more burgers than she could actually handle. So a meal, a proper one at that, didn’t sound all the way bad.

"CAN I RIDE ON YOUR BACK? PLEASE?” Because Parker saw Butler as an adult figure, she was using her manners instead of just hopping on his back and hoping for the best. Her eyes were hopeful because to her, the trek from backyard back to the car was like a forty mile desert and Butler was the perfect camel.

"ARE WE GOING TO THE BIG STORE? WITH ALL THE LITTLE STORES IN IT? OH THEY LITTLE BROWN TWISTY THINGS THERE. I WANT ONE!” If nothing else, Parker remained ever enthusiastic.

Butler paused in walking, glancing over at Parker. She wanted to ride on his back? That wouldn’t be a problem. He was big, and tall, and strong. He could definitely carry her, but he’d learned long ago to never just give things away. Kids were easy, if you knew what you were doing: make a trade. So, Butler countered her request with one of his own. “I’ll give you a piggyback ride, if you’ll answer a question for me. How is your mother going to feel about this, uh, extended sleepover, Parker?” Butler had to ask, and he had to have an idea of it. He would be bad at his job if he didn’t; both Mrs. Greens were likely to ask him about it.

“Does she maybe have a number we can call to talk to her if we need to?” Butler had broached both subjects that were important to him. If Parker answered both of them now, then his work was done and he could carry on without a worry. “Churros? I guess we can get some churros. Yes, we’ll probably go to the mall. I think a lot of what we’ll need will be there.” Butler looked down at Parker expectantly, waiting for answers.

There was a singular moment of silence at the mention of Parker’s mother; Parker binked up at Butler as if he had just asked the poor girl to recite the multiplication table and Min was nowhere around to whisper the answers to her. It was the first time Parker’s goofy constant grin showed signs of going away and turning upside down. "YOU CAN ASK HER YOURSELF.”

Parker reached under her arm and pulled out what she had cradled there: a framed photo of a woman that seemed to be a promotional shot given that it was framed to ensure some kind of music award was also in the picture. Parker held the photo up in front of her face and started to lightly shake the photo back and forth. "I THINK IT’S OKAY AND YOU SHOULD GET ME...HER SOME ICE CREAM.” Parker tried her best to sound like a mother but it was just her lowering the pitch of her voice while still keeping the volume in tact.

She put the framed photo back down and under her arm again. "NOT A CHURRO WHAT’S A CHURRO I MEAN THE BREADY TWISTY THING! CAN WE GET BOTH? PIGGY BACK RIDE! IN THE MALL TOO! YEAH!” Whatever moment of hesitation Parker might have had was forgotten amidst a promise of piggybacking and snack foods.

Butler watched as Parker seemed to briefly… lose whatever it was she had. It came back, while she pretended to talk from behind a photo frame. This, to him, sealed the deal. Whatever her living situation was now, it was far from ideal, and he would have no problem taking her home and explaining to the Green matrons what the deal was. They could figure out the details if they so chose, but if this child was so far gone as to talk from behind a photo, then it could only be up from here.

He turned his body and dropped down to a knee so he was at a more manageable height. Butler shifted the package in his arms, and nodded. “Very well. Get on. Churros are fried bread covered in cinnamon sugar and served with chocolate sauce. However, I’ve since changed my mind. You will get ice cream after supper if you behave.” This… this would be an experience.

In that moment, Parker didn’t know a churro from chorizo because she was about to be given the piggy back ride of her life. When she hopped on the backs of her friends sometimes they went along with it but sometimes they had weak backs and almost dropped her. It seemed unlikely that this would happen with Butler and Parker was all too happy to climb aboard. Her laughter was a pure expression of joy as she ushered her mighty steed forward and onward.

"CAN I GET THREE SCOOPS? NO...NO FOUR! FIVE! FIVE SCOOPS! YEAH!” This was turning into one of Parker’s best days ever. Any day that involved ice cream was a great day.

Sometime later, the dynamic duo were on their way out of the mall. Butler had purchased bunk beds, several different posters, and a pile of clothes. He had also stopped at a pretzel stall in the mall and bought her a single, classic, salted pretzel. He himself had bought one as well. All of their things had been loaded into the vehicle by trained professionals, and they were nearly out of the place, when they were stopped by an employee of a nearby shop. “Why don’t you two stop by Happy Paws? Maybe you can find a new friend! I be they could fit on your shoulders — like she is,” the young man said, pointing at Parker, who was still receiving a piggyback ride.

Butler shook his head, and moved to get around the guy. “We’re not interested.” He said, giving the man a nod. It wasn’t his fault. He was paid to be annoying. “Thank you, but if you could move out of the way, it would be greatly appreciated.”

The employee, however, turned his attention to Parker. “Awww, come on. Don’t you want to come look at some kitties or puppies?”

Butler scowled. Scum.

There were few things that could get Parker willingly to come down from a piggyback ride; it was unfortunate that Butler had encountered one of those things. "LOOK AT THEM!” Parker, even from her vantage point, could see through the storefront window at the animals just on the other side. She wanted to go inside. More than that, she wanted one. Almost more than she wanted ice cream. More than she wanted a pretzel, which she found delicious and freshly baked. "I WANNA GO IN! I WANNA KITTY! HENRY HAS WATER DOGS AND MINCY GOT A STUFFED DUCKY SO I NEED A KITTY!”

Pets were all over the place at Henry’s house and if Parker was going to stay there she would need to have one. Or two. Definitely two. "KITTY KITTY KITTY KITTY KITTY!” Even if Butler said no, Parker was wiggling and worming her way free; it was quite possible that she would take a tumble off Butler’s back if it meant the chance to go inside and pet or look at the animals. "COME ON! INSIDE!”

Butler wasn’t sure about this. He hadn’t been told to buy her animals, but he supposed he had no choice at this point. He took Parker off of his shoulders and sat her down in front of him. Butler kept a firm grip on her shoulders, keeping her from running off as he took a knee in front of her, so they were… closer to eye level. Ignoring the annoying employee, Butler stared into Parker’s eyes with a heavy look. This was not a good plan. “We will go look at pets. BUT, you will get on one with some conditions. You are going to be responsible for it, young lady. That means training it, feeding it, making sure it has water, cleaning up after it, and, most importantly, playing plenty with it to make sure it has plenty of exercise. Your kitty will be your charge. If you fail your charge, then I will step in and take over for you. And the cat will be mine.”

Butler squinted at her, his eyes hard and his gaze a challenge. “Are we clear, Parker?”

If this were a cartoon, as Parker so often liked to think it was, her feet would have been going so fast they would resemble the Tazmanian Devil; such was her enthusiasm that not even Butler’s strong grip on her shoulder could keep the girl from bouncing up and down like she had just eaten a bowl of sugar. There were only a few words that Parker heard and they were the only ones she needed to hear: pets, one, kitty, cat. She was getting a kitty! And it wasn’t even her birthday. Was it? No, there was still school, so her birthday hadn’t happened yet.

"YES! I’LL BE ITS BEST FRIEND HONEST. THANK YOU! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” If her body wasn’t being held back by Butler, she likely would’ve hugged the man.

Butler shook his head, fairly certain that this was a poorly contrived plan, that would only end in him having a kitten. Sighing, Butler released his grip on Parker’s shoulder, instead transferring to holding the tiny girl’s hand in his, before he pointed toward the pet store. “Well then, Miss Parker. Lead the way.”

Stepping into the store was like stepping headlong into a new world, one that Parker was exceptionally glad to be part of. Right away the sound was different, gone was the light music of mall shopping it was now replaced by animal noises and the chirps of birds fluttering about in their cages. There was a pit of puppies playing about and Parker had to be informed by a sign that said ‘DO NOT ENTER’ to keep herself from climbing the little gate and never coming out of the puppy pet zone. As cute as the puppies were, Parker couldn’t have one. She was once bitten by a dog when she had just tried to play fetch with the bone in its mouth and for that she swore off dogs forever. Unless they’re in movies or cartoons.

Parker led the way through the store, making a point to go down every aisle that had an animal, before finally arriving at the Kat Korner. So many cats and kittens were there for the browsing, orange Garfield ones, black ones, white ones, fluffy ones, but Parker’s eyes honed in on one almost right away. Its seagreen eyes had locked onto hers and Parker was taken in by the silvery blue of ts fur.

"THAT ONE. IT MEWED AT ME. IT’S MY FRIEND!” Parker didn’t have a name in mind yet, but she knew that was the cat she wanted. A little Russian Blue kitten.

Butler was silent while she stared at the pets. Watching Parker get caught up in the general childlike wonderment of a pet store was… interesting. Really, there were no words to describe her other than ‘cute.’ Once she’d made her choice, Butler nodded, and waved over an attendant, who got the cat out of the back. After a few more minutes of shopping, now needing various cat related items, Butler and Parker were sitting in the now very full moving truck.

“So. What are you going to name her?” Butler asked, putting the vehicle into drive, and heading back on the road. “Remember, Parker. I have high expectations for you here. You’d best take good care of this pet.”

It was a herculean task getting Parker to sit still long enough for the seatbelt to be applied as she was bouncing in the seat like a hyperactive child on a sugar high. The carrier containing her new cat was in her lap and it took every single bit of restraint the girl had not to just open the thing and let the cat out into her lap. The temptation was there, stronger than anything she’d felt thus far, but the car was cramped and at home there would be more places for the cat to enjoy herself.

"HER NAME IS JASMINE. LIKE THE PRINCESS! BECAUSE SHE HAS BLUE FUR LIKE JASMINE’S PANTS.” She was proud of the name and her gaze was locked on Jasmine. Parker’s enthusiasm was there but she was determined to show Butler - and herself - that she could do this. That she was a good pet owner.

"I love her.” That Parker had found an indoor voice was shocking, almost as much as the fact that her eyes were a bit watery while she was still looking at Jasmine. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.”

The princess with the blue pants, huh? Butler was surprised that Parker was able to speak in such a quiet voice, but once she did, Butler nodded. “Alright. Let’s go get dinner,” he said, and before long they wound up at a diner — not the one that Parker worked at, but not too different from it. It took Butler a hundred dollar bill, but ultimately the restaurant relented on their ‘no pets’ rule, and in the end, Jasmine’s carrier was sitting beside Parker in the booth they were in.

“What do you want to eat? And no, you can’t have ice cream for dinner. If you eat all of your actual food, I’ll let you get dessert.” Butler said, eyeing the girl on the other side of the table. His menu was already folded and laid face down. He knew what he wanted, and was simply waiting for Parker to decide.

Parker had barely bothered looking at the menu given that her time was better spent on peering into the carrier at her new best friend. She could tell some of the other customers were a bit put-off but let them stare. Parker was used to that. As much as she would’ve liked to sit there with Jasmine and possibly even take her out of the carrier, something told her that that would be a surefire way to not get ice cream at the end of the meal. She picked up the menu and immediately looked for the pictures. It was how she always ordered, showing the picture of the food item instead of just saying it. This of course meant her selections were limited but she was someone that lived on Lucky Charms marshmallows so anything served here was several steps above that.

"THIS. I’M GETTING THIS.” Parker showed Butler on the menu, A thick looking burger with two patties. Over a pound of meat and that was without the toppings. "AND GRAPE JUICE. BIG, COLD GLASS!” If this place didn’t have grape juice she would have demanded they go somewhere else.

Butler looked at what she had pointed at and thought about his play. Could he convince her that she probably didn’t need that much food? No, probably not. But, he could always play the system a bit. “Okay.” He said, before waving a waitress over. Once the woman was there, Butler placed their order. He took the menu away from Parker, and turned it so only the waitress could see, pointing at the much more manageable quarter pound burger. “I’d like a double bacon cheeseburger for myself, and then for my friend here, one of these.” Butler tapped the menu again, before the waitress nodded, marking on her notepad.

“To drink, I’ll have a Shirley Temple, and she wants grape juice. You might as well bring a pitcher of the stuff.” The waitress nodded, and took both menus, before heading off into the kitchen to place their order. “Don’t waste any food, Parker. You’d better eat your whole plate.” He said, before the waitress returned with his red drink and — as requested — an entire pitcher of grape juice with a glass filled with ice. She sat them down and Butler nodded his thanks, before pouring Parker a glass.

"I CAN’T EAT THE PLATE, IT’S NOT FOOD!” Whether the expression was understood or not didn’t seem to matter; Parker was making the obvious little comment all the same and she was giggling as if she had just seen a stand up routine. Her little bout of laughter lasted just long enough to be silenced by her downing half her glass of grape juice as soon as it was poured and put in front of her. At the rate she was likely to go, a second pitcher was in the cards. "DO YOU THINK JASMINE WANTS SOME? MAYBE I SHOULD GET HER A FISH SANDWICH THING. BUT NONE OF THE WHITE STUFF, CATS HATE IT.”

Parker again looked inside the carrier, sticking a finger through the opening and lightly petting Jasmine’s fur. It was taken by the little blonde as a good thing that the cat didn’t scratch or mewl angrily. "ARE YOU HENRY’S DAD? YOU’RE LIKE THE COOLEST DAD. HENRY DOESN’T TALK ABOUT YOU IF YOU ARE.” Parker took another gulp of juice, her glass now empty save for the clinking of ice.

“No, I am not Henry’s father. I am Hailey’s butler. I’m on loan for the day, to help you. Parker, have you yet considered that maybe Jasmine would prefer you talk in a lower voice? After all, cats have very sensitive ears.” Butler explained, keeping her grape juice full. He had a plan, but he wasn’t sure if it was going to work. Like any plan, though, it was worth a shot. After a few more moments, their plates were brought to them: Butler a large burger with a basket of steak fries, and Parker a smaller burger with a basket of steak fries.

Butler popped one of the fries into his mouth and frowned. “Hmmm. Maybe you should read instead of just using the pictures, Parker. That doesn’t look like the picture — but sometimes the pictures are made to look better so you’ll buy it. Oh well, I guess.”

"SHE CAN’T HEAR ME RIGHT NOW.” Parker spoke in a lower voice which still carried well across the table, like a whisper that could be heard down the hall. "SHE’S IN HER CARRYING THING.” Parker’s grasp on things was unique though she would have to keep it in mind going forward. The materials given at the pet store included a care manual but her excitement meant that she hadn’t exactly read it or even listened all that closely to the pet shop clerk as they explained some of the more important bits.

When the food arrived, Parker was visibly disappointed in her burger. Pouted lips obscured only by another sip of juice. "THAT’S NOT FAIR, IT LOOKS BIGGER ON THE MENU.” Though she was upset, a burger was still a burger and after getting over the disappointment she dug in all the same. The first bite was a bit of a messy one, as her eating style meant that some of the toppings on the burger - bits of lettuce and onion - dropped onto the plate but she didn’t much mind as she had a second bite. "BUT IT TASTES GOOD. AND I CAN READ BUT THE PICTURES ARE THERE FOR A REASON! READING TAKES TOO LONG.”

While Parker was eating with a ravenous hunger, Butler made sure to keep her glass almost constantly full. She sipped half of it, he filled it back up. If she ate enough food, and drank enough liquid, then she wouldn’t have any room for dessert. And more importantly, he wouldn’t be dealing with a sugar-high’d out Parker. Based solely on his experience so far, that would be a truly awful thing to have on his plate.

Butler drowned his fries in seasonings. First, in the black pepper on the table, then with a splash of salt. Then, he called the waitress over again, asking if they had any parmesan cheese, or chili flake shakers. Luckily for her, they had both, and a set was brought to the dynamic duo, which Butler quickly dumped onto his food.

“Maybe you could learn to speed read. You can read faster than you look at pictures, if you just practice. But, I get it. You probably couldn’t do it even if you tried — it is pretty hard, and it’s tough to read that fast, and retain the information.”

He paused, and ate one of the fries.

“You probably couldn’t do it if you tried.”

Parker looked on in horror as Butler utterly ruined his fries with the addition of all that…stuff. She wanted to just snatch his plate away to prevent the murder of those innocent potatoes but it was too late. The fries were slathered in bits and pieces of different spices and seasonings. Parker could only save her own fries from such a fate and chomped down two of them at once. What kind of monster put all that on there?

"I CAN DO IT. MY MOM SAID I CAN DO ANYTHING I WANT.” Parker hadn’t realized that she had been baited so effectively but if she had she likely wouldn’t have cared anyway. "I JUST DON’T LIKE READING. IT’S BORING. I KNOW HOW. SEE?” Parker reached for the bottle of ketchup at the table and turned it over to the boring bits. "SERVING SIZE...CAR-GO-HIDE-RATES.” She set the bottle down and, for good measure, proudly puffed her chest like she had won some argument.

Butler shook his head in disbelief, throwing another fry into his mouth. “Parker, that’s not what that word says.” He took the bottle away from her and scanned the back of it, “it says ‘carbohydrates.’ I don’t think you can read, you’d better practice. If you don’t well in school, then you’ll never do well in life. And that won’t be fun for anyone.” He explained, before fully turning his focus onto his plate of food. Butler was taking huge bites of his burger, and throwing two or three fries into his mouth at a time.

“Eat your food.” He said with a mouth full of food. If eating the food was a race, at the rate he was going, Butler was going to win.

"I CAN READ! AND I’M GETTING GRADES IN CLASS! I BET I GOT BETTER GRADES THAN YOU!” Parker stuck her tongue out at Butler , a nerve seemingly being struck by the man’s comments. The little sense of accomplishment that Parker had deflated along with her puffed chest. She dealt with this massive blow to the ego by taking chomps of her burger, barely swallowing the first bite before she went back for the second. More of the condiments dropped to the plate as Parker silently consumed her burger.

"I AM EATING. AND YOU PROMISED ME ICE CREAM.” Parker was still focused on the prize of a cold, sweet treat, and her burger was being consumed rapidly, though some of it was splattered onto her face and plate as she ate the whole thing. Savoring the food was not in Parker’s vocabulary. With her hands, she picked up some of the lettuce and onions that had fallen and started eating them too, leaving only the fries and drips of condiments on the plate.

"ICE CREAM!”

Butler looked at her plate, and saw that there was still food there; actual, real food in the form of french fries, he shook his head. “No. You can’t be wasteful. Finish your meal.” Butler tossed the last french fry of his own plate into his mouth, and waved the waitress over. “Can we get the brownie ala mode, please?” He asked, pointing at the picture of the large brownies covered in vanilla ice cream and drizzled with caramel sauce.

“Just one spoon, for now. She can’t finish her dinner, she can’t have her dessert.” He said, glancing over at Parker. The waitress nodded, and Butler looked at Parker. “No wasting food.”

"BUT THE FRIES ARE THE WORST PART!” Parker was pouting as she looked at what might as well have been a mountain of fries. While she was upset that Butler ruined his by putting a bunch of seasonings on there, Parker wasn’t much of a fan of fries in the first place unless they came in a little red carton since those were hot and salty and she could stick them in her gums and have french fry walrus teeth. "CAN YOU EAT THEM? I JUST WANT ICE CREAM! I WAS GOOD, YOU SAID IF I WAS GOOD I CAN HAVE IT!”

Parker really wanted that ice cream. And this ice cream came with a brownie attached which only made it better. The cold of the ice cream and the warmth of the brownie was like the best thing ever! Begrudgingly, Parker scooped some fries in her hand, squeezing a little too hard thus making bits of potato stick to her palm, and she chomped away, barely chewing the fried side before going for another hand and mouthful. "CAN I HAVE SOME NOW? PLEASE? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE?” There were still fries on the plate, but fewer now. Parker was half tempted to just dump the fries in Jasmine’s carrier but she was almost sure that cats couldn’t eat people food. So she ate a few more, wiping the residual potato on the table mat.

"I ATE MOST OF IT. ISN’T THAT GOOD ENOUGH?”

Butler shook his head. It wasn’t good enough, not really. To help her though, he leaned across the table and took a few of the remaining fries for himself, munching on them. “You ought to let this be a lesson to you: don’t order more food than you can eat.” A few more fries in his mouth. He could relent, and he could give her the option to just eat the ice cream, but that wouldn’t prove his point. Don’t waste food.

“You can have the ice cream, but you’re taking whatever’s left on the plate back and you can’t have any snacks when we get home — except for what’s in the to-go box.” Butler said, as the waitress returned with the dessert in her hand. She put it down in front of them. “Another spoon please.” He said, and the young woman nodded and took off again.

Butler held out the spoon, scoop side out to Parker. “Deal?”

"WHEN I ORDER FOOD THEY LET ME ORDER DESSERT NO MATTER WHAT. HENRY DOESN’T CARE WHEN I ORDER STUFF!” Parker was back to pouting as Butler essentially read Parker the riot act. It seemed like a fair compromise anyway, it wasn’t like Butler was gonna be watching her all night so she could still probably find other snacks later on. Still, the ice cream and brownie was far too alluring to let it go anywhere other than her mouth. "FINE. I’LL BE CAREFUL NOW.” Parker snatched the offered spoon and dipped it into the ice cream.

She practically melted as the sweet treat slid down her throat. "IT’S THE BEST EVER!” Despite the little lecture, Parker was happy as can be, and now she was digging her spoon into the brownie beneath the ice cream without a care in the world.

Butler seemed satisfied with her reaction. He was a little strict, but not too strict in his opinion. Henry seemed like he spoiled her, and Butler would have no part of that. He took a spoonful of the ice cream, and ate it himself, nodding approvingly. “It’s good.”

Parker had almost forgotten the ice cream altogether as she started favoring the brownie, taking bites of it and dipping it in the ice cream like it was chocolate sauce. The warmth of the brownie blended well with the ice cream. The burger had been good but this was on a whole other level and it was clear with how enthusiastic Parker was as she dug into the dessert. "WE SHOULD GET ANOTHER ONE!” Parker’s suggestion came as a result of damn near half the treat being consumed at a rapid pace. Whatever misgivings she had about fries clearly didn’t apply to desserts.

Butler watched her mow down the dessert, and shook his head. This was an odd child, an incredibly odd child. He was almost one hundred and twenty six point eight nine five percent certain that the matrons of the Green family were not going to be happy that Parker was moving in full time. But, that wasn’t his place to step in and say something.

After a few more moments there, they finally made their return to the Stentorian Estate, where Parker now lived. A few hours after that, and Butler had set up her room, complete with a mounted TV close to the top bunk bed, where Parker would be sleeping. Butler had moved all of the old furniture out, and once Min-seo returned from her date, she likely wouldn’t even recognize the place. Butler, however, was satisfied.

He turned now, to look at Parker, who had been playing with Jasmine while he was putting everything together. He checked his watch, and seeing late it was, he cleared his throat. “Come on, Parker. It’s time for bed.”

Jasmine was out of her carrier as soon as they were in the house, with Parker damn near running a circle around the cat as it got acclimated to its new environment. It became quite clear that Parker had little to no intention of actually helping with the move-in process; and why would she when there was a perfectly good cat to attend to instead? When she tired herself out from running, she dropped down to pet Jasmine and to play with one of the cat toys the pet shop tossed into the mix.

It seemed like no time had passed at all when Butler called her from her cat shenanigans. The pout returned, obscured as it was behind a tuft of Jasmine’s fur from Parker’s position of laying next to the cat. "BUT IT’S EARLY! AND JASMINE ISN’T TIRED! PLUS MINCY ISN’T BACK YET! I DON’T WANT MINCY TO STEP ON JASMINE’S TAIL WHEN SHE GETS BACK!” Parker likely could come up with other excuses but she felt her point was made. A cat made for the best excuse.

Butler shook his head. He didn’t have time to argue anymore, and instead he bent down and lifted Parker up onto his shoulders and carried her over to the bed. He stood in front of it and reached out, pulling back to the bedspread, before he threw Parker onto the bed and tucked her in snugly, fixing the blankets so they were underneath her. “Here.” In one hand, he picked Jasmine up, and lifted her up to the bed, sitting her beside Parker. “There, she’ll sleep with you, and there won’t be any chance of Min-seo stepping on her tail. The remote is beside you. Sleep well, Parker. Do you want the lights on or off?”

While Parker could complain, she didn’t. This was technically still a school night whatever that meant. Back in the tent, Parker knew it was time to sleep when the battery on her gaming device ran out but she didn’t have that luxury here. It was a fair compromise, anyway, with Jasmine curling up into a ball on Parker’s chest. If she was being made to sleep now, at least she’d get to sleep with her newest and bestest friend. That made all the difference.

"YOU CAN TURN…” She remembered Jasmine and seeing the cat stir at the volume made Parker pause. "Lights off. I’ll be okay!” The night was way less scary when there was a furry, cuddly guardian there to watch her back.

"G’NIGHT.” Her whisper still on the louder side of things, though Jasmine didn’t stir. "I HAD A LOT OF FUN TODAY.”

Parker was out damn near the second the lights were.

CANCELLED.

_{Featuring: Scott “Comes Through With the Clutch” Lyon
Location: The boat
Interacting with: As usual, Katie “I Swear I Don’t Want to Bang Her” Callaghan is mentioned}

Scott was pissed. He was furious, he was enraged. Katie had this effect on him, she had basically since the day they’d met. He honestly didn’t think it’d ever stop, they fought every day and every class and it always ended with him in a bad mood. And now he was in one, again! He had found an empty hallway, and he was having a moment, freaking out in the direction of the camera, knowing that Brian was probably watching it.

“We’ll get together, have a few laughs! It’s gonna be a party, bro! Nah, fuck it, ya don’t need no alcohol. What, Katie? PFFFTTTT, she’s not gonna ruin your whole fuckin’ night in less than ten goddamn minutes. Ya, just verbally spar, duder, you know, dude. Fuck it! Let the whole world see you and her try to run through each other. Yea, bro, I’ll owe you one. You’re really gonna come through with the clutch for me here, ya know, dude? Just with the clutch! Scott Lyon, he always COMES THROUGH WITH THE CLUTCH. Best player in the goddamn game. Who can get everyone to look at him and that bitch who threw chess pieces at him? Scott, duh. Who can stir up a little drama at the expense of his own damn night? Scott motherfuckin’ Sebastian Lyon. WOOO! Friendship!”

Scott paused to look at one of the cameras. “I know you see me, dude, I know you hear my ass out here bitchin’ up a goddamn storm because of this bitch, so eat this, fucker.” Scott held up his middle finger at the camera, sneering. “I hate her so goddamn much that stupid blonde bimbo bitch, can’t do nothin’ fun without her RUINING IT. And I can’t even use a shot of jack — actually a bottle since she drives me so up the wall — to ease the pain because you MADE ME PROMISE NOT TO.”

He was shouting at a security camera now, and he had half a mind to go let himself into the bridge and give Brian a piece of his mind. Scott went to take his hat off, so he could run his hand through his hair. How he normally chills himself out… only to realize that it wasn’t on his head. This reignited the flame of his rage, and Scott snapped, “I THREW MY HAT AT HER!” He was naked, he was exposed, he was without his hat. He probably looked like he was acting a goddamn fool too.

“FUCK!”

Scott kicked the wall, and then his face contorted into the pain of instant regret. That hurt, that actually hurt. “I blame Katie,” he snapped, before stomping back down the hallway, headed toward anywhere but this godforsaken area. Away from the camera, and hopefully away from Katie. If he never saw Katie again it would be too soon.

It was days like this, experiences like this, and people like her that made him wish that his parents had just kept him in Australia. At least there he would have never ran into an aesthetically pleasing woman that he could stare at for longer than any person should stare at another, right up until she opened her mouth. It was grating, like nails on a chalkboard. And it wasn’t that her voice was shitty to listen to, it was more like the words she said were shitty to listen to.

She went out of her way, he felt, to blend and devise sentences usings words he was quite fond of to do nothing but upset him. She was ruthless, cunning, and even tactical in the way she made him hate her. In fact, just thinking about it made Scott feel a certain way. “Goddamn, what is wrong with me?” He asked no one in particular. Was he into screaming matches? No, he hated them. He was into screaming matches with Katie.

Scott chose to ignore this thought, and instead focused on something else. He was very, very hungry. He found his way to the food table, and looked it with a hunger rising in his stomach. Yes, eating this would cleanse all the thoughts he was having about Katie. He would be able to comfortably reset his evening, and go about the rest of his night happily.

Scott loaded a huge, turkey dinner size plate with food. He covered it with sweets. Scott had a sweet tooth, and a lot of things here would help him scratch that itch. He put a piece of cheesecake (strawberry), a chunk of Oreo mud cake, a chunk of peanut butter pie, several cake pops, then he balanced that plate on one hand, and grabbed a bowl, scooping ice cream into it from the selection that was spread out from them. He took two scoops of chocolate fudge brownie ice cream, and two scoops of cinnamon roll ice cream.

“Alright, here we go, dude.” Scott said, before dipping. He was heading to somewhere no one would bother them, somewhere he knew no one would ever go: the stern. There, he could eat his food in silence and peace and quiet.

No Katie. Perfect.

CANCELLED.

_{@smarty0114 @Universorum
Featuring: Kit “High as a Kite!” Thomas, Ophelia “Kit, Eat This” Brycen, Cassandra “Time to get Wasted!” Clark
Location: The Destiny!}

---

---

Kit was pretty nervous! She thought she deserved to be, though. This was her first party, and according to Ophelia and Cassie both, it was a pretty big deal. A Helmsley affair! They said. It’s going to be fantastic! They said. But didn’t Kit already attend Helmsley affairs when she already went to their place for BBQs? Ophelia went to them too, but she was still making this boat trip out to be something unexplainably awesome. Kit was being set up either for disappointment or for a really good party!

Either way, she only knew one thing: she had to be high before she got on this boat. So, when Ophelia finally parked her car at the dock where the boat was waiting, Kit had more or less completely hotboxed the ride. And she was still going. On the last legs of her second, or maybe third bowl since the night had begun, Kit lit it again and the bubbling noise was heard from the backseat. Ophelia looked over at Cassie, before asking. “Hey, do you think we should cut her off or anything?”

Cassie, by this point in the ride, was just barely feeling the effects of secondhand smoke, which had effectively calmed the nerves she’d been struggling with earlier. Looking over at Ophelia, Cassie shrugged, then nodded in agreement. Turning around to face Kit, Cassie grinned. “Kit, darling, it’s time to get this show on the road. Don’t worry, there will be drugs aplenty on the boat. If I know Brian, and I do, he’s probably got some fetch stuff. If you remember much of this night, then we’ve done you wrong,” Cassie assured the freshman, grinning at the thought of what the night had in store.

Kit finished what she was doing and carefully sat the glass piece down in the floorboard, where she knew it would be safe, before nodding. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s rock n’ roll. Let’s do the do. Let’s make bad decisions,” she said, giving the two girls a thumbs up before she hopped out of the car and bounded toward the loading dock without waiting for Ophelia or Cassie.

Ophelia opened her side and looked at Cassie, shrugging. “Guess we’d better go, huh?” She asked, before opening the door and stepping out of the car herself.

Cassie stepped out into the night, taking a deep breath. The Helmsley’s boat was glowing with a multitude of colors, quite the sight to behold. She strutted over to the dock with Kit and Ophelia, her short, dark blue dress doing very little to protect her from the cold. She wasn’t worried. Once she got a couple drinks in her, she’d be fine. “Now Kit, remember. Candies don’t vom. Well, at least not in public anyways. If you need to puke, find a bathroom, or find a private little spot on deck and let the fishes have it. And then, blame it on seasickness,” Cassie said as they got in line to enter the party.

Kit stared at Cassandra for a few seconds, as they moved up the line. “The last time I puked… I couldn’t walk. Cuz I was a toddler. Only babies puke, Cassie, give me some credit, sheesh…” Kit muttered, as they stepped up to the giant guards at the ramp, one of them holding what looked like some kind of iPad. “Geeze! You are very large men.” Kit muttered, and the guard thrust the tablet and accompanying stylus at her.

“Sign here.”

“If I don’t, will you spank my friend in the blue dress?” Kit asked, pointing over at Cassie with the stylus while Ophelia stifled another giggle. The guard glared at her, and Kit sighed, “Alright, alright. Sheesh, I’m just trying to help her out…” She scribbled her name on the tablet, then handed the pen over to Cassie.

Cassie smirked at the guard as she signed her name. “Maybe next time,” she said with a wink, before handing the pen off to Ophie and following Kit onto the ship. Kit was wide eyed as the three of them climbed up onto the ship. The floor beneath them was glowing! The sides of the ship was glowing!

“This is cool! Where do we go first?” She asked, looking at Ophelia, who had stopped a gumball machine and was slowly turning the knob. She held her hand, and grabbed a small collection of pills shaped like… well, all kinds of things! Kit was handed something that looked like a Lego, a Hello Kitty, and a Mickey Mouse face.

“Here, Kit baby. Take two of these, and then find Marshall and give him the other one.” Ophelia said, and obediently, Kit popped the Hello Kitty and the Mickey Mouse, before running off with the Lego dropped in her clutch. “She’ll be okay, right?”

Cassie waved her hand, dismissing Ophelia’s worry with her own nonchalance. “What’s the worst that could happen?” Cassie asked, grinning and strutting towards the bar. “I don’t know about you but I need a drink. While I adore our new friend, she’s exhausting,” Cassie said, grinning at Ophie.

“Yeah, that’s fair! I guess she’ll be okay… We’ll just pick her up on the way out. She talks a lot, even for us. It’s kinda crazy, I don’t think she has a stop button? Maybe she’ll find someone else to annoy for the night. I’m tryin’ to give her to Marshall, since the dad should have some time with the kid.” She muttered, stepping up to the bar. “How drunk are we trying to get?”

Cassie laughed. “Drunk enough to forget every detail I learned about Hailey’s sex life today! That reminds me, we’ve got to show Brynnie those stories. She’s gonna die!” Cassie said, shouting over the music as she looked around at the hundreds of sweaty teenagers, grinding up on each other like this was some cheap seventies porno. She loved it.

“Sounds good.” She said, before turning her attention to the bartender, who was waiting patiently to serve the underage people standing at the bar, “let me get two AMFs, please.” Ophelia said, and the bartender quickly mixed up the drinks, handing them to the to the two girls. Ophelia smiled, and sipped from her fruity cocktail, looking over at Cassie.

“How many of these is it gonna take to get you to hang off of my arm?”

Cassie smirked at Ophelia, her stomach fluttering just a bit. Ophelia confused her, but then again, maybe that was okay. “Let’s find out,” she said, winking at the blonde and taking a sip from her own drink. Who knew what would be on people’s lips tomorrow at school. Better yet, who cared?

CANCELLED.

---

---

Earlier that morning

The Lockhart Residence

The pair of Lockharts sat at the table in the kitchen of their tiny apartment, staring at a jigsaw puzzle that rested in the center. Once finished, it would reveal a picture of a pair of foxes in the snow, a picture perhaps taken in the countryside of Virginia, or Maryland. Reina liked it a lot, and had finished the edge while her brother had made her breakfast a little while ago. Now, though, she was focused on eating the food in front of her: scrambled eggs and sourdough toast.

While she was busy eating, Ashton spoke up. “Remember, I have to go to work right after school.” He said, and Reina looked over at him and furrowed her brow in disapproval. Ashton sighed, “It’s important, Rei, come on. I know I only usually have to do it on the weekends, but —” Ashton, however, was cut off by Reina.

“Which job?” She questioned, waving her fork at him, and Ashton shrugged his shoulders to dismiss — or dodge the question, and Reina blew a raspberry in his direction. “You’ll be there to pick me up from Hummingbird Creations, right?” And Ashton nodded.

“Reina, there is nothing in hell, high heaven, or anywhere in between that could stop me from coming back for you. I’ll be there to get you before you even realize I’m gone. It shouldn’t take me more than an hour tops.” Ashton said, to reassure her, and Reina gave him the tiniest of smiles. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. That was good enough for him; more than good enough for him. “I have that party tonight. Do you want to go, or no? Before you complain, my boss says I have to go.” He said quickly, to avoid any concerns his sister may have.

Reina shook her head, “Absolutely not. I’ll stay here and color, or something. Too many people at a party.”

“I agree.”

After school

Burntown

Q had fucked up. It was plain and simple, as Ashton saw it. The deal was simple. He gave her stuff, she moved it, she paid him. He gave her a good hookup, and she did a good job. This was the first time that he could remember where someone hadn’t paid her for it, but he didn’t care. Play with his money, then you play with his life.

Ashton was gonna deal with it. That meant he had to go to the source of the problem: Stephen Rhett. That was who’d screwed Q on the blow, and by extension, he’d screwed Ashton. He was just a kid, sure, but kid needed to learn. So, Ashton had taken himself to Burntown, where he knew Q dealt the most, and where he knew he’d find the stupid stoner kid. It took him a minute (the place was much larger than Ashton ever realized), but he did find Stephen Rhett, skating alone. Ashton approached, and Stephen looked up, “Who are you?”

The kid barely had a chance to speak, before Ashton pushed him with both hands, shoving him hard against the hardwood of the halfpipe. Ashton swung full force into the sophomore’s mouth, busting his lip. Stephen went to bring his hands up to defend himself, and Ashton yanked both arms out of the way and hit him again, this time against the temple. The kid started to fall down, but Ashton grabbed him by the collar and shoved him more firmly against the halfpipe, the blood dripping from his lip and down to the otherwise stainless wood.

“You think you’re funny, dude? You think you can just take shit?” He growled in a voice that was almost primal, before he hit him in the stomach. Ashton wasn’t a trained fighter. He didn’t go to the Combat Club, and hadn’t taken karate as a child. He was driven by anger, and it showed in the way he fought; it was almost animalistic the way he was handling Stephen.

“W-what are you talking about?” Stephen sputtered, and Ashton hit him again in the stomach.

“You owe Q money, which means you owe me money, and I ain’t quite as nice as she is. I know you refused to pay her. Twice now. And you’re gonna pay her. You’re gonna pay me.” Ashton growled, before he started dragging the kid, pulling him away from the halfpipe and dragging him, kicking and resisting in the dirt, across Burntown, to the spot where he met with Q to make the drops once a month.

Fuck you. Pay me. That was how he’d been told to handle this situation, and that was how he was going to handle it. Once he arrived at the spot, located near the rear of Burntown, hidden away from all the commonfolk of the area, he pulled out his phone.

To: Quincy

Spot.

Ashton knew it’d be only a few moments before Q showed up. She was never late and always responded quickly to his text messages. And he appreciated that. Hopefully, she’d follow through this time. With one hand, he threw Stephen to the ground, before turning his attention to him again. “You stay there. Don’t move, man.”

What could he want? That was all Q could think about as she walked through Burntown, towards the back where she normally met Ashton. They met once a month. No more, no less. She rubbed her fingers against one another, feeling the lines on her hands, tracing them, trying to calm herself. Ashton gave her the creeps. Just a little.

How had she gotten into this business in the first place? Good question. It all started after her dad died, last year. After falling in with the burners, she met Ashton. He offered her money to do some basic drug dealing. Weed, that was it. Q liked the money, and maybe the rep it gave her too. She was sprinting away from her old life, doing everything she could to get away from it. Maybe she tried too hard. Soon weed became pills, and pills became blow. And it wasn’t like she could just get out. She was in too deep. Far too deep.

A Double didn’t know where she was. If he did, would he even let her come? Quincy wasn’t sure, and she wasn’t about to test it out. For now, she’d keep him in the dark. He’d been about to give her a ride home when she got Ash’s text, and hitched a ride with another kid to Burntown instead. Hopefully he would forget about that. The last thing she needed was him poking around this part of her life. He knew that she sold drugs, and that was all he ever needed to know.

”What the fuck?”

Quincy hadn’t been sure what to expect, but this scene, surely wasn’t it. There was Ashton, standing with a bloodied and bruised Stephen Rhett. Even with a busted up lip, she recognized him. She knew Ashton was off, but this? ”What the hell is this Ash?”

Ashton was almost annoyed with Q from the way she was talking to him. This was on her, not him. “Does he, or does he not owe you money? Don’t answer that, I already know the answer.” He said, before turning his attention over to the kid, the junkie-in-training, on the ground. “Pay her double.” Ashton said bluntly, and the kid looked at him as if he were crazy, and Ashton repeated himself. “Pay. Her. Double.” Stephen shook his head, and Ashton snarled, walking over to Stephen who scrambled backwards, but Ash was faster, shoving him down and twisting him over to his stomach.

With surprising grace, Ashton frisked Stephen down, withdrawing the kid’s wallet and a few crumpled up bills. He walked back to Quincy, and dug all of the money out of the wallet, a small stack of tens and twenties. He counted it, then gave her two twenties — nothing near what her cut actually was. “This is what you get. Quincy, I shouldn’t ever have to do your work for you. You understand me? If it happens once, it’s going to happen again. People don’t pay you, means you don’t pay me. You don’t pay me, maybe I come looking for you. Maybe I go off to my own little dreamland,” Ash said quietly, darkly, before stuffing all of the money into his pants pocket and tossing the wallet over his shoulder.

“You’re playing with my money, and you play with my money and that means you play with my life. It’s not a game, Quincy. It’s not a game. You’re not playing a game, you’re working. You either quit, or you do the caliber of work I expect,” while he spoke, Ashton reached into his pocket and withdrew a cigarette, “you got a light?”

This would always be remembered by Quincy Hart as the moment she realized, she was in over her head. Here she was, being threatened by a drug supplier. Because she hadn’t dealt enough drugs. She had no idea what the hell she was doing. But she didn’t stop. At least, not then. That would be a mistake. Quincy dug a lighter out of her pockets and handed it to Ash. ”Threaten my boyfriend again Ashton, and I swear to God, I’ll skip the money entirely,” Quincy said, as if it was a fact of life. She was scared, but him mentioning A Double? That just made her angry.

Ashton smirked at her as he lit the cigarette. “Mmm, I do like ‘em feisty.” He said, tossing the lighter back to her before he turned to walk away. “Don’t let it happen again, Q. The kid’ll be fine, by the way. He just fell down.” Ashton had nothing left to say, and he walked away.

Schooltime

Art class

Reina drummed her fingers on the table, looking around at the other students in the classroom. They were, for the most part, loud and talkative. She had found that art students often were; being expressive was part of their craft, after all. Art is one way that people express their feelings, or their thoughts. She liked art class, really, she did. She enjoyed the different projects that were made by the students, she liked seeing the outlet for creativity be utilized. Honestly, she loved it.

But it was sometimes too loud.

This? This was one of those times. Reina was fidgeting in the back of the class while everyone else worked on their projects, or chatted about whatever was on their minds, or in some cases: both. She brought her hand up to her face, and bit down on her sweatshirt sleeve, chewing on it absently. She couldn’t focus in this environment! Everyone was too loud. This room was too loud. It was stifling!

She peered down at the canvas in front of her, which had the very base of a lineart sketch on it, framing the face of someone, though the facial details were not yet present. Reina was working on a present for her friend Juno; the canvas would eventually becoming a vibrant painting of the redheaded woman.

Now, though? She was getting no work done and she could feel her anxiety creeping up on herself. This. Sucked.

Art was the one class where Noah didn’t feel an intense desire to disappear. The art classroom was loud, but in all the right ways. Colors leaped from the walls, from the students, from everything. This was where Noah was mean to be. Today, he was working on a large painting of Katie, something he’d both promised her he’d do, but also wanted to do. He’d already finished his sketch, and was just about to dip his brush into paint when he looked over at the girl next to him.

What was her name? Reina? That sounded right. Well, so far, Reina had made very little progress, and he could tell she was somewhat distraught. Her eyes were kind of glued to her canvas, as if she was looking through it, rather than at it. Noah recognized the expression well. He did it all the time. He could practically hear Katie and Joy shouting at him, telling him to stop being a creep and just ask her what was up. Nervously chewing his lip, he leaned over.

“You haven’t done much.”

The way Reina tore her gaze away from the canvas and turned it to Noah, it seemed like she had seen a ghost, or that Noah may have been Freddy Krueger. She stared at him with wide, doe eyes for a few seconds, before she gave a small, rapidly repeating nod of agreement. Honestly? Boys scared Reina. But, at least this one looked soft — she thought that Ashton could probably beat him up. That? That made her feel safe.

“Y-yeah… I haven’t, huh? It’s hard to focus here sometimes. It’s really loud…” She said in a soft voice that was almost inaudible over the loud noises of art class. “But, uhm… I’m sure I’ll get it done eventually. Usually, I just come into here during lunch. Then it’s… peaceful.” She explained to the new person. Oh, right! “I’m Reina. Reina Lockhart. Who are you?”

Noah looked around the chaotic room, a thoughtful look on his face. “Huh. I guess I’ve never really seen it as loud. Just bright.” Noah turned back to the girl and smiled softly, his own social anxiety creeping back. He wanted to shut up and keep painting, but he knew what everyone in his life would tell him to do. Talk to the pretty girl. “I’m Noah. Nichols. Noah Nichols. What are you working on?”

“Noah. Noah Nichols.” Reina repeated after the boy, storing his name and face away for memory. Reina best remembered names after repeating them herself, and after she said his name, she let herself process everything else he’d said. Taking a glance around the room, she nodded. “Bright… yeah, I think I like that.”

She tapped the canvas in front of her, before explaining her intent. “I’m drawing a portrait, of my friend. Juno. I want to paint it, and give it to her. Like, a gift.”

“I’m doing the same thing for mine. I mean, it’s for a friend. Not, of your friend. Obviously.” Noah stammered, his voice soft and his face flushed. Strangers flustered the boy, and this girl was very much a stranger.

“That’s cool… Are your friends nice? You should introduce me.” Though Reina’s voice did not betray her nervousness, she made a bit of a face, and began to scratch at the long sleeves on her arms. She stopped herself and looked at Noah, before adding, “You know… if you would like to.” She didn’t want to impose. Besides, his friends might be scary…

Noah nodded, his own anxiety clear. This was uncharted territory, he hadn’t prepared for the conversation to carry this far. “Yeah uhhh totally,” he said quietly, his eyes darting from Reina, to the floor, to his painting.

Reina let out a sigh of relief. This wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t as easy as talking to Ashton, but it wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be. This Noah boy was, well, a boy, but he wasn’t a scary one. In fact, the adjective that she might have picked to describe him would have been something more like ‘soft.’ With a quick smile, Reina nodded. “Okay! Here’s my number.” She scribbled on a piece of her drawing journal, and ripped it out, sliding it across to him. “Thank you.”

Noah stammered at the sight of the number and was luckily saved from any further embarrassment by the shrill ring of the bell, marking the end of the period. “Okay!” he shouted, grabbing his bag and darting out of class, his face beet red and his stomach churning. People were hard. He decided he preferred paintings.

After school

Ashton’s Car

“So, you’re going to a party? On a Tuesday. And I’m staying home alone. On a Tuesday.” Reina asked, looking at her brother from her seat in the passenger’s side, while parked in front of their apartment complex. Ashton looked at his sister and nodded. He had known this would happen. She wasn’t going to be happy with him leaving her there alone for the night. Tuesdays were puzzle nights.

“Yes. I’ll be back before you’re awake.” Ashton said, giving a shrug. What he needed was already in the trunk, he just had to head toward the dock and make the drop. He wished that was all he had to do, but he had been told that he had to hang around for the party, in case he was needed. “Sorry, Reina. I’d say you could come, but I know you don’t want to.”

Reina sighed and finally nodded, before giving Ashton a kiss on the cheek and ducking out of the car. “Be good, and come back alive.” She tutted, and Ash nodded as Reina ran off into the apartment complex. Ashton shifted the car back into gear, and pulled onto the road.

The Destiny

Ashton parked his car and looked at the massive ship sitting at the dock. He could see only one other vehicle here. He reached down and popped the trunk, before jumping out of the car and walking to the back. He grabbed a duffel bag, full of product. What product? In this case, it was largely a new party drug called ‘Uber.’ Essentially, it was an enhanced version of LSD, or acid — a happy drug. The main difference, what made it ‘Uber,’ rather than just an imitation of those two, was that it did what the others never could quite perfect.

It was incapable of giving a bad trip.

That made it a very, very desirable party drug. Ashton wasn’t sure who it was that wanted this party to be strapped, but they really did, since he was carrying a duffel bag worth about four hundred thousand dollars, once you added the Uber, the blow, and the weed all together. Ashton chose not to think about it, and instead stepped toward the boarding ramp. He was stopped by two security looking guys, who looked at him, seemed to check their tablets, and then let him without much fuss. Weird. What kind of party was this?

He walked up the ramp, and looked down the ship, toward a stage where one man was sitting, with his sunglasses on as he stared toward nothing and listened to music. That must be Brian. That was who he was delivering to, some rich Helmsley kid. He walked across the ship’s white floors — watching as they lit up in a variety of colors to his every step — and pulled himself onto the stage, dropping the duffel bag in front of him. This caused the music to stop playing, and the boy on the ground to look up, taking his sunglasses off before eyeing the duffel bag. “Party favors. I don’t know who, but someone out there really likes you, because they told me to stick around, in case you needed help.” Ashton said, pulling another cigarette out of his pack, alongside a lighter. He lit up and waited for Brian to speak up.

Brian opened up the bag and stared down at the contents, silently. After a few seconds, he nodded, and spoke up. “Thanks. Help me load this stuff.” Brian said, picking up the duffel bag, and gesturing for Ashton to follow after him, which he did, puffing on the cigarette.

After ten minutes, the Uber pills, at least, had been set up for distribution. That is to say, Brian and Ashton had loaded the pills into different gumball dispensers throughout the boat, all for easy access for their peers. The rest of it? It remained in the duffel bag, to be distributed by the bartenders upon request. For adults, they seemed very okay with giving alcohol and drugs to minors. Ashton wasn’t one to judge, and had found his way to the edge of the boat, where he was now smoking in silence.

Brian, on the other hand, was sitting on the stage once more, when he noticed a few cars roll up. The first guests of the night, though he already knew who this was. Damian, Damian’s girlfriend (and whoever else Damian brought — he was kind of a magnet), Scott, and AJ. Good, that meant food was here. He’d have a snack while he was locked away in the bridge.

CANCELLED.

^{^ CLICK IT ^}



<sub>Location: The Destiny
Featuring: Some old guys and one Brian Helmsley
Time: To party

Seriously, the music is important</sub>

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In the Age of Wonder
Another World, Another Time
This Land was Green and Good
Until the Crystal Cracked

Brian stood on the edge of the dock, with one hand in his pocket, staring through sunglasses out at the ship he and his peers would be on tonight. There was at least one person on board right now, working on a few things for him, but he was waiting for someone specific. The sound of a car on asphalt rang in his eardrums, and he turned around and took the sunglasses off, hanging them on the edge of his shirt as he faced the car. The vehicle rolled to a stop, and though Brian couldn’t see inside of the jet black tinted windows, he had a feeling who it was.

The driver’s side door opened, and the driver silently walked to the backseat, opening the door. Out stepped Brian’s father: Ryan Helmsley. Brian nodded to his dad, and Ryan spoke, quick and directly to the point. “You’re sure you don’t want me to get involved in this ‘problem?’ I could handle it a bit faster than this, don’t you think?” Ryan asked his son, and Brian shook his head.

“No, thank you. I can handle this, trust me. Besides, the people I’m working against expect me to use my money to handle everything. If I went running to daddy at the first sign of trouble, that wouldn’t be a good look for me. Honestly? I don’t even know if this is going to work, but since it seems like the last party that was thrown went to shit, we might as well show them how it’s done. Did you get everything I asked for done?” He said, looking at his father. Brian had requested a few modifications be done, on Friday. He knew they were done by now, but he wanted to check.

“As far as I know, yes; the final touches are being put in place, now. I’m sure once you get on the boat, you can ask the man himself all the questions you have and he’ll be more than happy to answer them. And yes, the liquor cabinet is stocked — drink it all. The bartender has been told not to ask for I.D. I’ve even gone so far as to request a little care package be delivered for you. From what I understand, kids still like drugs. So, someone is bringing you drugs. His name is Ashton.” Ryan explained, and Brian looked over at his father with a questioning look on his face, and Ryan shrugged. “I’ve done more drugs than anyone that attends your school has, and I was a teenager once too. I know what kids do. I still know where to get them too. Just enjoy it and be thankful. Fight your battle, win, and then explain to your mother why we had to come home early. She’s not happy.”

Brian smiled and nodded. “Understood, and will do. Thank you. For letting me borrow the boat, for getting it set up, and everything else. I appreciate it.” Brian said, and Ryan nodded, waving it off. “I guess I’ll see you when I get home, then. Do you think he’s just on the boat?” He asked, and Ryan shrugged his shoulders, sliding back into the car.

“Who knows? He’s an enigma, if nothing else. Always has been.” The car door was shut by the driver, and then they rolled off into the sunset and Brian turned to look at the ship with a frown. What if everything wasn’t done? They were on a time crunch.

Once More
They Will Replenish Themselves
Cheat Death Again
The Power of Their Source??

Brian walked up the boarding ramp and onto the ship, looking around for the man in question. He had to be here somewhere, right? It wasn’t like he had anything better to do — he was retired at the tender age of thirty something.

Brian saw no one on the top deck, and decided that he was perhaps on the bridge. He stepped down the stairs, toward his target location, and could hear a voice in the distance.

“No, shoot them! SHOOT THEM. Dude they’re right there!”

Well, that confirmed he was on the bridge. Brian walked a little faster now, excited to be debriefed on everything that had been done to his boat. Was the boat his now? It might as well have been, with all the revamping he had asked to be done. Brian was on course to be seriously impressed if everything he’d requested had been done. Some of it was a bit ridiculous, possibly even fantastical.

But even if they couldn’t have everything, if they could have most of it, he would be satisfied. There was a reason he had asked his father to get Jericho to work on things. Jericho was famous for doing clutch things in a small amount of time. If anyone could do it, it was him. Brian turned a corner, to look into the bridge, where Jericho sat in the captain’s chair, tapping at his phone.

The Crystal
The Crystal
The Power of Their Source??
The Crystal

Brian tapped his knuckles on the doorway to get Jericho’s attention, and the captain’s chair spun, and Jericho looked up from his phone, pulling out the one earbud he wore, for the briefest of seconds, before he glanced back down and swore loudly, “GodDAMMIT, I died! Now I lost the game, dude, why you gotta be like that? Hold on.” He put the earbud back in. “Hey, I gotta go to work, man. We’ll play more after.” He said quickly, before ripping the ear bud out and stuffing his phone into his pocket.

With that, Jericho turned his attention to Brian. “What? Everything’s done. What more could you possibly want? I stop for one second to play a game… Come on. Walk and talk,” Jericho said, jumping up from his chair and gesturing for Brian to follow him. Brian did so, and Jericho led him out of the bridge, and up the stairs, and back to the main deck. “Alright, you wanted a stage right? Well, I had my little brother put one up. It ain’t very big, but you said you didn’t need it to be big.” Jericho said, leading Brian around toward the end of the upper level, where a small stage was set up. It wasn’t built to take up much of the real estate, just big enough for maybe a few people to stand on.

“Also, as requested…” Jericho tapped the floor with his foot, and Brian looked down. Where there had once been wood paneling, there was now white, porcelain tiles. When Jericho tapped it a second time with his foot, though, it lit up in a rainbow explosion of colors, fading out and moving onto the surrounding tiles. The colors exploded outward until they reached the edge of the ship… only to carry on over the edge. “Colors. Like you wanted, right? It’s like a big visualizer, once you have music playing. Every floor and all the siding is like that.”

Brian smiled widely and nodded. “Cool. That looks awesome, man. Thank you.”

Oh My God
This is the BEST

“LEDs and RGB, dude. I felt like a kid putting my first computer together again. But wait! There’s more,” Jericho reached into his pocket and pulled out a glove, which he handed to Brian. “This lets you motion control the color. That dude you’re having give a speech or whatever, he moves his hands a lot, yeah?” Jericho asked. He figured it was Ty’s kid, and if Ty’s kid was anything like his father, then the hands would be moved around a lot.

Brian had to consider the question for a moment, before he nodded. “Yeah, I guess Damian does? I don’t know, I’ve never thought about it before.” He shrugged his shoulders, looking down at the glove. Noticing what looked a button on one of the knuckles, he looked over at Jericho, preparing to press it. “What does this do?” Before he could press it though, Jericho snatched the glove out of his hands defensively.

“Don’t touch that! You’ve only got one go of that, and if you waste it now, I’ll be pissed. You have him hit that button at the end of his speech, and about ten thousand dollars worth of fireworks are gonna go off behind you. It’s going to be fucking legendary. I went out of my way to make a lightshow cooler than fucking Disneyland, so you’d better enjoy it. Did you say Damian? That’s the kid Joy is banging, right?” Jericho asked, handing the glove over to Brian, who took it back and carefully put it inside of his pocket. Right. Don’t press the button. “Don’t worry, it’s not gonna push itself in your pocket, it takes a bit too much force for that to happen. Joy. Joy Darling.” Jericho repeated himself, and Brian finally answered.

“Yeah, I guess so? It looks to me like they’re dating, which is a new experience on its own. Damian doesn’t really date. Seems to be real fond of this girl, though. I heard he sucked her face off in gym class.” Brian said, shrugging his shoulders. “Why do you ask?” He said, and Jericho glanced over at Brian.

“Well, she’s my niece.”

Oh My God
This is the BEST

“She is? That’s crazy. What else do you have for me?” Brian asked, and Jericho rolled his eyes, before leading Brian away and down to the second floor, where the bedrooms were. Brian looked at the doorways, seeing a small tablet now built into the wall beside each door, with stylus pens chained to the wall beside them.

“Alright, I did pretty much everything you asked. So there’s a sign-in sheet at the boarding ramp. You put a name in, or you can’t get on. There’s your guest list. These doors, will only open when two people from the guest list sign their names. A little weird, but hey. Ryan calls me he says ‘I need a favor,’ and I say ‘alright I’ll do it.’ Then I do it.” Brian looked at Jericho and beamed.

“Good, I’ll make sure that security doesn’t let anyone on the ship without signing in on the list — and showing a student ID so we know they’re legit. Once they’re on the list, I’ll know who’s on the ship. That’ll make it easier for me to find out the mystery identity of the Weekend Warrior. If they don’t show up, then I’ll know.” Brian explained, while they walked down the stairs, and stood at the doorway to below deck, which Jericho pushed open.

I want You to Trip like Me
I want You to Have Fun
Me and You
Oh my God this is the Best

The below deck portion of the ship was all glass, though this was by design, nothing that Jericho had done. What Jericho had done, however, was replace all of the lights with black lights, and added neon fittings that blasted the sea around them, letting them look out into the ocean. At one end of the room was a high end DJ setup, which Jericho pointed at.

“I also rewired new speakers throughout the ship, so your sound quality is better than ever. Whoever you have working the DJ spot is gonna be using the best setup they’ve ever used in their life. From here, they can control the lights on the side of the ship, the ones lighting the ocean, and the ones on the floor. I’m sure you put enough drunk teens in here, and they’ll lose their minds. Luckily, the glass can’t crack, or you guys would be fucked, wouldn’t you?” Jericho winked, and then together with Brian, they returned to the top deck, and headed down the ramp to the dock.

“Just one last thing. The cameras?” Brian asked, and Jerich nodded. The cameras were the easiest fucking part. Damn kid, not appreciating the majesty of the RGB setup Jericho had thrown together in a matter of a day and a half. He’d had some help, but not much! He hadn’t slept, and hadn’t left the ship since he’d got the call.

“There aren’t any blind spots. I left the, ahem, fuck shacks uncamera’d. I figured that was fair, since we don’t want footage of anybody fucking on the hard drives.” He paused. “Do we? Nah, I know we don’t. It’s all going back to the central drives on the ship. It’s not leaving without you. Everything’s set up in the bridge — lock the door and no one will get in; figure that’s where you’ll be hiding out. I also made a few updates to the captain Assistant, I don’t know how Ryan was operating with such an out of date version. I’m just a phone call away. Is your Assistant out of date? I’m just kidding, I know she’s not. ” Jericho rolled his eyes and watched as Brian stuck his hand out. Jericho reached out and shook it, before he gave Brian a nod, and walked over to his car.

I want You
to
Trip Like I Do

As Jericho drove off, Brian slowly ascended the boarding ramp once more, taking his sunglasses off of their comfortable spot where they hung on his neck, and putting them back on. This could work. So long as everyone got here in time to discuss the plan, this could work. It was a dumb plan, but ultimately — in this case especially — it was important.

He would figure out who the Weekend Warrior was. This was just step one. He’d have to read through the expected sensationalist report that was sure to be blogged about. If there was no blog post, then he’d assume his bait had been ignored. If there was, he’d analyze it a hundred times if that was what it took to get things in the open for him. It was important to him that this ended now.

Honestly? The Weekend Warrior caused nothing but problems. Picking on Parker was the last straw. She was innocent. She may not have been an official member of A Double’s group, but she was surely in Switzerland on a fair battlefield. The problem was? Whoever wrote the blog didn’t play by the rules.

I want You
to
Trip Like I Do

Brian climbed up onto the stage and looked at the ocean around, before turning to face the parking lot. When they arrived, he wanted to know. Scott, Damian, and AJ were all he’d asked for. Not even his sisters this time — Becca was too prone to partying, and Bailee had disappeared from school. Whether or not she’d even be at the party was a question to him.

Brian normally had Trevor help him with his projects, but this was a little… sleazy for Trevor. Brian wasn’t going to make his friend do something that may make him uncomfortable. Trevor could enjoy the party. To be honest? So could the other three — he just had requests for them. It was mostly stuff they’d do anyway. And he knew that Damian would enjoy giving a speech. The dude loved to talk, and people loved to listen to him.

Brian sat down cross legged on the stage and let out a deep breath. “Anastasia? Push the song, for me.”

“Aye, Captain.”

I want You
to
Trip Like I Do

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Welcome to round two. The party has begun! Feel free to write your characters arriving, partying, or any variation of the two. Boat leaves at eight thirty don't you dare miss it.

CANCELLED.

<sub>See attached an actual image of baby Kit doing her makeup alone

Featuring: Cassandra “Wear This Fuck Me Dress!” Clark, Ophelia “Fuck it All and Fucking no Regrets” Brycen, Kit “Well… Okay” Thomas
Interacting with: Brief mentions of a Vanilla Bean @Fabricant451 and a Subby Queen @melissahart</sub>

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The drive from Cassie’s home to Ophelia’s mansion was a long one, at least by The Hills’ standards. Everything seemed to be right next to each other in the Hills, but Cassie lived on the outskirts, the stepping stones of luxury rather than the lap. Cassie, having been to Ophelia’s house many times, walked right in the front door, waving to one of the many maids that were often around the house.

She put on a smile as she walked up the staircase and down the hall to Ophelia’s room. She didn’t need Ophie or Kit prying into her mood. Mask on, she waltzed into Ophelia’s room, not bothering to even knock. “Is everyone ready to get blacked tonight?” she asked, grinning and throwing her hands up in the air, a cheerleader on and off the field.

It wasn’t Ophelia that responded first to Cassie, but Kit. Kit’s mind was working at the speed of light, piecing together what Cassandra had just said. Slowly, it dawned on her, and she commented. “Wait, ‘blacked?’ Isn’t that like… a PornHub category?” She asked curiously, tapping her chin. “What kind of party are we going to?” Beside Kit, Ophelia spit her wine out.

Ophelia then turned her attention to Cassie, shaking her head. She pointed at Kit, before she spoke. “This girl is crazy… Hey, Cassie! You’re not that late, don’t worry.”

“Ah, Kit! That kind of naivety can be refreshing at times,” Cassie said, grinning and giving Ophie and Kit each a peck on the cheek, before taking a seat on Ophelia’s bed. “Before I forget, does anyone know if Hailey and her arm candy are coming to this soiree? I’m sure Becca would love to continue her and Hailey’s blood feud, especially on the high seas,” Cassie asked.

Kit had an undeniable blush that rather immediately rose to her pale face after the kiss on her cheek. Did that count as her very first kiss? It was pretty underwhelming, if it did… She chose not to think about that, instead shrugging her shoulders in response to the question. “I dunno, let me think…” Kit stared up at the ceiling and thoughtfully tapped her chin, letting her mind trail off as she drummed her index and middle fingers against the middle of her chin.

Ophelia shook her head and left Kit to her own devices, looking over at Cassie, “I really hope she isn’t. It’s a new year, Cassie, and that means a new me! Imagine this, picture it in your mind. Me and you; no more drama, no more being stuck in complicated webs of lies and having to be bitchy to everyone because Hailey is. How does that sound?”

“Nope!”

Kit’s sudden outburst, cause Lia to say in confusion, “Huh?”

“Hailey and Hana aren’t attending. I had to think really hard, but Hailey definitely said something about them playing games together tonight, instead of partying!”

”Oh thank god! I was not prepared to deal with the Helmsley vs Green, Fight of the Century. I don’t get paid enough to handle that shit,” Cassie said, rolling her eyes and flopping down on Ophelia’s bed. ”Maybe Hana will finally tame Hailey the Dragon Queen. God knows she needs it.”

“Nah, Hailey isn’t tameable. I think her having a distraction will be good for all involved, though. Did you see the collar she had Hana in? I feel kinda bad for her… who knows what they got up to in their time behind closed doors?” Ophelia asked, shaking her head. Kit, at this, furrowed her brow, as if both Ophelia and Cassie were missing something. A vital point of interest. “What is it?” The older girl asked, and Kit shrugged, before sharing.

“Well… you know Hana writes about this stuff, right? Like… I mean, it’s pretty clear that it’s about the school. She writes fanfiction about people…. she wrote about a Queen and a Pauper most recently, and… you guys really didn’t know about that? She wrote about Marshall and Owen too. I dunno why. It was real… gay. So, anyway, you can get a pretty good image by reading that stuff… Look it up, she does it under Vanilla Sunrise.” Kit explained, looking between each of the older Candies.

Cassie’s mouth hung open in shock. Hana did what? She held up her index finger to pause the conversation before pulling her phone out of her pocket and searched for this treasure trove. Upon finding Hana’s secret little hobby, Cassie let out a gasp. “This is raunchy! Oh my! What even is that? Jesus, this girl could put a porn star to shame I think!”

“Hey! Be nice. It’s not that hardcore, it could be worse… Besides, I think she writes very well! Don’t bully her about this, then she might stop and we’ll never get to read anymore…” Kit pouted, hoping that her telling Cassie and Ophelia about this wouldn’t come back to pat her. Ophelia was peering over Cassie’s shoulder, reading the smut.

“Don’t worry about that. Cassie and I have a certain, appreciation for arts such as these. We’ll have to show Brynn! Maybe she’ll have some tips for the girl, huh? Subbing for Hailey probably isn’t easy, but to be honest, I always thought I’d be the first one to get a subby girl… Oh well, life is hard sometimes.” Ophelia shrugged her shoulders and kissed Cassie on the cheek, “Well, enough of this. Let’s get ready, yeah?”

Cassie smirked, put her phone away and moved to her bag, pulling out a short, black dress, one that was much too tight for her mother‘s approval. Gold stitching on the inside spelled out CC. Cassandra Clark. Grinning, she turned to Kit. “Try this on,” the brunnen commanded, pushing the dress into Kit’s arms.

Kit stared at the dress for a few seconds, looking between the two other girls. This looked a littttleeeee short, even for her… But, Cassie had said. “Well, I was just gonna wear, you know… these jeans and this shit, but, uh, alright.” She shrugged and pulled her shirt off and slipped out of her jeans, before tugging the dress on over her head. Once it was on, she turned her back to Ophelia, and Ophelia pulled the zipper up. Then, Kit looked at Cassie. “Okay… Do I look alright?”

“Perfect!” Cassie said, clapping her hands together and grinning with pride. This was a job well done. “You are gonna finish this night with a long list of potential suitors, just you wait!”

Kit nodded, looking down at herself. She supposed she looked pretty good, if that were the case! She gave the two older girls a smile and a twirl, “Okay! I hope it’s fun. I’ve never been to a party before…” She muttered, shaking her head. This was a lot of new experiences very quickly and she wasn’t sure how she was going to handle it overall. What if she was weird and awkward? What if she did something she regretted?

“Really? Just remember, don’t regret anything! Do crazy shit that you’d never do otherwise, impress people and make a big impression. Do that at every party, and they’ll be bowin’ in the streets when you walk by.”

Well! That settled that. Just don’t regret anything!