LovelyComplex

Edenridge

Introducing Eloise Anderson, one of the OG members of Q's Midnight Society

_{@LovelyComplex @BrutalBx
Timestamp: Monday, Around 1:30 PM}

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Eloise “Lolly” Anderson, a.k.a. Echo from the Midnight Society, b.k.a Lydia Anderson’s little sister, c.k.a the one that watched Q’s head get blown to smithereens, was in her gaming chair playing Valorant. She mained Neon who was a total badass. Filipino, just like her. High energy and fun, just like her, at least when she did leave the house and had a social life with Q, Dal, Dean, Oz, Aves, Rosie, and Violet. Now she spends her days gaming all day, everyday. She spent a good year playing League with Marco Brady. Lately though, he hasn’t been as free, which is sad. It sucked when people in her life started having lives.

No matter! Lolly didn’t need any of that! Lolly had everything she needed right here in her bedroom like this TapSiLog plate her Nay fixed for her. On the character sheet screen, having finished a game and loading up for her next, Lolly quickly shoveled the Tapa in her mouth and picked her character. Her love. Her wife. Neon. Lolly liked to consider herself the best gamer that Edenridge had to offer but she didn’t play to win. She played to make friends. Friends with little expectation to ever meet her or want her to visit. There was no need for her to stray away from the nest. Her safehouse.

As for her room, it wasn't disastrous like the rest of the house. Her Nay was a hoarder so making your way to her room was a challenge in itself, but her room itself was comfy, warm, and clean. Smelt good as hell too, tropical and fruity. Just like a nice summer holiday in the Philippines. She loved her room.

Her bed was perfectly made with the softest of blankets and cloud-like pillows. If she did sleep, that would be an amazing place to crash, but she didn’t. If she passed out, it usually was on the chair she was sitting on, this very moment. She had a mini fridge and a microwave and she had energy drinks and bad snacks galore. In terms of decor, it was a cross between her filipino culture — like baskets and frames made out of Raffia palm fiber, or her Mother of Pearl Shells Night Lamp since her country had an abundance in marine life — and geek memorabilia. She was a major geek and a smartass nerd at that.

That was beside the point.

Framed right above her computer were signed autographs from her idols. Like one from Spike Langley! Her and her friends even got a picture with him. One of the last pictures of the Midnight Society together. Couple years back Q took her, Dal, and Dean to Boston Comic Con. Meeting Spike was so cool. Nerdgasm aside, Lolly was content with her little piece of heaven she named her Castle in the Sky. If people wanted to see her, they knew to just come inside. Nine out of ten times she was NOT going to open the door.

Rolling her shoulders, only half ignoring the person in her room sitting on her bed, Lolly prepared for her next game, while explaining it to the other woman, “Do you game Mrs. Shannon? If so, what games? This game you’re either on a bomber team, THE ENEMY, or defending the sites. Defenders win if you kill the foes, blast them, or if you defuse the spike, while attackers, obvi, kill the enemy or KA-BOOM!” The game cued up and she went in, ready to attack, she was ENEMY NUMBER 1.

“Games were never really my thing.”

Shannon very rarely did house calls. She wasn’t against it by any means but the idea of a patient coming to her office was there for a reason. It wasn’t for her benefit, it was for theirs. It was supposed to be a neutral space, free of any worry, doubts, anger or pain that someone may be suffering. It was like Switzerland, a place for those who just need some free ground to talk about what troubles them. It was the perfect place for Shannon to conduct her business. Lolly was one one of a few special cases on her files that needed the mother of two to leave her office.

The practice, which sat on Silver Oak Way, was once her husband's childhood home. Will was the oldest of four, son of local legends Wayne Ramsey and his wife Gail. Wayne was famous in town for his actions during the Camp Eden Massacre of 1974. He barely spoke English but had managed to secure himself a place as a counselor at the newly opened camp. When the Hangman attacked, it was Wayne who protected the children. He fought off the serial killer and held his ground at the mess hall until the authorities arrived. This one, selfless act set the tone for his future. The town accepted him and in return he accepted the town. Wayne funded much of the Southside for a long time before moving away with his wife and passing the reins to the Gonzalez family. The house was Wayne’s wedding gift to Shannon and Will.

Shannon herself grew up on the Southside. Her parents didn’t have a lot. Well they didn’t really have anything. When it became apparent that she had a high IQ, the Ling family's dreams rested very much upon Shannon’s shoulders. She was a mathlete, a chess club champion, a Clover at one point and she was sought after by many of Eden’s most eligible. But Shannon only ever had eyes for one boy, Sly James. They dated for a long time and the way it ended was still a blade in her side all those years later. Still, she loved Will. God she loved him.

“How have you been since our last session. Lolly?”

“PLANT THE BOMB! COME ON GUYS!” Lolly yelled at her teammates before muting her mic and responding to her therapist, never taking her eyes away from the screen, “Nothin’ new boss. I’m vibin’. Survivin’. Full on thrivin’.” Lolly gritted her teeth when she saw one of her teammates get shot down. “Bastards,” She muttered under her breath. “One second!” She glanced over at Shannon, before quickly bringing mayhem upon the field. Die. Die. Die.

Hehehe.

She was a boss bitch. Worship her losers! There was no one who could take her and Neon down. With most of the good team gone, she had one more problem to deal with. “Actually, that isn’t true. One of my friends hasn't been on a lot. I miss him. Did you know while he was recovering, ‘cuz the shooting messed him up, that he spent a whole year, just gaming with me? God, what a life. What a dream. I guess now he has better things to do.” The last part came off bitter because she knew that Marco was getting better, he was moving forward, she was not. “Like get a BOYFRIEND.” Yepp, she was totally bitter.

Shannon sat on the bed taking notes. It wasn’t unusual for Lolly not to make immediate social contact with her. This was nothing new. Much of the young girl's issues could be tackled by social interaction; this was realistically the best medication and therapy she could have. Even now, as they sat in the unGodly hot bedroom, Lolly was online talking to people, lost in a fantasy world with her online friends. Of course, Shannon would prefer interaction with others in a more live action setting but this was progress from where she had previously been.

The shooting at Edenridge High had provided Shannon Ramsey with a list of many new clients. Most of them were there that day, either watching Charlie Decker’s rampage or suffering through wounds he had inflicted upon them. Lolly was one of the former. She had watched as Quinton Woods met up with Charlie in the hallway, words were exchanged and Quinton was blasted in the face with a shotgun. Needless to say he died instantly. Lolly Anderson watched the whole thing. When Roddy Callahan, who had ran into the school in an attempt to help, guided her out of the building B, she was covered in Quinton’s blood. In so many ways, even to this day, she still was.

“And what about you?” She asked. “Have you been researching like I asked to see what else you might be willing to do outside these four walls? There’s a lot of opportunities out there for strong ass Asian girls like us.”

As if the gods were timed to benefit Shannon, or she had talked to Lolly’s mother (plotting an experiment), the electricity of the house turned off, forcing Eloise’s computer to shut down. “W-what! No, no, no! I was JUST about to win.” Getting up from her seat, she rushed to the window to see the weather, “It hasn’t even started raining yet! Why are we having an outage? NAY! NAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! THE LIGHTS TURNED THE FU-- FUDGE OFF!”

“Lolly?” Shannon tilted her head and offered up a warm, comforting smile to the young girl. She reached out her hand. “It’s gonna be ok. Come here, we’ll talk until the power is back on and then I’ll leave you to your game. Sound like a plan?” This would be a first. Lolly Anderson without any gaming stimuli. This would be a true test of Mrs Ramsey’s abilities as a therapist. “So, how about this? Ask me a question. Any question you want about anything and I’ll give you a God’s honest answer? Then I’ll do the same.”

“Oh… well…” Eloise’s demeanor changed drastically, no longer having her PC to distract her. The once outspoken gamer girl was now a shell of a person, her purpose non-existent. Video games covered up her pain easily but without them? It was clear she didn’t know how to act or what to do with herself. Now she was in the dark, only the light coming from the window to guide her, with her therapist.

Hesitant, Lolly stood at the window looking at Shannon and the hand she offered. Maybe she wouldn’t ask about the past? It was a risk to trust her but maybe that’s what Q would’ve wanted her to do. He did love Mei and this was her mother. Sucking her lips inward, Lolly shuffled closer to Shannon and grabbed her hand. When she did so, she was pulled beside the older woman and found herself sitting beside her, like friends would if they stood up all night talking about anything and everything.

Making a popping sound with her lips, Lolly held the woman’s hand in both of hers and stared at it. “A question…” She said out loud, trying to gather all the thoughts she had of Mrs. Ramsey and if she wanted to know anything about her. She hadn’t needed to do this since… well, since Dallas introduced Q, Dean, Avery, and the rest of the Swerve Arcana crew to her. To make friends you have to show you care and that you want to know more about them beyond what was on the surface. On the surface, Mrs. Ramsey seemed to have it all together. She was such a strong woman. Confident too. On the surface, she seemed happy. With a lovely KICKASS husband (Will was cool, she liked him. He was a NINJA), a good paying job, and stupidly hot daughters.

Reagan was like a dominatrix fetish while Mei was a hot-goth-girl-wet-dream. She might’ve not attended Edenridge High, and being on the school grounds during the shooting was pure bad luck on her part, but she knew faces. When you’ve lived here all your life you start to know names. Plus, she has the internet! It’s easy to look up intel when you have the internet on your side.

“I guess,” Lolly started playing with Shannon’s hand, like it was an item you fidget with when you’re nervous, “How did you become so… perfect? My mom is a mess, she’s made me scared of the world… my dad’s a mess, he isn't always there, if that makes sense. Like he’s here. Physically. But a lot of times it’s like I’m talking to a ghost? Lydia tells me he’s gotten better since her mama died, but it still is hard to talk to him. And like, Lydia tries. She really does. But I know she’s so sad. She lost her mom, her best friend, she hasn’t told many people but… she lost a baby too. She’s just really sad but she always tries to take care of us. I don’t know. You seem happy, there must be a secret. What’s yours?”

Shannon’s dark eyes fell upon Lolly’s hands as they played with her own. She had seen this sort of behaviour in kids with ADHD, ADD or even just hyperactivity. It was a comforting gesture for them, so she allowed it to continue. She didn’t really mind, “Perfect? I’m so far from perfect, Lolly, it’s not even funny,” The therapist offered up her youthful smile to the young girl. She wanted her to know that she was her friend as well as her doctor. “But, I can tell you how I keep myself together.” The older woman had to compartmentalise the part about Lydia having an abortion. She had not told her that! Still, it wasn’t her place to bring it up when they were together, Lyds would tell her in her own time,

“My mother was a Southsider. Bit of a mess actually. She met my Dad, who could barely speak a lick of English when he found his way to Eden from Beijing. If anything it was a marriage of convenience to start but eventually, love did blossom. You know I didn’t speak English until I was ten? My father insisted I speak only Mandarin but my mother, who was of Irish descent, used to teach me English on the side. It became clear to me, as a Southsider that less was expected of me, that I would just be another statistic. I HATED that. The very idea offended me. I always wanted more.”

Shannon took Lolly’s hand in between her own and held them gently, motherly. “So I worked my ass off. I had a boyfriend, total dreamboat, still is but we went our different ways. I focused solely on my education, which I know, Asian stereotype but it was just the way it was. I saw all these kids around fighting drugs and poverty and violence and I needed to help but I also needed to be better. I had to be better.” She glanced out of the window at her home, her town. Despite all the years of schooling and education, she would never leave. She hadn’t finished yet. “When I got my PHD, I came back, set up shop and decided to try and better the people I cared about. The kids. Like you, Lolly. I want to make you better and give you a chance that so many of my friends and family never got. So, how do I keep myself together? What’s my secret? You are. My kids are. Helping you. No matter what happens elsewhere in my life, the good and the bad. What makes me perfect, is making you feel better.”

“So you’re either telling me to have kids, which is wild because I’m a kid myself, become a therapist like you, which is also wild because I shouldn’t be telling people how to live their life when I don’t ever want to leave my room, or that… helping others helps make you feel better, which could do the same for me?” This was a lot for Eloise to process. She didn’t want to be a mother! Her mother could barely be a mother. The world would end if people came to her for advice like they went to Mrs. Ramsey, or hell, Avery! Some people were built differently. “I will say RIGHT NOW. I’ve never even DATED before! So the kids is a no go. Operation FAIL.”

Letting out a soft giggle, Shannon’s smile widened. She really liked Lolly. She reminded her a lot of herself when she was her age. Except by that point in her life, Shannon was a stone cold bitch slapping the taste out of the mouths of anyone that looked at her funny. You could take the girl out of the Southside…”No honey, I’m not telling you to have kids or anything of that sort. My point is that we all need something that drives us. That pushes us. That grabs us and drags us kicking and screaming into the light even if we think we don’t want it to. For me, that’s therapy. For you, it could be games. Writing. An outlet for your feelings but also something that helps build you up,” She gestured to the surrounding nerd shrine that encased the two raven-haired women. “And for the record, I was a total dweeb when I was your age. Small towns like this, not big fans of the little yellow girl with an accent. Took me a while to get into the dating game.”

“Is that your question?” Lolly gazed up at the motherly figure, not sure if this was her asking what she was going to do to make herself better or not, or if she was simply stating what helped her. “We both know games help, to a point. And I imagine writing would do the same. All my hobbies would help, to a point. But they’re also part of the problem,” The Filipino girl earnestly admitted.

"My question, Eloise…" She used the young girl's full name for emphasis as any good mother would. "…not thinking about Lydia or your parents. What would make you happy? What my little love, do you want?”

Woof. That was a loaded question. “I don’t really have a purpose, Mrs. Shannon. Like… everything I do is like clockwork. At least when—” Eloise looked away from her therapist, biting the inside of her cheek in hopes that she wouldn’t get sad at the mention of his name, “—At least when… Q… was alive, I had a family and I had adventures. Dal comes to see me occasionally, she’s my best friend, but I have a hard time seeing Dean. He was so close to Q and I’m sure when he heard how, how things went, I can only imagine. I don’t know what I want to do with my life. I don’t know where I want to go but I do know what I miss. I miss my family and I miss our adventures.”

There it was. Adventures. Shannon couldn’t bring back Quinton Woods and she couldn’t guarantee that her friends would be the same. They had all gone through so much pain, much like her own youngest. Mei, for all her bravado and all her gutter talk, was still absolutely terrified. Waking up every night to her screaming Charlie’s name, clutching at the fresh scar on her neck as it wept puss and blood. It broke Shannon’s heart. Yet the one thing Mei could never lose was her adventurous spirit. ”Then I think I have your next homework assignment. Before our next session, Lolly, I want you to go on an adventure. I want you to leave these four walls, talk to a stranger and see what happens. Feel the wind on your face, the rain in your hands….” The woman’s lips parted as she smiled a little more, remembering something Mei had once told her about Q’s little club, his society. ”I submit for the approval of the Midnight Society, the Tale of Eloise the Adventurer”

“I…” Lolly thought about Shannon’s words and all the people she missed, all the adventures of her past and how reliant she was on everyone else to start something. Very unlike her DnD character named after one of her role models. Oz the Changeling. Oz was a risk taker. They got into a lot of trouble and a lot of messes but at least they lived. “I can do that. Yeah, I’ll go all Indiana Jones in this piece. Edenridge won’t know what hit ‘em!”

”Then I guess our time is up for this week.” Almost supernaturally, the paper all of a sudden returned. Shannon let her eyes adjust a little to the light before standing up and brushing a loose strand of hair behind Lolly’s ear. ”Onwards to adventure, little love.”

“You too, Mrs. Shannon! Adventure isn’t just for kids like me, even if you do have therapy. I’d love to hear about one of your adventures next time too.” Lolly proudly stood up, feeling accomplished that she survived this session. And as if the gods were back in her favor, the electricity turned on! But instead of jumping to her computer, she went to her bulletboard and took off the picture of her Swerve family. The Midnight Society. Maybe going outside again wouldn’t be so bad.

Edenridge

TIMESTAMP: Monday, July 19th, 2021; Half past noon, after the A Perfect Day Collab

_{A [@Lovely Complex], @Aces Away & @Venus Collab || featuring Findley Nelson, Xavier Booker and Chase Warren}
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When Findley Nelson had been informed that today would be the day that she would meet Chase's newest ‘friend’, the young woman had been nothing short of ecstatic. For as long as she could remember, Chase Warren hadn't shown an interest in anything other than his family, heavy rock music and beating bullies up with whatever he could find. Interpersonal relationships of any kind, be it romantic or platonic, were not something he actively sought after. It wasn't that he didn't have qualities that people would look for in a potential partner: he was handsome, intelligent, independent, caring, incredibly resourceful, and would put his life on the line to protect those who deserved it without a second thought. His problem was that, because of the cards he'd been dealt in life, he tended to push people away with his limited impulse control, sharp tongue, blunt demeanor and violent streak. But ever since the Disney Princess From The Northside had entered his life, Fin had noticed heaps of positive changes in her close friend's life. He seemed happier, more hopeful, and was allowing himself to dream of a life beyond being a high school dropout delivery boy. She could tell, by the way his eyes lit up when she came up in conversation and how often he smiled now, that he was falling for this girl. And Fin was more than happy to help him navigate this new adventure.

The introduction picnic was to take place at one of the tables and benches in Lyon's Park at noon. It was the perfect time to do it, too. Fin had gotten plenty of hours of good sleep the night before, and being in the middle of her second trimester meant that the energy levels that had been sapped away from her in the first trimester were now restored and at an all-time high. So at five minutes to noon, the appointed mother hen of the Southies was occupied wiping the seats and picnic tables at the park, and organizing the items her dutiful boyfriend Xavier and Chase were unloading from the car.

“Have you guys heard from Ransom and Dutchess yet?" Findley asked the young men with a little huff, taking a break from her cleaning to lean against the table and rub an affectionate hand on her round stomach. It seemed like her daughter could sense the excitement in the air, because she had been kicking up a storm and making it a little harder to breathe. "I asked her to bring the ice and drinks a few hours ago, but I haven’t heard from her since."

Holding three large deep foil trays with honey barbecue, barbecue, and buffalo wings, TNT looked at Prof in a way that read ‘should I tell her?’. He didn’t think it was his place to tell his best friend about all the events that transpired this past night (or well early morning). He told Prof just in case, who knows if they’d need to do damage control, seeing how Ransom, a taken man, was in the Sinclair house with two young, single northie chicks. It was beyond their control and Chase could, and would, vouch for his boy. Ransom was innocent and he did nothing.

Well, if Ransom did tell Dutchess everything, from the car ride to them eating pie with Autumn and Carrie… heh, rest in pieces, man. Dutchess wouldn’t take it as nothing. Dutchess would likely see him as disloyal. It didn’t help that they already had a shaky relationship due to Tov enabling him and vice versa. The thing TNT was learning real quick about the female species was they worried about many things, so many things. You miss one goodnight? She might think you’re mad at her. You don’t send a good morning text? She might think you’re mad at her. You don’t remind her you’re thinking about her? She might think you’re mad at her. You don’t make time to see her every so often, like take her out on a joy ride, walk Main Street and check out some records, or watch Legally Blonde? She might think you’re mad at her.

There was no winning. Not when there was a girl that made you better and she expected more from you. Striding his way down the pathway, looking at Fin with a straight face, in an ironed black t-shirt that fitted him well, black jeans, and matching boots, TNT shrugged, “Hell if I know. We were out for a bit.” He met her gaze, trying his best to cover Ransom’s tail without putting him on blast. “Could still be sleeping,” Chase added.

His hair was growing out. He hadn’t decided if he should cut it or let it grow yet, so instead he sleeked it back. Hopefully, he looked nice. He didn’t have an array of clothes so these were his pieces that were the least worn. He had multiple black shirts, mind you, this was just the one in the best condition. He should’ve made time and shopped for a new outfit, knowing Tiff she was coming in like a supermodel. Christ, he needed to chill. Why was he worried about this shit anyways? He never cared before. Today made no difference.

Xavier Booker continued helping his girlfriend and friend set up the picnic table, silently laughing at the internal conflict he could read across Chase's face. Whether or not Ransom told Prof's baby cousin about their adventure last night was irrelevant because despite the constant arguments with the man when he was by her side, she could handle being away from him even less. Any thoughts that someone could take him away from her would cause a reaction that was equal parts petty and violent. Dolce really never seemed to have developed any of the Booker calm outside of not reacting to her siblings' jokes and taunts. Unlike much of her family, himself included, who went cold and calculative when facing an obstacle, Dolce went more the route of her lover and their shared best friend in that things got… Explosive.

Keeping anything from Findley, however, was a mistake he would never even dream to make. Honestly, Chase should know better by now. Sliding up behind his love and pressing against her back, hands reaching forward to rest on her baby bump, Prof kissed the back of her head. "Short version is things got a little wild on the Northside early this mornin' and they ended up at the Doctor's house havin' pie with his daughters and usin' their first aid kit. That's all Dolce needed to hear to flip her lid when Ran told her. He spent the night at Demo's and passed out in bed with Tov, so Demo's going to bring them both up."

He almost felt bad for Ransom. Almost. Because while he'd lived in Serpent dorms and apartments since the death of his mother, there was a while where Shale had assumed guardianship over him until he could become an emancipated minor. They had never forced Xavier to live with them and Dolce, but they did request he and Findley always stop by for meals. It was a smart way to make sure Xavier stayed connected to his family and cousins, ensuring a strong foundation for the young genius to continue building off of. So Xavier grew up seeing Dolce as more of a younger sibling than a younger cousin. Meaning that, much like Ducaleon and Leonidas, he didn't think that anyone would be good enough for her. Did he think the man would cheat? Absolutely not, while their relationship is actually defined at least. Did he find it a little funny when he brings hell raining down upon himself due to a stupid night of drinking? Absolutely.

"Maybe we just avoid startin' that conversation if we can, yeah?"

Findley pressed her lips together in a tight line and merely nodded. “Guess that explains why she sounded like she had a bad case of laryngitis when I called her this morning…” she muttered under her breath, deciding to keep the rest of the thoughts to herself. The difficult part about dating someone you were raised with was that they knew everything about you-- the good, the bad, and the ugly--, and they could use this knowledge to either build you up or tear you down. It wasn’t that Ransom and Dutchess actively sought out to hurt each other-- not on purpose, anyway. Their biggest problem was that they failed to use their knowledge of one another to nurture what they had. She knew that relationships like hers and Xavier’s were a dime a dozen-- she wasn’t clueless, idealistic or naive. But her take on Callum and Dolce’s relationship had always been the same: they both needed a lot of growing up to do, heaps more communication, and learning how to compromise equally. Until they reached a point in which they committed to putting in real effort to fully understand one another and improve, then they’d never find the peace and happiness they deserved.

But these were musings best saved for a better day. Today was all about helping Chase land this very special surprise for his very special girl.

“In that case-- what else are we missing?” Fin asked the two men, straightening up and looking around the table for a quick inventory. “We’ve got the cutlery, the plates, the napkins, ice and drinks are hopefully on the way… What about the food? I know you’re about to get the wings from the backseat, Chase, but what about the rest of it?”

“I’ll go get it, love, rest up for a little bit,” Prof announced before heading over to their cars to get the veggie and fruit trays from the front seat, calling over his shoulder, “You’ve been moving since before we even got here!” while he made his way. They weren’t anything special, just store bought assortment trays you see at almost any medium sized gathering. He had brought some platters from their house to set everything out on, however, in a small gesture to Chase to show that he too was happy to be meeting the Northie girl that had captured his attention. Looking at the stack he would be carrying, Prof eyed the Hawaiian rolls for a moment until he came to a decision and grabbed the bag, gripping the plastic between his teeth before grabbing the trays and platters and heading back to his love, trying not to look at the glovebox as he closed the door behind him. Today was for Chase and Tiffannie’s happiness so he could wait a few more hours to pull out that small velvet box and show his own intentions of a new level of relationship with his own blonde. Setting everything on the table, Prof grinned at Fin and began transferring the appetizers to their platters. He looked back towards the cars to the explosive man they were all going to be there for.

After winking at her boyfriend, Findley shifted her attention to Chase, who was dangerously trying to juggle all three trays of wings from the car to the picnic table. As she watched the questionable way the aluminum trays were stacked on top of each other, her maternal instincts kicked up immediately. “That looks like a lot, Chase. Is it okay if I help you with those?" she kindly asked the dark-haired man, moving away from the table in preparation to assist him.

Chase hadn’t made it to the table because his phone had started ringing. He knew exactly who was calling. He didn’t have any special ringtones, he just knew there was only one person that would call him. He didn’t get many calls from anyone else, mostly texts. He debated how to move forward. Reach for his phone or go to the table first. He was holding three large trays of wings. The logical route was to go to the table first. With all his nerves, he wasn’t thinking clearly so instead he shifted the trays and reached for his phone (all the while walking). Following afterwards, TNT tripped and the wings flew out of his grasp and straight to the ground. Somehow, each tray opened up and the wings splattered everywhere. Honey BBQ, BBQ, buffalo sauce and meat covered the grass, like a murder scene.

Fuck.

No sooner than the words had left her mouth, Findley watched as Chase made a split-second decision to reach for his cell phone and tripped in the process. With the sudden change in weight distribution and an already jeopardized arrangement, the trays had slid from his hands and fallen on the floor. As she assessed the damage of the wings now littering their vicinity, Fin moved her attention to Chase and immediately grimaced at what she could read all over his face.

Uh oh…

At the fifth ring, he picked up the phone and swallowed his seething anger. He didn’t need to come across as angry at Tiff. Knowing her, she would blame herself for his anger-- she always did. She should expect a good time, not a bad time. It wasn’t her fault his coping skills sucked. With pursed lips, he listened to her frantic words on the other end. He took a deep breath in, and then out, before replying. “It’s going to be okay.”

Furrowing his eyebrows, stressed out how everything was going wrong and how he ruined his date before it even started, Chase looked away from his friends, clenching his free hand into a fist. It was fine. She wasn’t going to be disappointed. He was overthinking - just because the main entree was now ant food didn’t mean she wouldn’t have a good time. There were still many positive things yet to come. There were still reasons for her to smile. There were still people willing to support him through this mishap.

You didn’t ruin anything.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s good. You’re good. I’m good. We’re both good.” The more he talked the more he realized he was trying to convince himself that this wasn’t the end. He had royally fucked up everything all because he wasn’t thinking. Of course he thought he could shorten prep time by carrying too much. Of course he’d trip and drop it all. Of course he’d ruin his chances because this was him and he was filled with bad-fucking-luck. A classic Chase move, honestly.

Clenching his teeth while listening to her, the boiling sensation never leaving him, knowing it only took one word he’d lose it, Chase strongly stated, “We’re going to be okay.” Right now he needed her to stop crying so he could focus on how he could fix this. It was so hard to end conversations when she got like this. It hurt hearing her cry. He could imagine how her face was with every word. It hurt more so because it was his fault for setting the bar so high.

Wanting to clarify, to make sure she was on the same page, he asked, “Understand, Tiff?” Chase was no longer paying attention to anyone but the woman he was talking on the phone with. At least on the surface, he looked like he was calming down and that was likely thanks to him hearing her voice. At least on the surface, there was no sight of the blazing inferno inside his skinny body. At least on the surface, he seemed okay.

“I guess I shouldn’t have asked…” Prof stated blandly as he watched the chaos that just unfolded before him and his girlfriend, both of whom were too far away to stop any of the dominoes from falling. He kept his tone low despite the distance, not wanting to upset Chase any more than the man already was. Taking a deep breath for himself as he watched Chase do the same for his phone call, the chemist interlocked his fingers behind his head and stared at the sky for a moment to shift his focus from the wing massacre. He looked at the trees and took in how the leaves had turned their undersides to the sky in preparation for a coming storm, one that the humans in the park could just barely feel the stirrings of now. There are signs of change everywhere, if you knew how to look.

“I’ll text Demo,” he finally said to the blonde beside him as he let his eyes fall on Chase’s form once more, and he was a bit surprised to see how well Chase had controlled his physical response while he spoke into his cell. Pulling out his own cell, the serpent moved back to rest against the picnic table and update Chase and Ollie’s father of the situation. “Are you gonna check on him or does he need to be alone right now?” He asked Findley belatedly, realizing that looking calm and being calm have always been two very different monsters for Chase to tackle.

Findley silently shook her head to the first option and nodded her head to the second one. "Would you approach a wolf when it's baring its teeth and they're foaming at the mouth?" the blonde asked her boyfriend in a low voice. Having the insight into Chase's personality like she did, she knew better than to approach him in the middle of a stressful situation like this. He wasn't just angry or upset-- he was seething, and trying his damndest to not let it show. The signs were all there, crystal clear for those who knew where to look: the clenched teeth, the tense muscles, the octave drop in his tone of voice… To go near him right now would be a suicide mission. He wasn't called TNT for no reason.

She took Xavier's silence as her answer. "Exactly. All we can do right now is pick up these wings from the floor and give him some space to go wild for a bit before we even say a word to him."

“I think I’ll wait for him to be further away from them before I try to go near them. I’m not lookin’ to be the last thing that sets him off,” he replied back, following his girlfriend’s logic. He looked back down to his phone to send the text he’d drafted, and with a single tap it was on its way to Demo. “You know that Demo’s not gonna have any back up food, so what are we gonna do to fix… that part of this situation?”

Fin's mind raced with the potential solutions to the problem, and it wasn't long before her quick, sharp mind came up with something. "We could always get some loaves of French bread, different kinds of lunch meat and some toppings from the grocery store and set it up like a self-serve sandwich bar?" she proposed. "It's quick, cheap and super easy to put together in a pinch like this one."

“That’s a good idea,” Prof complimented his girlfriend with a kiss to the top of her head, pulling out his phone again as it buzzed and glancing at the new message. “Oh, the guys are already on the way. Dolce still hasn’t replied to me yet.” That girl, he swears, if she’s crying in her room instead of heading over he’d throw her under the bus to Shale.

“Good. See you soon.” The moment Chase was no longer on the call his phone went flying out of his hand and straight into the tree by the picnic table, shattering it. He needed to calm down. This wasn’t a big deal. It really wasn’t. He just ruined his goddamn date. On top of that, it was his fault that Tiff overslept. He should’ve told her to go the fuck to sleep and deal with her tears later, instead of keep her up 4am in the fucking morning. He fucked up and that’s all he could hear in his head.

You’re a fuck up.

You’re a fuck up.

You’re a fuck up.

His violent temper was about to erupt, and to all those that did know him, knew it was the result of trauma. A lot of fucking trauma. Chase never learned how to cope and by the time Demo took him in, it was too late. Some people were born to handle temporary stress, temporary rises in the brain, temporary pain to the body, to the heart, and to the mind, but not consistently, everyday, for years and as a child no less. Chase, or now TNT, was a victim to his inner storm, an erratic soldier combating PTSD.

He fucked up.

Cracking his knuckles and his neck, his mind and body went on auto pilot. He trudged to the picnic table and angrily swiped the food off. This was his mindscape. His own personal hell. Everything that was set up thus far was getting thrown off in every direction, like the rage scene in The Shining where Jack Torrance tosses shit aside. A few soda cans darted toward Prof and Fin, the Hawaiian rolls tragically kissed the dirt, and all the appetizers were no longer appetizing. TNT was livid. He was so heated that he grabbed the picnic table and flipped it the fuck over, then proceeded to kick the benches so they were no longer standing upright. When his phone was in sight, he stomped on it a couple of times. Fuck him for even trying.

As soon as TNT made his way towards them, or rather the picnic table Prof had been leaning against, the logical man pushed off of it and took himself and his girlfriend a few healthy strides away from the object of their friend's ire, though they weren't able to get too far before he'd reached it. The strength with which Chase was violently swiping things off the table meant there wasn't really a safe distance and Prof found himself pushing Findley behind him when the cans came flying in their direction, most either flying passed them or hitting his chest, but one can caught him across the lower part of his face hard enough to make his teeth clatter together. To make matters worse, one of the platters Chase cast to the earth had been his mother's, and Prof only brought it out for special occasions. Watching the ceramic hit the patchy grass and break into several pieces sent his heart into his throat and it throbbed along with fat lip and growing bruise from the full soda can. His shoulders were rigid and squared as he stood like a shield between the chaos and his pregnant girlfriend, clenching and unclenching his fists as he forced himself to remain steady in the face of TNT's explosion.

Just as she recognized some of the workings of Chase’s mind, Findley recognized those of her life partner. The rigid posture, the clenching of fists, the sudden drop in any friendly, approachable demeanor… The few times she had seen Xavier get like this, what often followed was bodies being pushed against walls or floors, fists colliding with jaws and noses, an unrecognizable absence of any readable emotion in his face. When it seemed like any harm was coming to his loved ones, Xavier went from the friendly, good-natured man the Southies called 'Dad' to the fiercest of protectors. But because she knew any actions could only aggravate the volatile situation, Fin knew it was her duty to try and de-escalate the anger of at least one of her current companions.

“Xavier, stay calm,” Findley whispered in Prof’s ear as she tightly held onto his arm, a silent plea in her voice for her boyfriend to maintain his composure during this nerve-racking situation. As anxious and scared as she got whenever the scorching volcano that was Chase’s temper erupted, she knew that showing her feelings would only put Xavier more on edge. They needed to be the level-headed adults in this situation. “He’s not himself right now. Please don’t take any of this personally. It’ll make him feel worse when he snaps out of it.”

"I know babe," he answered back, posture still rigid and face showing a complete detachment from his emotions. He knew Chase and he knew the younger man wasn’t in control of himself right now. He knew that when the rampage was over he’d come back to himself and feel like shit for everything he didn’t even remember doing. He’d seen it in damn near every Carlisle crew member at least once over the years, but it’s been chronic for Chase for as long as they’ve really known the pale man. It never really got any easier for anyone to see. “I’m calm,” Xavier assured amidst his thoughts, keeping an eye on Chase’s slow path of destruction. "I can fix a platter…maybe, it’s just an object in the end, I guess,” he rationalized out loud, following with, “But if he hurts you at all then I'm perfectly prepared to calm him down the hard way," the older man promised darkly, allowing his girlfriend to pull him back and closer to her, the two of them taking a few more slow steps back. He may not be a fighter at the Pit, but that was because he didn’t fight for fun or for money, he fought to put an end to something, and if Chase was close to bringing harm to Findley and their baby then that made him a temporary threat that needed to be dealt with.

“He wouldn't do that," Findley assured Xavier, resting her chin on his shoulder. “TNT may be what he is, but I know he wouldn't hurt me. Please trust me on this."

Luckily for everyone involved, it seemed Chase’s chaos was headed for the other side of the picnic area now. “Okay,” Prof breathed out softly. “Okay.”

In time, after causing havoc on their general area, which includes kicking down the park trash bin and slamming his right fist into a nearby tree numerous times, TNT was all out of steam and Chase was back in control. There was a moment of silence while he looked at his bloody hand. Wounds he made a few days ago, reopening. He had just gotten the bandaid off yesterday too. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the mess he made and he saw the two watching him, trying to hide their fear and anger. The darkness crept over him as quickly as the anger did moments ago.

He ruined everything.

How could an LA girl ever like someone like him? Tiffannie was born in a world he would never understand and with how genuinely she felt about everyone and everything, this would kill her. She could never like someone so deeply disturbed and even if she did, she deserved so much better. How could he keep her safe if he didn’t know what made him tick? How could he protect her if he couldn’t even protect his little brother? How could he make her happy when he didn’t even know what happiness was?

Chase rested his bloody hand on his face, covering his eyes, as the image of his birth parents flashed so quickly. Memories he tried so hard to suppress, like him and his brother hiding in the basement, listening to Metallica or Ozzy Osbourne. The screams and malicious attacks, the loud noises of glass breaking and furniture being thrown around, the words that cut his and his brother’s hearts like a sharp dagger would; all these sounds rang in his ears like it was only yesterday.

He could see it.

That smile, his father’s awful fucking smile… imprinted on his mind.

And then it got worse.

He saw Zippo, or Fiona Dawson, his chosen mother, the one he loved with all his heart, die on the hospital bed. Just die. He was powerless. He had no control over misery and death. He couldn’t protect anyone. He was useless. Why did he ever think he could make this work with Tiff? Why did he ever think he deserved her? And just like that, the tears silently ran down Chase’s face. He hadn’t cried in so long. What the fuck was this? Overcome with emotion, the suffering Warren kid, one of Demo’s and Zippo’s firecrackers, ran like a bat out of hell.

“Wait! No, Chase--- WAIT!"

But he was gone. Just like that. Beaten, broken, and bruised, he couldn’t pretend to be okay. No, not in front of Tiffannie. He was NOT okay. In a blink of an eye, Chase Warren was running away from his problem.

Just like that.

He was gone.

Edenridge

TW: Suicide Ideation/Attempt

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Thursday, December 21, 2017
In an alleyway by the drugstore

His head was pounding.

And he was shivering. Or sweating. He couldn't tell.

Every morning he woke up like he was going through a daze. Niles tried to cling to the things that made him happy which meant he clung to Natalia because that’s all he had. There was Gavriel too but even then their time together was limited. The most time they spent was when they both were in the clinic hanging out. Being sons of doctors had its perks.

He didn’t understand why the moment he even entertained having friends outside him and Natalia she’d get incredibly insecure and panic. Natalia and him had a deal and that was they would explore each other but there would be no strings attached. In Niles’ opinion, dating was overrated and made relationships complicated. By being friends with benefits everything could stay the same, the only difference was now they had sex. A lot of fucking sex.

Even with the comfort of pleasure, Niles still found himself lost, searching for Neverland. It was almost midnight and here he was, sitting on the ground in an alleyway, beaten and bruised. Honestly, he didn’t remember who he started shit with, but here he was, exhausted and unable to move.

Niles blankly stared at the brick wall ahead of me. With no energy to pick himself up, his body slouched to one side, the doctor’s son reached for his phone and debated if he should call Natalia or send a text. He had reached a point in his day where all there was was fog in his brain. He couldn’t feel his body anymore which was great, it matched his insides. He preferred to feel this way. To feel nothing.

If he told her about this, a repeat of last time would happen and he would make her cry. Natalia was always scared one day he would end his life. That’s why she called so much, that’s why she checked on him so much, that’s why she spent all the time she could at his side… that’s why she didn’t want anyone to ruin what they had.

Huh.

Is that why she didn’t let him have friends?

Niles wondered what she was up to. She’s supposed to be studying for her history exam. They promised each other that they wouldn’t distract one another. That was a lie since all last night they had video sex. Microdosing so that they could succeed this week. Her hot bodice aside, he needed her to focus and to not worry about him so much. She was going to anyway but if there was one thing he learned quickly about the Belmonte family, Taz took his children’s grades extremely serious and he didn’t need that added grief if Natalia got bad marks. They were lucky enough that Taz had no idea they were fucking. Perks of getting with the favorite Belmonte 7, amiright?

While Niles did want her to focus on herself, he knew she wouldn’t. He knew she was likely planning to do something special for him because she never forgot anything that mattered, especially not when it came to him. Certainly not his mother’s death day, which was tomorrow. Carrie called it her angelversary which was her way of optimistically looking at death like there was somewhere you went after you died like Neverland. Or Wonderland. Or Hell. Depends on your perspective.

Truth be told, he didn’t care about what was at the end of life. All he cared about was ending his life. No matter how much time came and went, he couldn’t scream, he couldn’t cry, he couldn’t even admit to anyone that he wasn’t okay. He was far from okay. All he could do was be, just be.

Being numb was much better than the monster he fought everyday. He liked it this way. Everytime he thought he was making progress, he found himself falling back into bad habits, falling back into this crippling, agonizing grief, and falling back into this place where he could hear a voice telling him that death was a cure for all lost boys. Death would take away the loneliness. Death would take you away from all reality. Death would take you to a place without pain. Niles could shut it all off and be free. All he had to do was kill himself.

Unfortunately, what didn’t help his depression was his father. Hector Sinclair tried to dictate how he grieved, how all of them grieved. Believe it or not, his father was fighting worse demons than all his children combined but that didn’t give him the right to tell them how to process their grief. How they should cope with their depression.

They lost their fucking mother. Hector had no relationship with his mother, he chose to lose her but Niles? Autumn? Carrie? They didn’t have a choice. A baby died that day and took her with them. Maybe it helped his father to move on and sleep around, maybe it helped his father to tell him to grow up and honor her by living life, maybe it helped his father to pretend. But it didn’t help Niles, especially when he knew that Hector didn’t care about anyone but himself. That Hector was just as much to blame for his mom’s death as the dead baby was.

His mother, his beautiful mother, she lived in his head like Peter Pan. She was forever beautiful, forever youthful, forever in his heart. Never changing. She was. And never will be. She was very much alive in his head and that’s what made the arguments, the disagreements, the fights with his father more hard to deal with.

His father had a temper but so did he. They didn’t hurt each other physically nor did they explode like someone with anger management issues. No, they used words and let them cut deep. So deep. And now Niles was in an alleyway thinking about those words that rang in his ears like white noise.

”Look at yourself… your mom would be crying right now if she saw you.”

“Get over it, Niles. You’re not solving anything by moping around."

“Are you fucking serious? Detention again? If you don’t get your act together, you’re getting sent away. Join your cousin at Camden."

“I brought you into this world and I can take you out, boy.”

People told him time heals but that wasn’t true at all. Before Niles realized, he had texted both Natalia and Rye: I’m giving up, sorry.

Time kept moving and he still felt like shit. Wait, this was more than feeling like shit and there was a reason why he was fading. A feeling, this fading, rushed over him. He felt like a kid again, where he could imagine his mom tucking him in because he had woken her up telling her it was too dark. It wasn’t the dark he was afraid of. It was hearing her argue with dad. He was so weary and so tired. Was that all he wanted? Was all he needed was his mom to kiss him goodnight and tuck him in?

Glancing to his side he saw prescription pills, they weren’t even his pills, and an empty bottle of Benadryl. He was getting better at hiding his isolation. Using sex covered the issues up easy. Made her not worry about him. He was getting better at this, even somehow managing to still send a cryptic message.

Was it finally happening? Was he finally going to Neverland?

Shit.

Darkness overcame him and his body slumped in the alleyway.

DWS [SHELVED UNTIL BETTER TIME]

- snipped -

Edenridge

TIMESTAMP: Flashback, Yesterday, Sunday (July 18th)

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Devil in a bottle, Cat stood by her small side table where she had an Italian crafted decanter filled with some of her father’s favorite scotch, Johnnie Walker. Beside the decanter were four whiskey glasses to match the set. Her kids had left with their father yesterday to be in New York for about a week. She replayed Thursday night when she and her husband sat down to tell them about the divorce. All she could see was the conflicted emotions shown in each of their faces. Was she doing the right thing?

The idea of a perfect family was crumbling in front of them. They’re confronted by the reality that all their life they've been lied to. Lied about happily ever afters, lied about their father being loyal and their mother being strong, and lied about love. Once she poured herself a glass, thinking her workers had left for the day and she had the shop to herself, Cat took a sip of the one thing that has kept her afloat this long. She had family, friends, and now she had Clay. Still, she struggled because without this drink, she’d have a hard time covering up the tears. She’d have a hard time admitting to herself all her shortcomings. She’d have a hard time being happy.

Cat was tired, worn, and torn by this provincial town she lived in, and her family. Especially her family. She turned to booze because when her head was full of it, she truly believed it could cure her from this endless struggle. It was only a week since the doctor told her how long her mother had and shortly after, she found herself taking out her bible that had picked up dust over the years. She went to church every Sunday but that didn’t make her a devout Christian, not like Nina.

She hadn’t sought His word for years. God was supposed to guide her everyday and push her to strive and be like Him, his likeness and his image. The last time she desperately sought him out, like now, was when she almost lost her miracle baby, Dani. Being a Christian was more than going to church. It requires a daily process where you are so certain in your growth to be more and more like Christ. To remember that His love was like an ocean and that you can see the beginning, but not its end. To trust in Him and His plan… that’s what it meant to be devoted to Him. And that’s where Cat fell short. Time and time again.

After Sofi had screamed at her parents in anger, directing the malice mostly at her mother, during the whole ordeal Thursday night, Cat was forced to look into the mirror and see why she would never be like Him. Sofi forced her to realize that there was no use in waiting for His plan to fix things. It was up to her and her own strength. It was clear that Sofi was upset she had to pick up the pieces of their broken family, when she was still recovering from almost dying by Charlie Decker.

Cat had frantically looked through her bible and begged God to take away her tears, wash away her sins, and help her be a good mother to her children, only to realize she needed to stop asking to be saved. If Cat wanted to carry her world, she had to believe in herself again. She had to be strong for herself and for her children. She also needed to learn to lean on people and be okay to admit that there are some things she can’t do alone.

Taking another sip of the scotch, a tear finding its way out, trailing down her cheek, Cat closed her eyes and tried to think of the positive things to come. Her children wouldn’t be in a house where there’s always fighting. Tommasso and her would learn healthy ways to co-parent. Her mother’s suffering would end and she could be with the Lord, in His Glory, like she always wanted to. Cat would start working on herself and find purpose in being alive and well. And throughout all of this? She’d have the support of Clayton. Someone she didn’t realize she needed as much as she does now. She just wanted to be happy and she hoped, little by little, she’d get there within herself, within her relationship with Clayton, and within the lives of her children. She prayed. Oh God she prayed.

Just outside of her office doors, an unexpected busy evening was finally coming to a close. Marco had stayed an extra hour, letting the Young Lad go home. He said he needed to be home for some reason and Marco didn’t mind lingering around. In the week since his chance encounter with Poppy and just…the whole week, he has been finding himself into a real groove. It wasn’t just because of Danny really pushing him in the mornings (and in the night prior to every morning), it was everything in his life right now. It was strange. Marco from six months ago would have never been so eager to work more, but he felt truly happy making sandwiches. Cat had taught him well, had been so right in his face about learning the ropes and the recipes and how to make each one.

That was something Marco found out he got from his old man. An impeccable memory. In the past, it served him well in school. In soccer. In that extremely difficult character analysis presentation that Poppy gave him such high praise for last week. And now it helped him at his job. He knew every sandwich yet was finding ways to improve them but never changing them. Refining how he made them. Slowly but surely, Marco was coming into his own.

“That should do it,” he remarked, handing off the last order of the day. A happy customer ordered an italian club and that dream panini that was becoming really popular as of late. Truth be told, it was his favorite sandwich to make.

As he clocked out, Marco, as he always did, went to Cat’s office. He knocked a few times. “Cat,” he called out in a medium tone. He went for the knob and the door wasn’t closed. As he pushed it open, he saw Cat standing by herself near a small table, drinking what he hoped was some sort of apple cider, but he knew alcohol when he saw it. “Cat?” He half-frowned, wondering if she was even conscious, aware of her surroundings. “I just wanted to ask if you needed anything before I left for the day..” There was a cautious approach Marco had in both how he spoke and he walked into her office, feeling something was off. That part of him that always wanted to make sure those he cared for were alright refused to let him leave. “Cat?”

When she realized she was not alone and that she still had an employee here, Cat was quick to down her scotch and wipe her face of tears with a quick swipe. “Marco!” She turned around, leaving the glass behind. “I could’ve sworn everyone was gone for the day,” She laughed and smiled, hiding all her pain through a jovial expression. “If everything has been covered in the front, I should be fine,” She assured her brother’s friend, not wanting to keep him longer than needed. “It’s getting late, I’m sure you’re ready to relax and have some dinner.”

It may have been brief, but there was definitely something off. Marco didn’t know what it was exactly, but something about the way Cat acted the minute she realized he was still around -- that stood out. “Are you sure?” Marco asked, worried for Cat. In all the time he had known her and especially in the past few weeks since he’s been working for her, she’s never acted this…dismissive. “Really, I don’t mind staying a bit longer.. I don’t feel all that tired to be honest, so it’s no bother at all!” He smiled at her.

From the time Cat has watched Marco with her brother to seeing him on numerous occasions at family parties and other things, the older woman knew how persistent the young boy was when it came to feelings. As the eldest of the Belmonte 7 it was her duty to smile and act okay, it was her duty to protect her family, it was her duty to shield them from everything this town threw at them, it was her duty. She couldn’t burden Danny’s friend with her problems. She couldn’t burden anyone with them. “Really, Marco. I’m fine.” Instead of staying complacent, she sauntered her way to her desk and took a seat. Slowly but surely she put away her things so that she too could follow suit and leave for her day, “Plus! Don’t you have places to go? People to see? You’re young, sweetheart. Enjoy it while you still can.”

“Like I said it’s no bother at all!” Marco was indeed stubborn. Probably something he never realized he inherited from both of his parents. But Cat was equally so, it seemed. At the very least, his last act for the day could help her clean off her desk. “At least let me help you clean up.”

Marco didn’t wait for an actual response as he approached her desk, picking up a stack of papers that seemed familiar. For a few short moments, he looked at the front and saw what felt familiar about it. “Edenridge Police Force…study guide?” He read out loud, dividing his gaze from the guide in his hands and Cat, who was still putting things away, taken aback somewhat. “What is this, Cat?” He asked her, but not in a judgemental way. Marco couldn’t be judgmental even if he tried. He was genuine in his curiosity and more so was just surprised.

After a nervous chuckle slipped out of her lips, Cat reached for the booklet and gently tugged it away from Marco, “It’s nothing really, just, ehem…” She proceeded to put the book away into a file cabinet. “I’m just learning a thing or two, to see if I want a, well, career change.” Once she dropped the bomb she looked away and focused on finishing up the task at hand. Cleaning up her things. “This is fine, Marco. I can clean up my own desk, I swear.” Was it too bold to get another serving of scotch? Cat was sweating because she felt like the one person in the room that could see her was seeing her clearly.

What Marco just heard was a lot to process. Career change? Was she thinking of becoming a cop? He didn’t want to assume, but the booklet and the way she was acting, the signs were clear as day. He had a lot of thoughts racing through his head: the possible sale of Godmother, what that meant about his job, but the main one -- possibly the most glaring of them all -- was how…nervous Cat seemed. He might not be the most observant person, certainly not the kind that his father was, but Marco could see enough to realize that this was more than just a thing or two or would that be too presumptuous of Marco to assume?

When Cat put the booklet away and she tried to again shoo him away in a polite way, he looked at his boss. A few moments of silence came after before Marco finally broke it. “So..you want to be a cop or something? I mean, I think that’s pretty cool, Cat! Officer Cat has a nice ring to it, I think. Kinda like Catwoman, but ya know, instead of seducing Batman and whatnot, you’ll be looking out for those of us who can’t.”

“You really think so?” With his kind words Caterina perked up, easing her defenses, this being the first time she told someone outside of Nina about her dream. A dream that sparked the day she almost lost Sofi on August 29th, 2019. The day the town of Edenridge lost many lives. A tragedy that is still hurting many, including herself. Standing up, she interlocked her fingers and started fiddling with her hands.

Soon after, Cat was pacing in her small office thinking, “You don’t have to worry about your job. This process takes time so I won’t be going anywhere. If I pass the civic exam, school takes about six months. Even then, I wouldn’t give my shop to just anyone. I have a lot to consider and I’m hoping whoever I find will allow me to take a backseat so that I can not only focus on my studies but insure that the Godmother still lives on. I just…”

She posted herself by the side table, where the scotch waited for her, before turning on her heel to observe Marco, “I just know this place means a lot to the community, so I don’t want her to die, but I also… need to find purpose in myself? If that makes sense. Purpose beyond—” She gestured around them, the office, the shop, the sandwiches, and the retail. She gestured at everything that her father stood for. Everything he loved. “—This.”

Don’t get her wrong. When Cat was a young mother and this was her best option because she had her father and his connections with the Osso family, she loved this. There was passion at one point. The Godmother has become so loved in the community, she knew that, and that’s because love was the foundation. It was possible because it was a passion project that she shared with her old man. She had nothing going for her otherwise. Now that she’s made a name for it, and herself, and her husband is no longer controlling her mind, she was ready to figure out what she wanted.

She didn’t want to hesitate in anything in regards to her life. She was already worried that Clayton was madly in love with her and she could only imagine how she would react if he said those three words to her: I love you. He loved her for such a long time but now that he’s older it has matured and become something… so warm and so gentle. She’s never felt tenderly appreciated like she does with him and she was scared. Scared that if she didn’t start finding herself, she’d start pushing him away. Self sabotaging her life because she didn’t think she deserved to be loved like that. What kind of bullshit was that? Everyone deserves to be loved and that includes someone broken, damaged, and lost. That includes her. “It’s silly, I know, Marco.”

Marco shook his head almost immediately. “No, it’s not silly at all! If anything, it’s pretty great that you’re doing this.” Marco gave Cat a smile. “You’re putting the effort into something that you believe will let you live a happier life, right? That’s the furthest from being silly. And I absolutely understand. It’s how I feel about working here. It’s hard work, sure. And you don’t always make it easy, but I wouldn’t be able to take charge, even if for a little bit, if you didn’t keep teaching me about all the recipes and how each sandwich is made. So I know that you’ll do great at this! Bringing that same level of focus and dedication to something that will make you happy will get you the results you want, I just know it!”

Deep down, Marco understood what Cat was going through more than she knew. It may not have been directly linked to a change of career, but Marco was undergoing his own difficult choice in calling or texting Poppy James back. That in itself was a hard thing because he wasn’t sure what might happen. All he knew was that, if Cat could do this incredibly difficult thing of try and become a cop, maybe Marco could do that.

Call it mother’s intuition, or a hunch, Cat smiled at Marco’s kind words and re-routed the attention onto him, “Now that you’ve made me feel better about myself…” Cat glanced at the clock on the wall, before bringing her gaze back toward Marco, “It’s almost dinner time, maybe you should text Penelope and see if she’s down to grab a bite.” The older woman crossed her arms and stood there commanding like a mother, but also loving like a mother, “I tried my best not to eavesdrop but it was really hard. You know what I think?”

When Cat mentioned how close it was to dinner, Marco didn’t realize, but he took out his phone briefly to look at the time. He had to admit, though, he didn’t know why he felt surprised that Cat heard his conversation with Poppy but Marco looked at her because he was. “You..heard that, huh?” Instinctively, Marco scratched the left side of his face, one of his many tells when he was starting to feel tense. Lord knows Marco was a walking hypocrite sometimes because he could help those who need it but when it’s turned back on him, he feels reluctant to address it.

Probably why he has people in his life that push him to do things he normally wouldn’t. “You want me to talk to her, don’t you?” It’s not that Marco wasn’t already halfway there, but he remained undecided about it. That feeling in his gut when Poppy first brought it up was starting to return.

“Yes, but also,” Cat’s eyes grew gentle as she rested her weight towards one side, never looking away from him. “Look at it like this. Maybe, she needs this just as much as you. You know why I want to become a cop right? It’s because I almost lost Sofi that day, on the same field you were on. Elisa was there that day. Natalia was there too. And I love my sisters, but take my daughter away from me? That’s a whole different pain.”

Uncrossing her arms, Cat strolled to the younger boy and ruffled his hair, like a big sister would, “There’s too much hurt in this town and it takes a lot of bravery to go to people you barely know and say sorry for a deed you didn’t even do. I don’t want you to regret not knowing as much as you could when Charlie’s childhood friend is giving you that chance. You owe her nothing or him, but you owe it to yourself to move on. And she’s there waiting to help you through that.”

She was right, of course -- Marco knew this. No matter how painful it was to think about, maybe it was time that Marco stopped avoiding this. Danny had his way of getting to address it and that only could work if Marco was willing to face what had happened. He wasn’t and that’s why he shifted his focus onto Lanie and being there for her. Deep down, Marco knew this time would come and deep down, maybe he didn’t want to avoid it any longer.

Looking at Cat, Marco’s eyes were glistening slightly. “I know you’re right. I know…I’ve spent so long avoiding this moment. Pushed myself into things that could distract me. Family, friends, online communities -- I’ve tried to not think about that day. You know, I had my eyes set on playing soccer at a pro level, right? Senior year was going to be the year scouts from Boston would come see me, but then that was all taken from me.” Marco bit his lip, feeling himself getting choked up as he tried to get a handle on his emotions. Even though now he was more than content with the way his life was, part of him often wondered what if he wasn’t on the field that day. Would he still be here? Or would he be one of the many names that people remembered who died that day?

Believe it or not, Cat understood him more than he even knew. For herself, while she didn’t almost die during this period of her life, she got pregnant which changed everything for her. All her plans to leave this town, to sail somewhere and never look back, changed in a second because she had Sofi. Her daughter on the other hand was just like him. Sofia used to love soccer and at one point in time she saw herself pursuing it professionally. That all was taken away from her before she could even taste the big leagues. No freshman goes to school thinking this is the day I’m going to get shot and give up on my dreams. No student for that matter. Cat was just glad that her daughter was able to get out of bed and do something with her day. She was also glad her daughter had friends like Richard “Ricky” Osso keeping her afloat. Not those kids that were a golden ticket to Sofi getting a drug addiction. There was no doubt in Cat’s mind that she preferred her daughter playing Dungeons & Dragons with Ricky than loiter, vandalise, and smoke with Jeremy Fletcher and company.

“What would I even say to Poppy, Cat?” He had such a clueless and lost expression on his face and he looked to Cat for some kind of guidance.

“Well, you can first start off by texting her, hey, are you free? I know this is last minute but I just got off work and was going to get dinner at the Hole,” Cat smirked, even adding a sassy eye roll. “Don’t overthink it. Right now you’re just hanging out with someone. If you don’t know where to start when you’re there, have her lead. I imagine once you two start talking it’ll all fall into place and make sense in the end. Right now though? All you need to do is grab your phone and text ‘hey’.”

Marco went quiet for a few moments. Perhaps Cat was right and he was putting too much thought into it. He had only the thought of talking about what happened to him in his mind but maybe that’s not all it could be. Truth be told, Marco didn’t know what could happen. He wished he could be the old version of himself who didn’t overthink so much, who didn’t second-guess every thought and action he made. In the past, he wouldn’t have hesitated to text poppy. Hell, he would’ve made plans to meet up with her that day. But now he spent nearly a week going over it in his mind and still wasn’t completely sure. Maybe that was okay. Maybe he didn’t have to know everything. Like Cat said, maybe it didn’t have to have the weight of Charlie added to it.

Marco half smiled, looking at Cat. All he had to do was text her. “I’ll do that then,” he commented, giving Cat a quick hug that only lasted a few seconds. “Thank you…for everything you’ve done. I know you’ll ace that test! This town would be lucky to have someone who cares so much looking out for them.”

Although the hug only lasted seconds, the sudden affection from one of her employees, and her brother’s friend, caused her to briefly tense up. She didn’t mind playfully ruffling his hair or lightly slapping the back of his head like she would do with Danny when he just wouldn’t get it right, but a hug was something she considered intimate. She loved intimacy - just not with her brother’s friend.

Clay was different… Clay was over the house a lot with his sister Lamb. Cat practically grew up with him. Whenever she and her sisters visited the Brady house, she spent more time with Marlie than the children. Don’t get her wrong, she’s hugged Marco before in a family setting where it was kind of something you did out of respect, but now that he was her subordinate… It was weird.

Hiding the mild uncomfortable sensation behind a warm smile, Cat chuckled, “Thanks, kid. I needed this.” Extremely obvious of her next motive, Cat opened her office door, “You’ve helped me get out of my funk, now it’s time for you to get out of your’s. Be goneeeee.” She shooed the boy — desperately in need of ME time before she went back home and waited for Clay to text her.

“Yes boss!” Marco chuckled as he waved to Cat, leaving her office and closing the door behind him.

Marco left the Godmother but he lingered outside for a few minutes. He thought for the whole time about everything that Cat said about not overthinking it. That wasn’t an easy thing for him to do since that’s become his default setting. Ever since getting shot and after recovery, Marco hasn’t been able to change that about himself. Always overthinking every decision he made, everything he did, and what he might do. Entertaining thoughts about what could go wrong, what if it’s not what it was initially pitched as instead of looking on the bright side like he used to.

He missed that version of himself. Somehow Cat could see that. Part of him just knew she did and maybe it was about time he started to try and find that Marco Brady again.

Taking out his phone, Marco texted Poppy.

Hey, it’s Marco. You free? I just got off work. (sent)
Thought…if you wanted, we could grab some dinner at The Hole?sent

Marco lingered still as he was about to pocket his phone in the front right pocket of his pants, but then he felt it vibrate in his hand. Looking at his screen, it was Poppy. “Dang that was fast!”

Yes. I’m close by. See you in ten? received

Penelope

Sounds great! On my way too! 🌞sent

With that text sent, Marco started walking towards the end of main street. His legs were sore from being on them practically all day, but it wasn’t far. He could rest when he got there.

He hoped..

Edenridge

_{TIMESTAMP: After Paradise Lost Collab}

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Narrowing her list down to four girls in her class, Jillian O’Brien, Lanie Lancaster, Caitlin Cleary, and Alexandria Davies, Kylee closed her laptop and leaned back in her chair at the library. He still hadn’t texted her. She was trying to not be the one to give in because if she kept doing that, he’d never learn, but the clock ticked, and the unsettling feeling of him not needing her was blinding at this point.

Was she really that insignificant?

He couldn’t even send a good morning text.

Clenching her teeth at her sinking heart, realizing more by the hour her father was right, he always was, Kylee sat there aimlessly staring at a bookshelf. For the time they dated, when they were physically together, Wesley Silo made her feel special. Occasionally Wes got distracted by his phone but he was still there. The moment she left him, his side, the moment she wasn’t with him, all the doubt she buried so well crawled out and caused her to go to a place she hadn’t visited awhile.

The dark place.

Stupid, she was stupid.

Why didn’t she question him? Why didn’t she demand him to tell her his secrets? Kylee knew he had them. She knew he wasn’t ready to open up to her. But why? Why wasn’t she good enough to know? It sucked. This feeling sucked. This was her fault for falling again. Falling again for the wrong one. Time and time again, she fell for the wrong one.

First was Pierce, who was a wonderful friend, but who knew she couldn’t love him and he couldn’t love her the way they both deserved. He was there for her whenever she needed him. They did all the things couples did and even though those things didn’t make her heart flutter, he was good for her. He was safe.

Pierce was everything she thought she deserved but then, suddenly, he wasn’t. He was a boy who lived in an abusive family that fought the most heartbreaking thoughts, apologizing for dragging Kylee down with him. All he wanted to do was keep his sister safe but through that fear, through that pain, and anxiety, he found solace in Jakob Torres, who died the same day, in the same room, at the same time inches away from her.

Second was Natalia, who was such an admirable headstrong girl, but who still loved a boy in a way that she could never love Kylee. She was good until she wasn’t. There was so much spark in the beginning, so much fire. They explored each other’s bodies, minds, and even souls, but not enough where Kylee felt satisfied. Deep down, she just knew no matter what she did, she would never be good enough.

How could she give in? Give all herself when she couldn’t stop thinking about her ex’s bloody face? Not getting in her dream school was an excuse. Natalia was beautiful, driven, and so, so very smart. It was just, senior year was hard to love someone when she found it hard to love herself. And she knew, she knew by Christmas, she could never love Natalia the way she deserved, but neither could Natalia. Natalia still had feelings for Niles Sinclair, even though she tried so hard to hide it.

Now Kylee was with Wes and the cycle repeated. There were bruises on her ego while she tried, and tried, and tried, to figure out what he was about. She was once again put in a place where she felt undeserving of his love. He clearly didn’t want her like she wanted him. He clearly didn’t want her.

Not too far off, quick Russian could be heard. Kylee snapped out of her depressive stupor to see the woman she named Jane saying things under her breath and walking from one aisle to the next. Back to reality, Kylee noted the time and realized she was here longer than expected. Once she packed her things, she took her leave. Getting fresh air could do her some good.

Edenridge.

Home.

Finding his way back to the town of his birth had been a whole journey but Adam Callahan was doing best to keep on moving forward. Rolling down the street in his skateboard, camera in hand, he passed by scenery he had not seen in years. When he and his father moved to Pinehurst a few years ago, it became very apparent the senior Callahan wanted to cut out everything that reminded him of where they came from, in spite of the fact that their family helped found the town. Though it was also the case that his father didn’t mind using that Foundling status to his advantage financially.

The memory of the day they left still resonated with Adam. He had been out all day with Roddy, his cousin. When the duo got back to Rod’s house, they walked in on their fathers, brothers Thomas and John, locked in a heated row about their long dead older sister, Mary. Neither man was small or weak, they were big strong Irish men whose faces had turned crimson red, fists balled, chests puffed out and flares of malice and hatred darting between those Callahan eyes. Tom was the bigger brother, so when he slapped the taste out of his little brother's mouth, the room shook. He then grabbed Adam by the back of his neck and they stormed out. Within hours, their car was packed and they were out of town.

Sure, they only moved several miles down the road but it might as well have been an ocean. Adam’s older brother Andrew was married to Clari Osso at this point so he stayed in Eden and was Adam’s only real point of contact in the town. He tried to maintain his other links but Thomas had ways of isolating his young son. The most Adam could manage was a message to Rod or his brother here and there. He did follow the news though and the myriad of tragedies that befell the sleepy hamlet of Edenridge. Adam loved the supernatural and went on several ghost hunts with his friends before he moved. He was sure that the brown was cursed and took his own isolation as his part in it. After a while, it became easier just to go along with it, at least until he was old enough to fight back. Now there he was. Home again after five years, with a shitty apartment in Westbrook and a recent successful job application to his old English teachers coffee shop. The life right?

Lost behind the lens of his video camera as he rolled down the street, Adam didn’t realise he had just entered into a collision course.

With her laptop bag around her arm, one arm carrying a couple books, and her hands preoccupied with note taking, Kylee walked on the sidewalk outside the library. She held a small composition book that housed her thoughts, her theories, and her concerns. She didn’t want to forget a single thing that popped in her head so taking notes on her phone and in small travel notebooks became absolutely necessary in a day of the life of Kylee Grimm.

Her mind constantly moved a mile per hour. This had been the case for the littlest Grimm since she learned how to walk. Prudence would compliment her curiosities, ideas, and questions, encouraging Ky’s mind and tending to it like a blossoming garden. It was Prue who got her in the habit of writing what she saw, what she heard, and what she thought down. From her dream journal to her planner, Kylee wrote everything down. It was the best remedy for a girl who couldn’t stop the cogs from turning. The greatest weapon one could have was a pen and paper.

Puckering her lips in thought, tapping her pen on her notebook, Kylee took a moment to quickly glance up to make sure she wasn’t going to walk into someone, like she’s done to Wes countless times. The moment she did, she saw a boy zooming on his skateboard, straight toward her. Alarmed, Kylee was caught between fight or flight. She wasn’t prepared for this at all. The last time someone skateboarded around these parts were YEARS ago. There were better places to skate! In most people’s cases they would jump out of the way but there Kylee was, a deer in headlights, waiting for her inevitable doom. Fight, flight, or freeze. She certainly was frozen. Oh how her dad would not be proud.

Finally seeing a wave of brunette hair in his path, Adam moved his camera to his side and slammed his foot down, effectively putting the brakes on his board (if it had any). He stopped inches from the girl in his way and spun out. He managed to maintain his footing as his board rolled off into the bushes of the library. With his elbow he clipped the girl and her pile of books fell onto the floor.

In milliseconds, Adam was down collecting them. “I’m so so sorry,” He apologised. “I was in my own world just filming. You’re not hurt are you? I promise I….” He stopped when he stood back up to his full height and caught sight of the face of the girl he had just assaulted. He knew her. And well! Big brown eyes and an angular face. She was someone he hadn’t seen in a very long time. “Kylee?”

The scene was set and Kylee went from frozen to shock. No longer holding her composition book and the books she checked out from the library, she watched the boy in front of her collect her books, or try to until he saw her. Squinting her eyes and subtly shaking the shock away, Kylee tried to gain her composure so she wasn’t staring at her old friend like a dumdum. “Hi,” she smiled, her shock was so high that she didn’t even know how to talk to him. Hi was a good start. How unexpected. Her big, brown eyes went from his handsome Callahan face (y’know those features that most girls couldn’t resist) to her books. Oh, yeah. She should… yes. Going to the ground, she finished collecting the rest of her things, placing her hand on her small composition book.

“Wow,” Adam took a step back to give the girl some space. He had just nearly trucked her after all. “Five years and the most I get is hi…also the wow was a two pronged, other prong was because you look amazing.” Kylee had been best friends with his cousin Roddy and for the most part, Adam was the third musketeer. He could never be around them all the time because of his dad but when he was, he loved every second of it. When he moved not so quietly in the night, he never did get the chance to say goodbye properly to the mayor's daughter. He had to get Roddy to do it. Which probably didn’t go well since Roddy barely spoke at the best of times and had the emotional range of a toaster. Robo Rod still on his mission from the future to be awkward as fuck all the time.

The thing was, Adam knew Kylee. If she haven’t changed in the years they’d been apart, she was likely processing. For someone as clever and as bright as she was. Sometimes it took her a little while to get there. He waited until their eyes met again and he offered up a toothy goofy smile “Hi Velma.”

Any other day, Kylee would cry and embrace him. Any other day. It hit her face and a tint of pink could be seen on her cheeks. He was back? When did he get back? She was standing up now with her things, hugging them close, as if those books were a comfort thing to her, protecting her from him leaving her again, like everyone else did. Her guard was undeniably visible and the atmosphere, her whole vibe, could cut like a knife. He caught her at a bad time. Kylee Grimm was not doing good at all. Of course something like this would happen. “Hi Adam, it’s good to see you,” Her voice cracked. Stop it, Kylee. ”I, um, I was heading this way…” Swiftly, she walked past him in a direction. He could follow her or he could not. His choice.

Ok. This was a little weird. “Erm yeah…” Adam ran to the bush to grab his board and placed it under his arm before he swiftly followed the Grimm girl. Ky was not herself or at least how he remembered her. Perhaps she had changed? Maybe she had no interest in rehashing their old friendship? It had been a long time and he had basically been missing that entire time with little to no communication with those he left behind. “I’m sensing today is not the best day for me to suddenly reappear.”

As they walked, slowly approaching the corner of the street, Kylee whispered, “Was I not a good friend to you?” Was she really not worth the goodbye? She held her books tighter, not looking at Adam, not even looking straight ahead. She looked toward the ground and the darkness overtook her. Kylee may have left the library but she took the dark place with her. Everything about her was melancholy. If this were a cartoon, she’d have a rain cloud over her head. There was a storm brewing in Edenridge, but the forecast predicted it to be more towards the evening. No, this rain cloud was just Kylee’s depression that she couldn’t pretend to hide.

There it was. That Grimm veil that sometimes reared its head. Adam remembered that and he remembered one of the few to be able to pull her out of it was Roddy, who by all accounts didn’t live there anymore. “You were the best friend, Ky.” It was one of his biggest regrets, not being able to say goodbye. “The old man put me on lockdown. I couldn’t do anything. No phone, no computer, whenever I did use it I had to do it in his presence. You know how he was.” Thomas Callahan was not a good man and his children suffered. He was the polar opposite of his brother but his sons were lucky that their uncle would try to instill in them the goodness that their father was lacking. “I’m sorry.”

“How long are you even here for?” Kylee turned to face him, rooting her feet to the ground. There was so much pain and hurt behind her beautiful, brown eyes.

Adam stopped with her and hugged his skateboard and camera tightly. “As long as it takes for me to save up some cash,” he lamented. “The old man is out of my life now, I’ve got no money. Didn’t get into college. So I’m here to work, get paid and then grab this thing.” He waved his video camera “and head off in search of big adventure, just like we always talked about.”

In Grimm fashion, the sadness started fading, masked by a cutthroat coldness. Subconsciously, Kylee was shifting her gears. Having Adam back could be useful. She was doing an investigation alone today because Clay was in his feelings. This could be the kind of distraction she needed. There was no point brooding over things she had no control over. Wesley? It was his fault for not talking to her. If that’s how he wanted to play, two could play it like that. She didn’t need him. He was lucky to have her. “What are your plans today?” Her tone was firm and harsh. And for the briefest of moments, her expression shadowed one similar to her father’s.

“Alright, so your creepy Grimm split personality thing is still a thing. Good to know.” Adam looked out at the stretch of Main Street that Kay out in front of him and Kylee before returning his attention to her. “Well I was just getting my bearings, seeing what’s changed and such. I’ve only been back a few days,” His face morphed into another grin. “But I remember that look and you have a plan. It’s the same one you used to have when you’d drag me and Rod to Hanging Hill or the sewer system in search of secret tunnels to the lab.”

“Well, you decided to come back at a perfect time,” Kylee’s smile widened as she tilted her head, closing the door of the dark place, forcing herself to stay in the moment. “We have a lot to catch up on, but first, we got to intrude on the lives of northie girls.” She stepped closer to Adam, breaking the distance so he could look deep into her eyes, and see how deadly serious she was, “Want me to forgive you? Let’s start with an adventure.”

This was the Kylee of old. The strong one. The mad one, the one with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, adventure and mystery. This was the Kylee had crushed on from the moment Roddy introduced them on his misguided quest to see if there were trolls under Milligan Bridge (there weren’t but there was a homeless man called Alan, nice guy). "You know I’m always up for an adventure, lead the way boss.”

Shaking back her hair, she shifted her books into one arm and playfully reached for his cheek, squeezing it, “Good, because this case has everything to do with your cousin.” In a seemingly better mood, or at least able to compartmentalize all her negativity, Kylee was upbeat and off to the races. Turning on her heel, she was marching forward into the unknown, like she had done many times when they were little, “Do you know anything about what’s been happening lately? Like the letters?”

Wait cousin? Rod? No he was gone. Lamb? Nope. … was it Clay? Course it was fucking Clay. “Just what’s been on the news. They don’t really show a lot of Eden stuff in Pinehurst. Even our local news outlets despise each other.” Adam opened up his camera again as he followed Ky and began filming. “I did speak to one of my new neighbours this morning and they mentioned a letter about that O’Hara guy, David? The one that drowned in the lake.”

“Also Clay’s best friend,” Kylee instructed, crossing the street, making glances here and there to her old, childhood friend. Jeez, AC had a lot of catching up to do. Sparknotes time! “Well, you know about the letters, so that’s good. Like a month or so ago, the first incident revolved around Allison Davies. Someone got a hold of Decker’s journal and is playing games with the town, and that one, phew, was a doozy. Allison was miserable because she had nothing going for her beyond highschool, turned to drugs, slept with her best friend’s boyfriend, which I mean, I don’t blame her! Her boyfriend was sleeping? Kissing? Doing something with a boy that day of the party. Well that was fun! But here’s the kicker, this specific letter isn't written by Decker. No, it’s a love letter to David. His drowning hit the news, but I don’t know if you would know about the rumors of him fucking someone underage?”

“Fuck my ass.” Adam had to remember to edit that bit out later in post. “So O’Hara might be a diddler and this girl is…was sending him love letters? Meaning that realistically if the rumours are true, it was consensual which is a completely different can of worms to be opened.” The skaterboy began to run the maths in his head to connect the dots. He had missed a lot in his time away. The reward for having a psychotic father. Something he knew deep down Kylee could appreciate, even if she never wanted to admit her father was dirty. “And you want to go interview Northie girls, meaning that you have suspects”

“Four specifically. Mostly cheerleaders and one Lexie Davies. All my year.” There was a bounce in Kylee’s step, being able to talk about everything in her mind was always something that made her feel better. “I was at the cafe earlier talking to Beau and analyzing the letter. There’s just this weird familiarity about it and that handwriting. I’ve seen it before. Like a weird sense of deja vu.” She nodded to herself as if she was the smartest person on the planet. “So I’m going with my hunch that if David indeed slept with someone younger than him it would be in my year, or the year above, but the way some of the words curve… I just know deep down, she is in my year. Process of elimination from when we all wrote on the chalkboard for class, or when we passed our essays forward, there are five girls with the best penmanship. What makes this even better is that MOST are cheerleaders, which makes total fucking sense since David was big hot shot basketball player. I think I want to focus on the cheerleaders before I even consider Lexie. I think she just writes super nicely.”

Typical Kylee, she had already done most of the legwork in the investigation. When they were kids hunting for ghosts and ghouls, she would turn up at Rod’s, notes and books in hand with the entire history of the world written down. Adam was just the camera guy and Roddy just knew his way around. It was a weird little set up but it worked for them. “I too would like to focus on the cheerleaders,” He teased. “Maybe we get you into one of their outfits, so you can get into their heads,” Adam had to subdue a laugh. “I’m kidding of course. Whose first on your list?”

“Well by process of elimination, I’m taking Lanie and Lexie off the list. Lanie is with Rod’s and she never gave me the vibe that she’d mess with one of the Elite and Lexie; Well we’re leaning to the cheerleader theory and I don’t even know if she’s back in town yet. She also seems too smart for her own good so I doubt she’d get with an Elite either, especially if that made her seem more like her sister, then nah man.”

The wheels were turning and Kylee was now on a warpath to find out who was the face behind the letter. “That leaves Jill O’Brien and Caitlin Cleary. I’m more comfortable with Jilly so let’s start with her. The letter was like some Romeo & Juliet bullshit and I absolutely hated it. I really hope it wasn’t Jilly. I might judge her a little. Okay, I might judge her A LOT.”

For a moment, Adam was lost in thoughts of the red haired O’Brien as he remembered her in high school before switching back to reality. “Well, I'm pretty sure I saw Jill today actually. You can’t mistake that hair. She had her tongue down some goth girl's throat whilst leaning against a badass car. So I guess we’re going to Westbrook?”

“Oh yeah, her and Mei Ramsey are totally a thing now. I love that for them, honestly. Mei and Clay have been keeping me busy since Roddy moved… I miss him,” Deeply sighing, Kylee sauntered down the sidewalk and brought her attention to all her books, “Oh shoot. I should stop at home. I don’t want to be taking My Sister, The Serial Killer, One of Us Is Lying, and Alias Grace wherever I go, heh. I mean I love me some murder, but I don’t want the library to slit my throat for damaging their books.”

“I don’t know whether to be confused or turned on. Mei and Jill! That’s hot,” Of course the turned a little more serious when Kylee mentioned his cousin. She adored Rod. “I mean, if we’re heading to Westbrook anyway, you can leave your stuff at mine? I just got a place there. It’s not much but it’ll keep it safe and save you having to walk to creep manor.”

Gently, she nudged his arm in agreement, beaming up at him, “Sounds like a plan. Now let's go solve this mystery!”

DWS [SHELVED UNTIL BETTER TIME]

The Invited: @Aewin@BrutalBx@smarty0114@NeoAJ@Venus@metanoia@Aces Away@BeastofDestiny@Melo@Hey Im Jordan@Legion02@Viciousmarrow

While I'm not against allowing more people in, if you PM me telling me your interest, I will decide on a case by case basis. Please read below.

Pulling this from the rules:

This is an invite only rp. If you are interested, you can PM me and I'll consider more hands on deck. However, this is my first roleplay gming in awhile and this is a concept I care a lot about so I want to maintain my sanity and have a dedicated writer base starting with some of my friends. No hard feelings.

DWS [SHELVED UNTIL BETTER TIME]

♫ We are the warriors, who learned to love the pain
We come from different places but have the same name
'Cause we were born for this ♫









♫ We are the broken ones, who chose to spark a flame
Watch as our fire rages, our hearts are never tame
'Cause we were, 'cause we were,
'Cause we were, 'cause we were born for this
We were born for this ♫

⋙: Ｕｐｄａｔｅｓ

Friday, 09/02/2022

|| 86°F°C | Precipitation: 20% | Humidity: 54% | Wind: 10 mph | Partly Cloudy ||

⋙: Ｐｏｓｔ Ｇｕｉｄｅ

A week of school has past! It’s Friday. The week was easy for the most part. You got your syllabuses, met your teachers, was told of the new curriculum that integrates the Crestview NHA program into the Academy, had a mental health check from your counselor, got situated with your roomies, and just overall, were given time to get back into the swing of things.

The IC Day will start around 12PM - during the Students Activities Fair! It’ll be held between 12PM - 3PM. We meet at The Grant Commons & Pavilion, located on Castle Street, quadrangle framed by Campus Castle, The Lost Chapter Campus Bookstore and Cafe, The Dean’s House, and the Crystal Peak Medical Center. If you have class, no worries. All the clubs will be on the website for you to submit interest and there will be another fair held on Saturday. Students are more than welcome to mingle and enjoy the sun, while looking at any interesting clubs the Academy has to offer during this period. If you have the free time, why not? What's there to lose?

Throughout the week, you’ve been hearing the buzz of a party at Elysian, hosted by the local band, East of Eden. If you haven’t gotten bombarded by Zachary Lee (senior, drummist), you might today. Or you can go on your SuperGram and get the deetz from Krista Müller (junior, violinist). Do you like roller skating? If not, you might need to start! This is the first party of the year, a place for the Academy students to mingle with Crestview students, making them feel welcomed and accepted into their new situation since the fire.

Sounds beautifully optimistic, right?

Since Elysian Roller Field is a public place, and there likely will be teachers on the scene, you might want to pregame if you’re underage but this party isn’t about the drama or the party life, consider it more… a meet & greet. A business opportunity where you can have fun but also scout out all those that walk the halls with you. It’s good to network and know your peers. Freshmen could meet seniors, who can give them tips and tricks of the trade. Mental users could find other mental users and talk about theories (and other nerdy shit). This isn’t just a party. It’s a place for you to get yourself out there and meet other aspiring heroes. An opportunity is an opportunity and part of getting ahead is knowing the right people.

DWS [SHELVED UNTIL BETTER TIME]

PLEASE DO NOT POST IN THE CHARACTER TAB UNTIL YOUR CHARACTER HAS BEEN ACCEPTED
_{FC & Color Reservation in Discord Server}

Example Sheet: Name of Character ▲ Alias Goes Here First Middle Last Name Nickname(s): ???? quote your character likes – person who says quote ╟ Birthday (Age) || Ethnicity || Gender || Labels (ie. religion/politics) || Sexual Orientation || Relationship Status ╢ ⋙: Ａ Ｃ Ａ Ｄ Ｅ Ｍ Ｉ Ｃ Ｓ ____________________________________________________________________ A P P L I C A T I O N P R O C E S S || Written test || How well do you think you did in your entrance exam? This test focuses on your knowledge of the world, especially in regards to the history of the Gifted. There's also questions where you write how you would handle situations where a hero is needed. Consider this the Academy's way to gauge your intelligence, leadership skills, and decision-making (secretly, your morality). || Practical test || How well do you think you did on the well-respected aptitude test? There would've been a scheduled date to come to Crystal Peak where you would be observed in terms of strength, power, agility, wit, and endurance. || Written essay topic || What did you write about in order to win over the school of your dreams? Remember, you want to be a hero. || Video supplement || Describe your brand here. Where do you see yourself going? Why you want a hero license? What makes you unique? S C H O O L If you are not a freshmen, please put if you were accepted to Crystal Peak Academy or sent to Crestview College for the National Hero Assistance Program. If you are a freshmen, due to the fire, you automatically will be going to Crystal Peak Academy however please annotate if you were meant for Crestview College: (NHA)) Y E A R Freshmen/Sophomore/Junior/Senior O C C U P A T I O N Does your character commute/take the shuttle to NYC to make some cash? Do they work on campus at the cafe, food court, as a Warden, as a RA, as a teacher assistant, as a library assistant, as a volunteer for groundskeeping or janitorial duties? L I V I N G A R R A N G E M E N T The Towers at Crystal Lake Commons (Usually for those that attend Crystal Peak Academy) Cashmore House (Small residential house for selected students with special needs. Limited capacity.) Clearview Street Residence Complex (Housing for Crestview College students) Campus Castle (Usually for the Wardens and those that want to live directly on campus. Limited capacity.) Cypress Apartments (For those that do not want to live in dormitories) I N T E R N S H I P S If you're not a freshman, have you had an internship somewhere? Where? If not, please delete this section. ⋙: Ｒ Ｅ Ｐ Ｕ Ｔ Ａ Ｔ Ｉ Ｏ Ｎ ____________________________________________________________________ How are you perceived at school? If you're a freshmen, please put how people have seen you before college. This is also the place to write if you're a child of a legend and how that affects your life. ⋙: Ｐ Ｏ Ｗ Ｅ Ｒ Ｓ ＆ Ｆ Ｉ Ｇ Ｈ Ｔ Ｉ Ｎ Ｇ Ｓ Ｔ Ｙ Ｌ Ｅ ____________________________________________________________________ A B I L I T I E S Information goes here. L I M I T A T I O N S Information goes here. C O M B A T Information goes here. If you're a new student, this can stay N/A until you figure it out. ⋙: Ａ Ｐ Ｐ Ｅ Ａ Ｒ Ａ Ｎ Ｃ Ｅ ＆ Ｐ Ｅ Ｒ Ｓ Ｏ Ｎ Ａ Ｌ Ｉ Ｔ Ｙ ____________________________________________________________________ D A I L Y L O O K S & S T Y L E Hair: Color | Type | How it's usually styled or worn Eyes: Color Height: In feet and inches Body Type: Figure, build, etc. Clothing Style: Type of Fashion | Examples of clothing items they wear frequently or that can be found in their closet Makeup Wise: If applicable. If not feel free to delete. Scars, Tattoos and/or Piercings: Self-explanatory S U P E L O O K S & S T Y L E Feel free to describe the ideal costume and equipment you want your character to sport. Do know that supes upgrade their look the more they build their rep and gain resources. If you're a senior, you do have a conceptual uniform made. At the end of junior year the support class has a showcase where they build a team and design a costume for students in the hero class. P E R S O N A L I T Y T R A I T S List or write about your character's personality here. F E A R S Every supe has a fear. What's yours? ⋙: Ｆ Ａ Ｍ Ｉ Ｌ Ｙ ＆ Ｒ Ｅ Ｌ Ａ Ｔ Ｉ Ｏ Ｎ Ｓ Ｈ Ｉ Ｐ Ｓ ____________________________________________________________________ L O V E D O N E S D I R E C T F A M I L Y Self explanatory. Note worthy family goes here. Is your student part of a legacy? Any notable villains/heroes in their family? R E L A T I O N S H I P S Please delete section if not applicable. Childhood best friends? Exes? Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Partner? Put anyone that is noteworthy to your character here. ⋙: Ｈ Ｉ Ｓ Ｔ Ｏ Ｒ Ｙ ____________________________________________________________________ Y O U R L I F E S O F A R History goes here. List or write. Please make sure to put your birthplace/place of origin. ⋙:Ａ Ｎ Ｙ Ｔ Ｈ Ｉ Ｎ Ｇ Ｅ Ｌ Ｓ Ｅ ____________________________________________________________________ FC, Dialogue Color Consider putting hobbies here. Things you do to keep your mind at peace, outside of training. What makes you unique? Why do people like you? Dislike you? Do you have weird habits? CS Code [hider=Name][h2][color=??????]▲[/color] Alias Goes Here[/h2] [center][h3][color=??????]First Middle Last Name[/color][/h3][sup]Nickname(s): ????[/sup] [img]image of character[/img] [center][color=??????][h3][i]quote your character likes[/i][/h3][/color] [color=gray][b][i]– person who says quote[/i][/b][/color][/center] [color=??????]╟[/color] Birthday (Age) [color=??????]||[/color] Ethnicity [color=??????]||[/color] Gender [color=??????]||[/color] Labels (ie. religion/politics) [color=??????]||[/color] Sexual Orientation [color=??????]||[/color] Relationship Status [color=??????]╢[/color][/center] [indent][color=??????][sub][b][h3]⋙: Ａ Ｃ Ａ Ｄ Ｅ Ｍ Ｉ Ｃ Ｓ[/h3][/b][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color] [color=gray][u]A P P L I C A T I O N P R O C E S S[/u][/color] [indent][b]|| Written test || [/b] How well do you think you did in your entrance exam? This test focuses on your knowledge of the world, especially in regards to the history of the Gifted. There's also questions where you write how you would handle situations where a hero is needed. Consider this the Academy's way to gauge your intelligence, leadership skills, and decision-making (secretly, your morality). [b]|| Practical test ||[/b] How well do you think you did on the well-respected aptitude test? There would've been a scheduled date to come to Crystal Peak where you would be observed in terms of strength, power, agility, wit, and endurance. [b]|| Written essay topic ||[/b] What did you write about in order to win over the school of your dreams? Remember, you want to be a hero. [b]|| Video supplement ||[/b] Describe your brand here. Where do you see yourself going? Why you want a hero license? What makes you unique? [/indent] [color=gray][u]S C H O O L[/u][/color] [indent]If you are not a freshmen, please put if you were accepted to Crystal Peak Academy or sent to Crestview College for the National Hero Assistance Program. If you are a freshmen, due to the fire, you automatically will be going to Crystal Peak Academy however please annotate if you were meant for Crestview College: (NHA)[/indent] [color=gray][u]Y E A R[/u][/color] [indent]Freshmen/Sophomore/Junior/Senior[/indent] [color=gray][u]O C C U P A T I O N[/u][/color] [indent]Does your character commute/take the shuttle to NYC to make some cash? Do they work on campus at the cafe, food court, as a Warden, as a RA, as a teacher assistant, as a library assistant, as a volunteer for groundskeeping or janitorial duties? [/indent] [color=gray][u]L I V I N G A R R A N G E M E N T[/u][/color] [indent]The Towers at Crystal Lake Commons (Usually for those that attend Crystal Peak Academy) Cashmore House (Small residential house for selected students with special needs. Limited capacity.) Clearview Street Residence Complex (Housing for Crestview College students) Campus Castle (Usually for the Wardens and those that want to live directly on campus. Limited capacity.) Cypress Apartments (For those that do want to live in dormitories)[/indent] [color=gray][u]I N T E R N S H I P S[/u][/color] [indent]If you're not a freshman, have you had an internship somewhere? Where? If not, please delete this section.[/indent] [color=??????][sub][b][h3]⋙: Ｒ Ｅ Ｐ Ｕ Ｔ Ａ Ｔ Ｉ Ｏ Ｎ[/h3][/b][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color] [indent]How are you perceived at school? If you're a freshmen, please put how people have seen you before college. This is also the place to write if you're a child of a legend and how that affects your life. [/indent] [color=??????][sub][h3][b]⋙: Ｐ Ｏ Ｗ Ｅ Ｒ Ｓ[/b] [sup][b]＆ Ｆ Ｉ Ｇ Ｈ Ｔ Ｉ Ｎ Ｇ Ｓ Ｔ Ｙ Ｌ Ｅ[/b][/sup][/h3][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color] [color=gray][u]A B I L I T I E S[/u][/color] [indent]Information goes here. [/indent] [color=gray][u]L I M I T A T I O N S[/u][/color] [indent]Information goes here. [/indent] [color=gray][u]C O M B A T[/u][/color] [indent]Information goes here. If you're a new student, this can stay N/A until you figure it out. [/indent] [color=??????][sub][h3][b]⋙: Ａ Ｐ Ｐ Ｅ Ａ Ｒ Ａ Ｎ Ｃ Ｅ[/b] [sup][b]＆ Ｐ Ｅ Ｒ Ｓ Ｏ Ｎ Ａ Ｌ Ｉ Ｔ Ｙ[/b][/sup][/h3][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color] [color=gray][u]D A I L Y L O O K S & S T Y L E [/u][/color] [list][*][b]Hair:[/b] Color | Type | How it's usually styled or worn [*][b]Eyes:[/b] Color [*][b]Height:[/b] In feet and inches [*][b]Body Type:[/b] Figure, build, etc. [*][b]Clothing Style:[/b] Type of Fashion | Examples of clothing items they wear frequently or that can be found in their closet [*][b]Makeup Wise:[/b] If applicable. If not feel free to delete. [*][b]Scars, Tattoos and/or Piercings:[/b] Self-explanatory[/list] [color=gray][u]S U P E L O O K S & S T Y L E [/u][/color] [indent]Feel free to describe the ideal costume and equipment you want your character to sport. Do know that supes upgrade their look the more they build their rep and gain resources. If you're a senior, you do have a conceptual uniform made. At the end of junior year the support class has a showcase where they build a team and design a costume for students in the hero class. [/indent] [color=gray][u]P E R S O N A L I T Y T R A I T S [/u][/color] [indent]List or write about your character's personality here. [/indent] [color=gray][u]F E A R S[/u][/color] [indent]Every supe has a fear. What's yours? [/indent] [color=??????][sub][h3][b]⋙: Ｆ Ａ Ｍ Ｉ Ｌ Ｙ[/b] [sup][b]＆ Ｒ Ｅ Ｌ Ａ Ｔ Ｉ Ｏ Ｎ Ｓ Ｈ Ｉ Ｐ Ｓ[/b][/sup][/h3][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color] [color=gray][u]L O V E D O N E S [/u][/color] [b]D I R E C T F A M I L Y[/b] [indent]Self explanatory. Note worthy family goes here. Is your student part of a legacy? Any notable villains/heroes in their family?[/indent] [b]R E L A T I O N S H I P S[/b] [indent]Please delete section if not applicable. Childhood best friends? Exes? Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Partner? Put anyone that is noteworthy to your character here.[/indent] [color=??????][sub][h3][b]⋙: Ｈ Ｉ Ｓ Ｔ Ｏ Ｒ Ｙ[/b][/h3][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color] [color=gray][u]Y O U R L I F E S O F A R[/u][/color] [indent]History goes here. List or write. Please make sure to put your birthplace/place of origin. [/indent] [color=??????][sub][h3][b]⋙:Ａ Ｎ Ｙ Ｔ Ｈ Ｉ Ｎ Ｇ Ｅ Ｌ Ｓ Ｅ [/b][/h3][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color] [indent]FC, Dialogue Color Consider putting hobbies here. Things you do to keep your mind at peace, outside of training. What makes you unique? Why do people like you? Dislike you? Do you have weird habits? [/indent] [/indent][/hider]

⋙: Ｔｈｅ Ｃａｓｔ

_{16 F | 12 M | 1 GN
19 Crystal Peak | 10 Crestview}

⋙: ꜰ ʀ ᴇ ꜱ ʜ ᴍ ᴇ ɴ

Griffin Maxwell, TBA, #615c98, Crystal Peak (Crestview NHA)
Lisette Keene-Tatsuyama, Snow Angel, #00AEEF, Crystal Peak
Luciana Cypress, TBA, #D19C9B, Crystal Peak (Crestview NHA)
Matthew Cashmore, Facade, facade, Crystal Peak
Michael Stroud, TBA, #89CFF0, Crystal Peak
Vivian Lucasta, Sunflower, #DAA520, Crystal Peak

⋙: ꜱ ᴏ ᴘ ʜ ᴏ ᴍ ᴏ ʀ ᴇ

Delmond Batiste, Loa, #94CB2F, Crestview College
Ezekiel Masterson, Swarm, #E3AF4F, Crestview College
Kayla Styles, Silver, azure, Crystal Peak
Melissa Carter, Promethia, #ED145B, Crestview College
Mithra Sharma, Kamal, #53687E, Crestview College
Sylvia Vargas, Radiance, #FDEF88, Crystal Peak

⋙: ᴊ ᴜ ɴ ɪ ᴏ ʀ

Brenna Lancaster, Subzero, lightblue, Crestview College
James Tyler, Superhot, #FF9C23, Crystal Peak
Krista Müller, Sensa, #598073, Crystal Peak
Noah Cypress, Terra, #FF6347, Crystal Peak
Sasha Delgado, Biomorph, #B2AC88, Crystal Peak
Shepard Frasier, Persona, #838288, Crystal Peak

⋙: ꜱ ᴇ ɴ ɪ ᴏ ʀ

Alyssa Cashmore, Fracture, #708090, Crystal Peak
Athena Cashmore, Athena, #8950E9, Crystal Peak
Bex Crosby, Dark Mamba, #B70DF2, Crestview College
Damon Day, DDay, #326400, Crystal Peak
Daniel Helmsley, Metal Man, #F77EE9, Crestview College
Douglas Wolff, Trojan Horse, #285D93, Crystal Peak
Evelyn Harding, Amaranthe, #8B6969, Crystal Peak
Kanan Santos, Nagual, #cd5c5c, Crystal Peak
Moriah Easterling, Bombshell, #9D0E41, Crystal Peak
Phoebe Masterson, Pyrite, #873260, Crestview College
William Blake, Aegis, #00bfff, Crystal Peak

⋙: Ｓｏｕｎｄｔｒａｃｋ

Thematic music posted in IC

DWS [SHELVED UNTIL BETTER TIME]

So you want to be a hero? Or better yet, a superhero? Get chosen for Bechtel International located in the Big Apple where only the top eight superheroes in the world work at? Join the Guardian's Eye and get stationed at a massive citadel in Saxon Switzerland, Germany? Or join the research, technology, and development organization, JaKobaMech, in Tokyo, Japan? Regardless where you work at, corporate or independent, and what you do, field work or support, you first need your Hero's license. Until you get that pretty little blue card, either attending one of the three registered universities, getting placed in the Special Heroes Assistance Program, or going to HeroCorp, using your powers beyond your household is considered a crime and you will be labeled as a vigilante and/or criminal. It's like using a gun without a permit. In a world where over half of the human population have gifts — gifts that vary in type, force, and potential — it makes sense that there is a need to regulate, maintain, and limit such power. The government has sought to provide as much help as they can, through law and order, as well as offer tools and resources to help the Gifted grow. With an oversaturation of heroes, finding a dime in a dozen is easy. Finding a superhero and a legend? That took time. The inevitable day did come where specialized-mission institutes for the Gifted rose from the dirt. Their mission: to train aspiring heroes in controlling their powers, pushing them in a safe and controlled space, and guiding them so they may maneuver in the real world with their abilities. Consider powers or whatever you want to call it — some people call it magic, some people call it sin — recognized as a formal resource and technology in today's society. Not only is power considered a resource but it is also a type of currency, energy, and tool. Powers are so important in society that they can change the game of politics, science, technology, media, and art. They can change the world itself, if you know how to use it. To obtain such gifts can happen through one of three ways. Through genetics, happenstance, or science. The most common and natural way is genetically. Through DNA one could get a gift like their mother or of their father or a combination of both, creating a whole new set of powers entirely. The Prime Board of Directors (located in Washington, D.C.), which sets the worldwide standard for Heroic and Support education, aims to see how far they can push students. Without a doubt, the world is waiting to see who will rise to great heights, from fame to glory. It’s the Board’s job to oversee the implementation of its policies and educational programs, keeping tabs on the three committees of the approved and registered hero schools (located in the United States, Germany, and Japan). The saying goes you either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain. In this universe, the world belongs to 'supes' but not everyone with powers is considered one. A superhero is an idol who inspires and sets the standard in this evolving world of gifts. They protect their domain, they bring hope to the world and in the eyes of the ordinary, they're considered on top of the world. And you? You're trying to find your place. Starting with your education.

In the late 1700s, Crystal Peak was settled by Thomas Crowne, James Cashmore, and Nicholas Cypress, brothers-in-arms, who shared a common belief that people like them, ones with peculiarities, needed a safe place to grow and just be. Not every country in the world was safe to those gifted. Like the Puritans with the Native Americans, there was the genocide of the Damned. The Damned was what some folks would call those with powers. They believed them to be cursed, carrying not a gift, but sin. A curse among men. Outside of Crystal Peak, which is land near Crystal Lake, just outside Salem Center, New York, little is known of this period and these three men, although there are stories. Stories of blood and sin. Stories of greed and jealousy. Stories of chains and shackles. For instance, Thomas Crowne is believed to have beaten his youngest son, Josiah, to death after the discovery that his own flesh and blood defiled a woman, a married one at that, and impregnated her. To most, this was seen with good intention but to Elspeth Crowne, his wife, she knew it was a vile deed and her husband spun an irresistible tale. Her husband was a jealous man who obsessed over the woman that was not his property. The woman was remarkably beautiful too... the story ends with the woman ashamed and unable to live in a town full of shortcomings, false hope, and broken promises. She disappeared in the night swearing an oath to never return. Those who knew of Crystal Peak at the time believed it to be the promised land, a place for angels and demons to coexist, but not for her. She saw and felt too much. She knew too much. Rumor has it, Josiah Crowne's remains are believed to be buried right under the Clocktower. That is simply a children's story, of course, and Crystal Peak, at least nowadays, is the place to be. In 1953, on the outskirts of town, by the Crestview Hill, Crowne School for the Gifted was created. It started off small, experimental, where the three C families would seek out lost souls and try to help them master their powers (and study them). It wasn't until 1968 where they decided to build a bigger school by the name of Crystal Peak Academy, in the heart of town, and shift Crowne School for the Gifted to Crestview College. They expanded and changed their name to reflect its broader scope of heroic discipline. Presently, Crystal Peak Academy is a world leader in Heroic and Support education. The school’s mission is to provide the highest caliber of education for those Gifted all around the world so that they may achieve their fullest potential. Crestview College is considered their sister school. The Academy's application process is rigorous and open to everyone, including young adults whose history seems against them. For example, they are the child of a notorious villain but do not want to be associated with their parent. The Academy offers them a chance to change their path. At Crystal Peak Academy they seek diversity and inclusivity. However, it is still a place of business. They are aware of the expectations and criteria from the Board and as the best school in the world they have to abide and follow policy. For those that do not ace their entrance exam, from both written to practical, and win over the Office of Undergraduate Admissions through their application and essay, they are either rejected or placed in the Special Heroes Assistance Program at Crestview College. To visit Crystal Peak is something that many people dream of so those that get into even the "special" program usually do not refuse. To see the timeless place considered a rarity to men, a small world of its own, with a perfect blend of extraordinary beauty, eerie mystery, and enchanting charm would be a feat in itself. Secluded by woods, a hill, and a lake, a lake that shimmers at night as if it was filled with white crystals, Crystal Peak is a place where those that lived there all their lives are not many; a small town where everyone knows everyone and more often than not, they never want to leave. Those that visit and get to live there even for only four years of college are taken into a place of wonder, the real life Neverland. At least aesthetically it feels like magic is in the air but who knows, for such a lovely place, it could be heaven or it could be hell. There's only one way to find out.

This isn't an average college roleplay where you play a character with unlimited power expecting to finish all four years without any problems. If you finish all four years. Actually the day before graduation for the class of 2022, Thursday, May 5th, Crestview College, one of the oldest buildings in Crystal Peak, went down in flames, taking people with them. Students from both Crystal Peak Academy and Crestview College were sent home and graduation took place online two weeks later. There were casualties and all townspeople, regardless of how competent they were, banded together to bring down the inferno, making sure it did not spread beyond Crestview. The next school year, 2022-2023, dawns a new age. An age where Crestview College staff will join their brother school to teach the Special Heroes Assistance Program at the Academy and the first year where students will be required to participate in the Student Support Services, meeting with a mental health counselor bi-weekly and reporting to a teacher monthly to talk about their struggles, pressures, and all that good stuff. How can the Academy help you through your issues? On top of that transition and the trauma from the fire, the Academy and the Specials have never gotten along. Those that attend the Academy have been viewed to be arrogant and elitist, while those in the special program are considered just that. Special, less than, and not hero material. There was no evidence of what or who started the fire. People have their theories but with no evidence to back them up, there is no way the case can be solved. Those who lost people have not been given closure but they have been offered financial and emotional assistance from the Board during these trying times. Faculty and staff are hopeful that all their students can co-exist while following rules and regulations in the student handbook. At the end of the day, you came here to learn, you came here to master your powers, to discover new facets of your abilities, to find yourself, and to be given your hero's license so that you can join the ranks and make a difference. While you aren't guaranteed to become super, for all we know you might be in the Support Class not trying to be a hero in active duty anyways, the Academy will certainly try to optimize your abilities and make you comfortable in your own skin. Let's hope we can maintain the peace and survive the next year. As Ambrose Crowne, Dean of the Academy, once said, "Promise yourself, come hell or high water, you'll make YOU a priority and keep going. You're your longest commitment and if you quit in the process, you're quitting on the result. We're the Blue Ravens. Fly with your own wings and just know we're here to see you succeed."