Interested in that History of Magic spot
smarty0114
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Dead inside, but somehow still kicking.
Most Recent Posts
Featuring: Madison Nichols & Oliver Nichols
Location: Boy’s Cabin
Interacting With: Marisol @Dirty Pretty Lies, Anyone else in the boys cabin
Arms crossed and lips pursed, Madison Nichols was quite a sight as she leaned up against one of the walls in the rec center, dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, a tie dye shirt proudly proclaiming the name of the establishment where she’d be spending her summer. She spotted her brother, looking smug as ever. Of course he was. This had been intended as a punishment for him, but the more time Madi spent at Camp Red Arrow, the more she realized that this was going to be less grueling for Oli than it would be for her. She’d been counting on a fun, structured, summer. This was clearly not that.
Her orientation had proven as much. While they went over a few ground rules, it became apparent that the counselors were more or less here to make sure no one died, rather than shape young minds. The young man who was currently speaking, Josh, had made it clear to her that the rules weren’t necessarily meant to be enforced. Absurdity.
Lost in her thoughts, Madi nearly missed the dismissal of the campers. She watched them meander out into the open air, some splitting off towards their respective cabins, and others finding their friends in the small crowd. Had she been in a better mood, she might have headed to the girls cabin as well, in an attempt to make a good impression on the campers she’d be overseeing. That said, she was royally perturbed, and as anyone with siblings knows, sometimes the best way to make yourself feel better, is to go and fuck with them. That base instinct drove her towards the boy’s cabin, where she figured her brother would be unpacking.
She shouldn’t have been surprised by the sight that awaited her. As she passed a dark haired boy walking out of the cabin, she entered to find Oli, bong balanced precariously between his legs as he packed a bowl to the top with ground up weed. “Oli, are you fucking kidding me?” she exclaimed, earning her a fair share of looks from the other occupants.
Oli rolled his eyes as he finished packing the bowl, and shoved the bag of weed into his pocket. In one fluid motion he slid off the top bunk, picking up the bong with one hand, and fitting the bowl into it with his other. “Madi, chilllllllll,” he said, unfazed by her outburst. Living with her for the past seventeen years had made him accustomed to her oh so righteous rage. “Me and my new best friend Marisol are gonna go take in the natural splendor of Camp Red Arrow. You should join us,” he said, looking down at his sister.
“Mom and Dad said no drugs. Or alcohol.” To the innocent bystander, the steely nature of her tone might have indicated that she wasn’t fucking around. To Oli, it just mean that he was winning.
“Well, good thing they aren’t here, because I brought copious amounts of both.” The taller Nichols twin flashed his sister a smile, playful and nonchalant, before.
“Why am I not surprised? Y’know, I could write you up,” Madi said, resorting to the only threat in her arsenal.
Oli laughed and shook his head. If he was afraid of any actual repercussions, it didn't show.“Sis, totalitarian camp counselor is not a good look for you.” He turned to Marisol, his effortlessly charming smile spreading across his face. “Don’t mind my sister, she’s all talk,” he said, before stepping around Madi and out the door. “Anyone who’s here for a good time, feel free to follow me,” he called out, before starting a trek down to the beach.
Madi fumed, but didn’t follow, stewing over the blatant disrespect that she certainly should’ve expected. This was going to be a long summer.
A @smarty0114 & @TootsiePop collab
Featuring: Wyatt Duran & Truly Bliss O’Connor
Location: Outside Kit’s House (Pre-Timeskip)
Evenings in Beverly Hills were about as opulent as you’d expect them to be. The sun’s descent cast a hazy orange light across the town, and as Wyatt rode his skateboard down a hill, Dreamland to his back, he could see the city below lighting up. He could see the beach too, not too far off. True was down there, somewhere, waiting for him. He had to get to her. He was on a mission.
Muscle memory got him to the beach, and the joint he’d smoked at Dreamland had made it feel like an hours long ride. When he rode up to the blue house on Third Street, his dark hair was windblown, and had to run a hand through the tangled locks to make it somewhat presentable. He patted his pockets, suddenly aware of the fact that his breath probably reeked of smoke and THC, but there wasn’t a mint to be found. Hopefully, True didn’t mind. He took a deep breath, and sent her a text.
To: True
uhhh im outside. i think
uhhh im outside. i think
Kit had kicked True out five minutes ago and here she was hiding behind a bush, like she usually did, waiting for her undoubtable doom. Her phone vibrated. Taking a quick glance at it, she eeped and urgently threw it back in her backpack. Truly Bliss was starting to come to terms that her heartbeat was not steady at all. She could feel every single pound and the pressure of her nerves was trying to push her forward to reveal herself, but she was SCARED.
Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine how her mother would approach her father or how any of the HOT girls got anyone to look at them. They held the confidence of heartbreakers, even though their mind was made up on what they wanted. Women that knew how to draw people in, push ‘em away, and get everyone wanting more. Too bad they weren’t friends anymore.
For her parents, the hook wasn’t only because her mother would kiss the floor her father walked on! No, she got him addicted. How though? Confidence! Intimacy and confidence! That was the key. Not being skittish and afraid to even show her face. Why did he still make her nervous? She needed to have fun and act like she knew what she was doing. Painfully pinching herself, she snapped back to the present, poking her head to get a better view of her future husband waiting for her.
Inside the house, Molly peered out the window and took a bite of the apple she held with her left hand. Her lips curled into a smile as she watched True be, well, True. “Is she… always like this, Kitkat?” It was a nice change of pace seeing the simple and genuine actions of the little teen. Oliver and her… their beginning was interesting to say the least and it took a good video chat for both of them to realize they were heavily into each other. Still, those memories were some of her fondest and she couldn’t help but watch True create her own. It seemed the sweet, small redhead was still fighting the fact that her crush finally saw her. Reminded her of herself, to be honest. Though instead of hiding, Molly used insults instead.
Kit wasn’t even really focused when the Professor spoke to her — Kit was messing around on her phone. She tapped away from the very important thing she was looking at, and looked up at the Professor. “I mean… pretty much, yeah. I think she gets it from her mom. Why do you ask? Do you want me to rein her in? I can do that.” Kit offered, looking over at her mom and shrugging her shoulders. Kit didn’t really think about this kind of thing, very much. Kit didn’t even think that True was being that weird — for her, this was pretty low tier, all things considered.
“Does she need an extra push? I’m assuming that’s the kid over there.” Wyatt. Just waiting on the side of the street for something to happen. They could be like that all day, but was it their place to intervene?
“What? No, nah. She’s got this. She’s just hyping herself up.” Kit promised her mother, before looking back down at her phone. “If I shove True to do everything then she’ll never become much of a person on her own, you know?”
“I suppose that makes sense. I’m just nervous for her.” Molly admitted before taking another bite of her apple, “What are you reading, anyways?”
“It’s a web comic. You wouldn’t like it.” Kit said, casually — though she knew it was true. Kit slipped her phone into the pocket, and decided it was best to intervene. After all, the alternative was the Professor finding out what kind of weird shit her daughter was into… Kit threw open the window and stuck her head out, “True! Game face! Let’s go!”
“-AH. O-OKAY!” The sudden voice of her bestie surprised the hell of her but it did its job. True had stood up from her hiding place and rushing to the boy on the skateboard.. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. Since she was still kind of blind and hadn’t told her mom about her lost glasses, she underestimated the distance and ran straight into him, falling back on her bottom. Owwwwww. Wyatt was going to remember her as the girl that fell a lot! The fool! She sprawled backwards dramatically, realizing how much of a lost cause she was.
Shaking her head, she mentally yelled at herself to stop and sat up. With wide eyes, she stared at him.
Wyatt looked over at True, wide eyed and flustered, from his newfound seat on the concrete sidewalk. In a slight state of shock, Wyatt’s eyes locked with hers and for a moment, it seemed like they just might stay there, frozen on the sidewalk in front of the beach, listening to the not so distant crash of waves along the shore. Maybe they would’ve, if he hadn’t heard his skateboard rolling down the street, having been propelled forward by his fall.
Scrambling to his feet, Wyatt sprinted after the runaway board. A couple of long strides brought him close enough to snatch the skateboard of the ground, and in one fluid motion he leaped up and spun around, waving over to True. He pushed a hand through his dark curls and walked back over to the red headed girl on the ground. After a moment of walking with what his father always called complacency, Wyatt realized he’d left his almost-but-not-quite girlfriend sitting on the concrete while he chased after his board. If his sister ever found out she’d never let him live it down. Spurred by a new sense of urgency, he jogged up to her and reached out a hand to pull her up. “Hey,” he said, a nervous chuckle breaking through his lips once they came face to face.
Don’t freak out!
How did she imagine kissing him would be like? She imagined it like fairytale. She would be in an everlasting sleep and only true love’s kiss could wake her up! Only Wyatt could wake her up. You see it right? But here she was, her heart beating out of her chest, her mouth agape, and her eyes wide. She had imagined kissing him since she came into Beverly Hills High last semester! Ever since she met him and learned everything about him to the point that he became the Romeo to her Juliet, she wanted to kiss him. She loved him. They’d be under a gazebo saying their ‘I DOs’ and he’d give her a kiss that would bind them together forever.
Unfortunately, her other hand instinctively reacted from the shock of her reality and it flew to his cheek to make sure this was real. When she heard the ‘clap’ of her hand across his face, she reddenned in embarrassment, “S-SORRY! I DIDN’T THINK YOU’D COME.” He was completely real. Not even crashing into him made him feel real, but this. This did.
Her hand that had slapped him then rested on his cheek, and she shyly and apologetically rubbed his face,
“...”
Wyatt’s hand came up to rest gently on True’s while she nursed the red mark that was quickly spreading across his cheek. Despite the stinging in his face, he laughed at her exasperated apology. He was starting to think that this girl might be completely unhinged, and the strangest thing about it was that it only made him like her more. He wasn’t sure what love was, or how it happened but he could see it when his dads looked at eachother, and he saw it now in True’s eyes as she stared. “If I’m being completely honest, my friend texted you from my phone,” he said, his words punctuated by a nervous chuckle. “Not that, I didn’t mean what she said. Because I do. Want to kiss you I mean,” he added with a rush, desperately trying not to ruin this night. His face burned so hot he was certain her hand would catch fire. How could this girl in front of him be so devoted to him?
“Oh thank GOD.” She wasn’t alone with being lost with words! Her skin tingles when he touched her hand and her fear turned into a bright gleam. “Kit responded for me too! Because, well…” Her words went down to a low, low whisper, “I didn’t know what to say..” She would’ve pretended he never even asked! Because that’s what she’s always done. Played pretend.
“I, uh, want?” What? She wants? COME ON TRUE. What do they do? Does she tell him let’s go somewhere else to kiss? Do they kiss here? What does she even say! Kiss me! Is it weird that her hand was still caressing his face? Maybe she should just go for it.
Oh!
Better idea.
Pulling her hand back to her skirt, she held the end of it with both of her hands, closed her eyes and gave him permission to kiss her, “Okay! I’m ready!” She puckered her lips and waited. Foolish. True was foolish.
Wyatt blinked, frozen in place by a voice that was in some ways his father’s, but even more so his own. A voice that had, for so long, plagued him at seemingly every turn. A voice that only ever seemed to cease when his highs were peaking, only to get even louder than before when they began to fade.
For a moment, he thought the voice might win, that he would run from her, run so far she’d never be able to find him. And then, for what seemed to him to be the first time in his life, he placed one hand on her hip, brought the other to her face in a gentle caress, placed his lips on hers, and ignored the voice.
Truly Bliss didn’t know what to expect for her first kiss. Would it be like the movies where they’re standing in the rain? There wasn’t any rain. Would it be like a monster devouring her whole because of how much he wanted to eat her? No. Wyatt wasn’t THAT aggressive. Actually, he felt… anxious. Scared. This kiss was… real. Like a promise that they’d go the distance together. Hesitant, yet full of hope. There was fear to hold tight and that same fear refused to let go.
Soundlessly, she opened her eyes to look at him with tenderness. A gaze that assured him she would stick around for as long as he’d let her. A stare that begged him to not let go. Begged him to stay. Begged him to communicate with her when she did anything wrong that could risk him wanting to leave her. She wanted to make him happy. To her, their lips were like two puzzle pieces, connecting and fitting just right. The kiss wasn’t perfect, actually it was a little wet and sloppy, but that’s part of why she wanted more. Pushing herself up with her tiptoes, she fervently pressed her lips deeper into his and held his head with delicate care.
She loved him.
Interacting With: CR and Matthew @Hey Im Jordan, Emmy @TootsiePop, and Archer @spooner
Location: Rec Room -> Boys Cabin
As Mike Oxmaul’s voice poured out into the cramped rec room, Oliver Nichols took a moment to reflect on how the fuck he’d gotten placed in a three month long summer camp where the owner showed up via VCR tape. If he had to take a guess about the decision that landed him here, he’d have to go with the one that his sister, Madi, had oh so helpfully titled “Oli’s Freshest Fuck Ups #78: Cannonball!”
It had been two months before school got out, and Oli had taken it upon himself to throw the greatest party of the year while his parents were out of town at some medical conference. Now, after that, the details get fuzzy, seeing as how Oli was drunk off his ass by 11:00 and Madi was downstairs, talking to Logan Parker, but what everyone knows for certain is that promptly at 12:00, Oli came flying out of a second story window yelling “Cannonbaaaaaaaaallllll!” He got lucky and hit the water, but as he fell he flailed, and as he flailed, his arm smacked against the concrete ledge of the pool and fractured his radius.
When his parents came back the next morning to find Oli in a hospital and one of their windows busted out, they’d lost their minds. The two of them had put their foot down. They’d have zero bullshit this summer, and if that meant shipping him off to summer camp, then into the woods he’d go. To be fair, things went Oli’s way for the most part after that point. His parents thought he was going somewhere to learn respect, and character and responsibility, but really he was gonna do the same old shit, with less consequences. If you really thought about it, “Oli’s Freshest Fuck Ups #78” might be more of a win than he’d initially thought.
That had brought him, and Madi, to Camp Red Arrow, watching as a muscular dude who could not give any less fucks turned off the TV that was blasting Mike Oxmaul’s voice throughout the room. Madi was standing off to the side, by one of the other counselors, while Oli had taken a seat by CR and LaLa, the only other people he knew at this place. Not that he was against making friends. In fact, looking around, he could see plenty of people he wanted to get to know. The dude, Josh, started talking, and more or less confirmed what CR had already filled him in on. This place was paradise. His eyes flicked over to Madi, who’d crossed her arms over her chest, while a disapproving scowl crept across her face. God, three months and basically no rules to enforce? What was she going to do with herself?
At Josh’s dismissal, Oli stood up, tired of sitting still after a long drive to camp, and more than ready to explore this place. He watched the other campers mob towards the doors, and he did the same, joining the crowd as they all tried to force their way through the exit and out into the fresh air. His two large duffel bags gave him a buffer between him and the rest of the campers, but not much. People still crowded up against him and it was a relief to step out into the open air.
He had to hand it to Oxmaul. He knew where to build a summer camp, at the very least. Red Arrow Lake was beautiful, and the area surrounding it wasn’t any different. The fresh air, pristine water, and wide open spaces came together to form a little nook in the wilderness where everything seemed picture perfect. The lake was spacious, and the beach seemed to extend for a ways, earning it a spot on Oli’s to do list. He was pretty sure he saw a boathouse down on the lake as well. He’d have to give that a look too.
Oli didn’t hang around taking in the wonder of nature for very long before jogging back to the group and heading into the boys cabin with four other dudes. Inside, the barebones decor and lack of any visible comfort would’ve been distressing, if he hadn’t brought his own blanket and pillow from home. He swung his duffel bags up onto the first top bunk, nearest the door, and pulled himself up onto the mattress. He gave the group of guys a once over. They were a good looking group, for sure, but good looking didn’t always mean chill. After deciding he didn’t care whether they were chill or not, Oli reached into his duffel bag and pulled out a dark blue, velvet pouch. Oli opened the pouch and produced a ziploc bag full of weed, and a long, glass bong. “So, who’s trying to get this summer fucking started?”
Featuring: Becca Helmsley
Location: The Morning Room Studio (Monday Morning)
Today would be a good day. These words ran through Becca’s head on an endless loop as her butler dropped her off in front of the school. As she stepped out of the limo, sporting a black blazer over a tight, red dress, students stopped and stared. In the weeks following Becca’s campaign announcement, two competitors had risen up. She didn’t expect any trouble from Yung Steve, really he couldn’t be that serious about this, but Emmy Lou Waters? She could be trouble. That southern hospitality bit she did was pulling people in, she could tell, so today she needed to be on her A game. She needed to show everyone that she could run this school.
As she strutted down the hall towards the Morning Show headquarters, she took stock of her position. Lawrence had been busy securing the teams votes, but it had paid off. Her wins on the soccer field hadn’t hurt either, and she’d made sure that people saw her chatting with Damian. He may not be the king anymore, but his opinion held weight, that much was obvious. Jamie Callaghan had refused her request for an endorsement in the paper, which wasn’t necessarily the end of the world, if her video could do well. She wasn’t sure when that snake had found some morals, but she wished he could’ve held off a couple weeks.
Inside the Morning Show’s studio she was expecting her brother to meet her, but instead a scrawny underclassman came to greet her at the door. “I can take the video for you Becca,” he said. She sized him up, eyes tracing him up and down, before pulling a CD case from her satchel and handing it to the boy. He scurried off to a room within the studio, filled with blinking lights and screens that showed their three anchors preparing for the show. She crossed her arms and stepped back. Watch it and weep, Emmy Lou.
“Beverly Hills has had a tumultuous year,” Becca’s voice rang out over a black screen before cutting to her on the soccer field, in uniform and flanked on either side by her teammates. “Our high school is the best because of our student body, and our student body can only be as good as who represents us.” The camera followed Becca as she walked off the field, and towards the school. It was plain as day that she had poured money into this. The camerawork was clearly professional.
“That’s why I’m stepping up to run for Student Body President. You all deserve the best, because you are the best, and that’s what I’m determined to offer,” Becca flashed a smile at the camera as it circled her. On screen, viewers watched from behind as Becca pushed open the doors to the cafeteria, and stepped in, greeted by the raucous cheers of well paid extras.
“I want a Beverly Hills High where respect rules the day, not rumors. I want a Beverly Hills High that fosters growth in our student body, not fear and loathing, and I want you to help me get there. This week, when the time comes, vote for Helmsley and Townsend. A Beverly Hills High for everyone!” Becca’s smiling face faded from view, and her voice poured out once more over a black screen.
“This message has been approved by Becca Helmsley.”
The Helmsley heiress couldn’t help but smile as her campaign video came to a close. She could practically hear them shouting her name, praising her. If Emmy Lou wanted to top that, she’d have to reach up that southern ass of hers and pull out some voodoo, because she had it in the bag.
Content now that she’d seen her clip air, she stepped back out into the halls of BHHS and headed for homeroom, heels clicking on the linoleum tile as she took in all of what was practically already hers. They’d love her, more than they’d feared Hailey, more than they’d worshipped Damian, and more than they could ever possibly love Emmy Lou Waters.
A @smarty0114 and @Hey Im Jordan collab
Featuring: Scott Lyon & Katie Callaghan
Location: The Mall -> Shake Shack (Saturday Afternoon)
As Katie stomped out of the mall and out into the parking garage, she was smacked in the face by the realization that she didn’t have a car. Scott had dropped her and Joy off, and she hadn’t texted him to come pick her up, so she was effectively stranded for the time being. Just perfect. She sent Scott a short text, her anger still bubbling over, and took a seat on a bench outside the entrance.
For a few minutes, Katie simply sat with her rage, turning over her and Joy’s conversation repeatedly in her head. She wanted to punch something, hard, but considering her current surroundings, she settled for crossing her arms and scowling at the space in front of her. She looked over as a car passed by and ground her teeth together when she saw it wasn’t Scott’s. Where the fuck was he? She looked down at her watch and saw that only five minutes had passed since taking her place on the bench. LA traffic wouldn’t make Scott’s trip quicker. She was gonna have to stew here for a while. The idea annoyed her for a moment, before she decided it was probably for the best. She needed to cool down, or else she was certain she’d bite Scott’s head off the moment she got in the car.
Scott had a few different cars, but he’d had to take one of the cars that had more than two seats in it when he’d dropped Joy and Katie off, so when he’d been told that he didn’t have to pick Joy up, Scott hadn’t thought about it twice: he’d just jumped in one of his sports cars, and then… he had to hurry up and wait. Every second of stop and go traffic, he knew that Katie was probably just getting angrier. Scott didn’t know for sure that Katie was angry, but he was able to confidently assume.
After all, he’d been dealing with her being angry for longer than anyone except maybe Jamie.
When he finally got to pull up to where Katie was waiting, Scott prepared himself for the worst. The shortness of her texts had let him know that she was most likely already kind of angry, and his lateness was only going to make it worse — he’d have to get her some food to make up for this. Food would fix it, right? Probably not.
Scott finally stopped at the curb and rolled the window down to look at Katie. “Hey, sorry that took so long. Traffic is shitty in downtown LA.”
Katie silently stood and walked over to Scott’s car. She opened the door and sat down in the passenger seat, pulling the door shut with a slam behind her. “If I don’t get Shake Shack immediately, I’m going to fucking kill someone.” Her voice was a low grumble, and her eyes never even glanced towards Scott. She was still going over what Joy had said, finding new pieces to get pissed off at. “Do you hate my brother?” Katie posed the question out of the blue, after a moment of silence, this time turning to face Scott.
That was a hard hitting question. On the one hand, he could handle getting her Shake Shack. That was simple enough, it was just like, a food run. The other question, though? That was hard hitting! That was tough to answer; there was obviously a wrong answer, saying that he hated Jamie would end in a fight… Not that Scott did! It’s just, the truth wasn’t much better. “Well… No, I don’t hate Jamie. It’s just that, uh,” Scott decided that, fuck it, the truth was for the best. “I don’t really care about Jamie?”
“Right answer,” Katie said, staring out the window as they entered Downtown LA. “I don’t even care if you’re lying, you know, at least you had the good fucking sense not to tell me! But really, I mean, AJ’s your best friend, and Owen’s your family. You have good reason to hate Jamie, but you don’t! People need people you know, we can’t just give up on them cause they fuck up! You tell them it was fucked and then you help them fix it! That’s not complacency that’s just called being a good fucking person!” It wasn’t that Katie was being intentionally vague, it was just that when her mind was working like this, she had a tendency to forget the rest of the world, and the fact that they weren’t clued in to her thoughts.
Okay, she was yelling again. Well, on the bright side, at least Katie was pretty hot when she yelled… Everything had a bright side, right? Scott turned the car on an exit, heading toward the restaurant that Katie wanted. As she yelled, Scott kind of nodded, but did his best to stay safe. He didn’t want to start fighting with her, like, already. “What happened? Did Joy say something fucked up?” There was no other way around it, he had to just face check it. Once he figured out what happened, he could get to calming her down, as best he could.
“She did say something fucked up! She said that my brother’s fucked for writing that article, which I want to say, I did not dispute. I just said that I would stand by him and that I don’t really see why everyone cares about it now! I mean, no one said anything when he was writing about Becca and Damian hooking up, so why the fuck does she suddenly care! And then she said that me supporting him is just encouraging him! Like what the fuck! That’s fucked right?” Katie’s hands were flying as she told her story. Talking about it seemed to just fire her up more, and as she became more and more animated.
Scott didn’t really read the paper — he was a little surprised that they still had one, really? It seemed like a relic of the past… — but he felt like what Katie was saying made sense! “You’re right. It is kinda weird.” Scott could sense that something big had happened, and it was something that he had a lot of experience with. She’d had a fight with her best friend… Scott had been down that road more than once; he and AJ weren’t perfect, that much was for sure, and that wound up with them screaming at each other every once in a while. “Is this the first time you and Joy have fought?” He decided to just stick with being honest, but without waiting for an answer, Scott added. “Fighting with your best friend can be like… painful, sometimes. Trust me, I know. Especially over something like this.”
“I mean we’ve disagreed before, but not like this,” Katie said. Having Scott on her side strengthened her convictions, and her tone softened slightly. She wasn’t yelling anymore, and it seemed that the world might be safe from the wrath of Katie Callaghan. “I just don’t understand why she cares. I mean, what, Damian makes out with her and suddenly she’s the Queen of the Broken and the Damned?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Damian and Joy, I mean. It’s kind of weird with Damian sort of… not being in the forefront anymore? Who knew that dropping from the football team would lead to him being so… distant, huh?” Scott was maybe getting a little off track, but he didn’t think that was a bad thing! Calming Katie down was what was important now, and he felt like a little off track might be the right way to do that. “Are you gonna talk to her about it? I mean, you guys aren’t just gonna not be best buds, right?”
Katie sighed. That was a question right there. She didn’t not want to be friends with Joy, she knew that even with the rage that was currently driving her forward. She knew this would pass, but at the same time, she wasn’t going to just apologize for doing nothing. “I mean, I didn’t do anything right? Like, I’m not the one who needs to apologize. Okay, I did yell, but to be fair, my indoor voice is pretty much a yell.” Katie chewed on her lip struggling to see the way through this mess. “What would you do?”
“I’ll tell you, but I’m going to be honest — and you’re probably not going to like it.” Scott said, parking the car in front of the restaurant. So this was what being in a relationship was like, huh? He could get used to this. Still, he knew that he was going to let Katie down, or at least not feed her an answer that she wanted to hear. This was part of the job sometimes, though, right? “I’d talk to her, sooner rather than later. And I’d apologize — not for what you did, but for fighting.” Scott was almost lucky that the first time she needed boyfriendly advice it was on something he was intimately familiar with. “You can stick to your guns, while apologizing for yelling. If she’s really your best friend? She’ll apologize for the same thing.”
“I know it sucks, believe me, but sometimes you just have to swallow the pride and be the bigger person, I think this is one of those times.”
Katie chewed her lip some more, before releasing it from between her teeth. “You were right about one thing. I didn’t like it.” Katie opened her door and turned back to Scott. “Let’s get food, I don’t want to think about this anymore,” she said, stepping out onto the sidewalk.
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Well, she’d asked, and Scott wasn’t going to start nerfing himself in their conversations just to make her happy. That wasn’t what they had been about before, and he didn’t want that to be what they were about now. “I’ll pay.” He was still the boyfriend, though.
Katie rolled her eyes, but that didn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. “I’m going to let you pay, but I still want to say that the patriarchal system of forcing a man to pay for a woman is stupid.”
As Scott got out of the car and hit the button to lock it, a smile came on his face too, while he took his spot by Katie, and reached out to grab her hand. As he interlocked their fingers, he looked over at her. “Hey, that’s my girl.”
First one, done!
Featuring: Noah Nichols & Katie Callaghan
Location: Homeroom, Monday Morning
Katie Callaghan wasn’t that hard to read, at least not to Noah. She was great at pretending around everyone else, but when it was just the two of them, her grumbles and sighs were like a giant neon sign that said “I’m Pissed Off!” She’d been like this since last Monday, walking around under a cloud. At first he’d thought it was about Scott, because it usually always was, but that notion was squashed when he came up to her at lunch and planted a kiss on her cheek. A kiss! That had been weird, and after she’d explained that they were dating now he’d been a little hurt. How could he just be finding out now? He supposed he couldn’t really be mad though. He and JD had been making out inside empty classrooms all week, and he hadn’t told her either.
He pieced together that Katie and Joy weren’t talking sometime around last Thursday. At first he hadn’t really thought much about their lack of interaction, but soon it became apparent that the two were avoiding each other like the plague. That was doubly weird. Katie and Joy never fought, literally never. He’d known them for years and he couldn’t remember the last time they’d had anything more than a slight disagreement. Finally, after days of tiptoeing around Katie’s melancholy, he popped the question.
“Are you mad at me?”
The question nudged Katie out of her listless daydreaming in the middle of homeroom. Her face scrunched into a look of mock confusion, as she shook her head in surprise. “What? No, wh-why would I be mad at you?.” Katie asked, looking over at Noah across their empty table.
Noah shrugged, his eyes falling down to his sketchpad where Katie was sketched in graphite, her teenage angst captured on paper. “I mean, I don’t know, you’ve been in a mood all week and Joy hasn’t been around either which at first I thought might be about Damian and then I thought maybe she was pissed at me and maybe that’s why you’re pissed at me and-”
“Noah. I’m not mad at you.” Katie sighed and rested her head in her hands, before looking back up at her friend. She’d wanted to tell Noah about Joy, but she wasn’t so confident he wouldn’t agree with her. She didn’t want to lose her two best friends to this stupid mess. Her hope had been that this would blow over before anyone even noticed, but Joy hadn’t spoken to her since their fight at the mall last week. Noah clearly knew something was up, and she couldn’t let the kid sit with his anxiety until Joy got over herself and apologized.
“I went shopping with Joy a couple weeks ago, and she asked me what I thought about Jamie’s article, so I told her the truth. It was a fucked thing of him to do, but I would’ve done the same if I were him, and that he’s my brother so I’m going to stand by him. She threw a fit! Apparently I’m the bad guy for supporting my brother! That’s what family is right? You support each other! I know he’d do the same for me.”
Noah nodded in response to Katie’s explanation. Hearing that this wasn’t all about some mistake he’d made took a weight off his shoulders, and now he felt almost dumb for not having picked up on it before. He should’ve known it was about Jamie. Joy was close with Owen, and Katie was obviously Jamie’s sister, and they both had a tendency to go to bat for the people they loved. Katie would sooner fight her brother’s battles than her own. Throw in their strong opinions and innate stubbornness and it seemed shocking that this hadn’t come up sooner.
“It’s kind of stupid, you know.” Katie’s mouth opened to retort, but Noah beat her to the bunch, continuing. “I mean, really, why does it matter? The article’s out, and it’s staying out. It’s not like either of you can take it back. No one else even really cares anymore. It’s all about the election now.” Noah shrugged and looked back down at his drawing.
The weight of Noah’s words hit Katie straight in the chest. She agreed, for the most part. No one did really care about Owen and Trixie, or Jamie or Hailey or any of them right now. All eyes were on the empty throne, and the sham of an election to fill it. However, she wasn’t about to just let someone trash her brother, even if that someone was Joy. She was well aware that he could be a nasty little snake at times, she’d grown up with him for fucks sake. They practically taught each other the tools of the trade. She knew that Jamie was a good person, and she wouldn’t abandon his side for one mistake.
“As far as I’m concerned, once she apologizes, we’re good. If she wants to hate Jamie, she can hate him in silence.”
Noah sighed. He shouldn’t have expected anything less.
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