Venus

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

You guys think we can get to 50 posts before the month ends? #thechallenge

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

Love my Royals <3

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

@Erklings25 I hate to see you go 😭😭😭 But you take as much time as you need to get things sorted out so that you can come back soon feeling 100% better! You'll be more than welcome to return whenever you do. Thank you for letting us know. 💖

The Sands of Time

_{A collab with @Ruby}

A very giddy Marlena Castillo was speeding down the streets of Salem, shamelessly still wearing the last night’s outfit. She had her dark hair up in a messy but and the Chanel cat-eye sunglasses on, more so to hide the dark circles and mascara residue under her eyes than to shield her eyes from the midday sun. The Ferrari’s speakers were blasting the new singles from Nicki Minaj, and the young woman behind the wheel was happily singing her heart out. If you were to judge her with no context, you wouldn’t suspect her body was aching, exhausted from the night before. But goddamn, was this exhaustion worth it! The night spent shacking it up with the enemy had to be one of -if not the best one she’d ever had yet. Yeah, her father and brother were probably waiting at home and ready to kill her after dropping off the face of the earth for nearly twelve hours. But this pride she was feeling? They could never take it away.

With her phone now charging, Marlie shot a text to her brother to let her know she was alright, then shot one to her boy Grant Horton to see if he wanted to hang out. Iit was July 4th, after all, so they had to do something. Smiling, Marlie placed her phone back on the cup holder and sang along again, her mind going back to the events of the past night..

* * * * *

"Alek, we've got something interesting."

He didn't believe them. At least, he wasn't sold that their metric for interesting was the same metric that he used for interesting. The voice belonged to Jerami, a native of Alek's new home. Jerami was 6'5, a shade over three hundred pounds, and was likely NFL bound before an unsuccessful microfracture surgery. Without finishing his college degree and no other job prospects to speak of, the young man found himself in a precarious place. Somehow Alek's father got networked with the large man, and offered him employment as ‘security’. A title that could mean half a hundred things in the Zima family, but it seemed Salem had relaxed their father. All Jerami did before Alek arrived was play bodyguard.

Now Alek was back. Now Jerami had the chance to work for an actual gangster, not whatever domesticated creature his father had become. Alek didn't begrudge his father a thing. That was the entire goal of a criminal life: learn to evolve to a different, better, life or let the criminal game eventually kill you. His father had been smart enough to step out just as his son was getting his toes wet for the first time. Because of that there had always been a Zima in charge of the underworld part of the Zima business, the very foundation on top of which every other part of their empire was built.

Alek turned away from his wall of monitors in his office just in time to watch Jerami and Claudia enter. Claudia was mid-20s, pretty, smart. The woman's ambition was blunt and obvious for all to see, it made for someone that worked hard for Alek, but it also left a sour taste in his mouth. For now she dealt with irritated snowflakes as well as any other human he'd seen, and she knew Salem. She knew it well, and even better, she knew most of the normal faces in it. It made her a useful voice for a gangster that was setting up in Salem, having never lived there for more than a few months before.

Sergei was nowhere to be seen--probably chasing after some woman, Alek bet.

Not a word was said until Claudia drifted to the screens, and picked up the tablet remote. A few seconds later and every screen focused on a dark haired girl in a short dress. Alek stared, a few seconds longer than he'd like to admit. "Who is she?"

That was when Jerami finally started speaking, "Marlena Castillo."

"Castillo?" Alek only asked because somewhere in the back of his mind, recognition rang like a bell.

Claudia Contreras smiled. Something inside the woman liked what happened to the Castillos, Alek thought as he watched that particular smile in that particular moment. Latin feud? Just didn't like them? Alek had guesses, but they were thoughts that drifted. His mind stayed focused on the girl on the monitors. On the Castillo. Claudia continued, "She's the little princess of the Castillo clan. That very same family your family--"

"--I remember the history." Usually he just sighed at family histories out of boredom. Who cared? They weren't Montagues or Capulets. Business couldn't afford that kind of drama. Or was that how business got done in Salem? The international gangster snorted. "Is she just here to have fun? Is she with people? Does she have an agenda?"

Claudia hesitated, but only for a beat, "She's probably just here to party, but she might be crazy enough to come here for you. You absolutely cannot trust her."

It begged the question in his head: "Does she sleep around?"

Claudia's answer came first, and it came harsh. "Oh yeah. She's a slut. A manipulative little cunt."

Jerami's answer was slower, softer. "Nah, not from what I hear. Plenty of boys been trying for years and them dudes ain't got so much as a snap from her. If she like you she may go hard in ya paint, but that's about it...I don't think she's dangerous."

"No?" The accident was thick as it cut across the room from the door. Sergei had arrived, even though Alek hadn't sent for him, he wasn't surprised to see him. "Is that from your years of experience opening doors, Jerami? Even a little girl like this," Serg said, motioning to the monitors and the girl dancing on them, "can kill a great man. She is the daughter of a known enemy: therefore, she is an enemy as well. She should be treated with suspicion and mistrust. Maybe..." Serg's eyes widened just-so as he walked into the room, in front of the monitors next to Alek, and really took a good look. After a long look, he chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Maybe she could prove herself over some time...with a body like that it would be fun to see her try."

Sergei had suddenly gone creepy old Russian guy on them all, and Alek loved it, snickering at his old friend. "Let's talk to her."

"Security will pull her." Jerami spoke, and Alek noted that the man hadn't been hesitant to speak again after Sergei ridiculed him. That was a good sign, and one Alek didn't miss: he didn't know Jerami, but people swore by the guy, and Alek could use a few new hands that were native and local. Claudia looked annoyed, hiding it with her nose in the air and a cold expression on her face. Like there were many women out there in the world that casually wore that expression--it was always a dead give away, but then, Alek supposed maybe Claudia wanted him to know she was unpleased.

It was a dumb attitude for a woman who worked for him to have, Alek couldn't stand drama queens, but for now it wasn't something Alek wanted to ask about, or talk about. There were more pressing matters. "Where is she?"

Claudia answered first, "Second floor, middle of the dance floor."

That was down the stairs. "J, tell Security to hold a perimeter around her. Tell them to stare at her, make it obvious and uncomfortable." Alek waited for Jerami and Claudia to leave before he leaned over to Serg, "I got this. Go enjoy...whatever woman."

"Brittany. 26, nurse, biggest god damned tits, with a big thick ass...my God, Aleksander, I'm seconds from ripping her panties right off right there at the bar." Sigh."We know you are better with the women than I am, yes, but be careful with this..." his eyes went back to the monitor, "Marlena. She looks fun, though, and God knows you need fun right now to get that stick out of your ass that your ex shoved up there."

A grin, and a wild smack on Alek's shoulder, and Sergei was off. Alek chuckled, shook his head at his meatheaded friend, and fixed his collar before heading out of the office and down the stairs. Claudia waited by the stairs, pointing out Jerami at the edge of the dance floor, where tables and tall chairs mingled with dance floor. Once he reached Jerami, he pointed her out, but it wasn't something Alek needed. He saw her, immediately. Moving.

"Hispanic women are dangerous." Jerami shouted the words of warning after watching Alek stare without blinking, and barely breathing. It made Alek laugh.

"All women are dangerous." Granted, Alek had heard the warnings about latin tempers, but he'd also heard they were like horny angels in bed, and could cook so well to make any man too fat, too fast, to ever want for any other woman again in his life.

Alek just hoped this Latina didn't want to shoot him. He didn't want to be shot again. Almost on cue Marlena's brown eyes hit his, and the lock between gazes -as was her smirk- was instant. When he beckoned her by twitching his index finger to him, motioning for her, she shook her head and laughed. And then she seemed to grin and shoot him a flirtatious wink. She seemed anything but uneasy.

"Maybe she thinks it's a game?"

"Maybe, either way..." He didn't really have the patience. Knowing damn well just how many eyes were on him right now, he just didn't care as he started moving in her direction, and moving with purpose. Security on the dance floor helped clear a path. Marlena looked pleased at the attention, Alek remembered thinking, as he stayed cool on the exterior. On the inside? He was right up on her, close enough to smell her. She smelled...like something he wanted.

Something he wanted so badly it hurt.

Once the distance was closed and he stood in front of her, she looked up at him defiantly, that bratty smirk still plastered on her face. With a single smile to her, Alek reached out and grabbed her, taking her completely off guard. First her right arm, then her left side, and with a single, easy, motion her body was slung over his broad shoulder. He marched off the dance floor with her, ignoring every shout, sound and punch to his back made in protest. The heat of her, the impossible softness of her skin, and her ass right next to his face? He wanted to rip her dress off, old school gangster style. But that style was never quite his style. So as soon as they were off the dance floor, she was down on her feet, Jerami and two of his big boys blocking off her escapes. It was safe to say the red-faced, scowling Marlena wasn’t looking very pleased right now.

Claudia was right behind Alek, glaring a hole through the oblivious Castillo girl. Alek just moved back to the stairs with double guard, Sergei's men wearing dark suits. Killers that regarded Marlena coldly as she was escorted up and into the office, to which the girl merely looked straight in the face and rolled her eyes as if bored and unamused by the whole thing. When they all got up, Jerami simply nodded when Alek asked him to wait outside, while Claudia visibly balked. Claudia whispered something sharp to Alek, but the Zima heir just shrugged at her.

Marlena Castillo had gone through some bad times because of the Zimas. On the off chance the girl was just here to have a good time, Alek wanted to back off the brute approach, and go for something a little less threatening. For now. Closing the doors, Alek turned and just...drank in the sight of her. That dress, that figure, the hair…

"The Castillos can't be doing half as bad as people are telling me if you're here looking like that. Hi, I'm Aleksander Zima. Can I get you a drink?" He asked, like he just remembered his courtesies, moving for the small dark glass bar in the office.

“After the little scene you just pulled on me, a drink is the least you can do,” Marlena replied coolly, standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed in front of her. Her brown eyes never left the oldest Zima’s figure, secretly shocked by the fact that she was not in the presence of the man she’d been drooling over just hours before. Funny how life worked like that sometimes. “And I know exactly who you are. I follow you on Twitter. So... What’s up? What do you want?”

"They thought maybe you were here to kill me, or try to con me. The killing...I'd like to see where you could hide a gun under that dress. That's a dress, right? Not just a...stretch of fabric?" The smirk played at the corner of his lips, but stayed back, repressed.

Marlie rolled her eyes at the man, unamused by him offering his unwanted opinion about her choice of clothing. Typical guy move. “You sound like my father. Why the fuck would I be here to kill you? Although I might now, after that ridiculously uncalled for comment about my dress,” she replied in a bored tone, impatiently tapping her foot against the floor now. “Can you get to the point, Zima? Or did you just bring me here to talk shit about my outfit?”

"I thought instead of having you taken out back and shot, we could talk, because maybe you weren't here for some family feud that means absolutely nothing to me? I just moved here. I don't know Salem. I don't know it's families, and I don't know it's history that well." He shrugged, settling behind the bar, working on a scotch for himself even if she remained silent.

But, of course, Marlena Castillo wasn’t one to stay silent..

“Listen here, Aleksander, let’s get something straight. If you want to shoot me out back, go right on ahead. I’m not afraid of you, and I’m not putting up a fight. But I have to warn you: my daddy and brother wouldn’t take it lightly. So if you put a bullet through my head they’ll want yours hand-delivered on a silver platter. So, yeah: I would say that it’s in everyone’s best interest that we ‘just talk’,” she said confidently, never once showing any signs of fear or intimidation. Her daddy hadn’t raised no coward. Smirking, Marlie took up a seat in the couch at the far end of the room, putting up her legs on the empty space before turning to Alek again. “I’m not here to harm you or cause you any trouble. I didn’t even know you would be here. The world doesn’t revolve around your hot piece of ass. Hush is my go-to place to party when I don’t want to be around the Salem people; but you obviously wouldn’t know that, since you ‘just moved here’ and all. Might want to get your facts straight before you try and fuck with someone again.”

So there was that. Even if he had tried to stop it, the shit eating grin that preceded his next line as he dutifully gathered ice cubes and poured the scotch wouldn’t have hid well, so he just grinned. “Thank you for straightening me out, Marlena...they call you Marlena?” He asked in aside, eyes slightly squinted as if he just had a hard time ‘Marlena’ was a common form of address for the girl.

“It’s Marlie, actually,” the young woman quickly corrected in a conceited tone, even if her full first name sounded delicious coming from his mouth in that slight British-laced-with-Russian accent.

“It’s very kind of you to issue your permission should I ever want, or need, to end your life.”

“Well, what can I say? I like to help out the less fortunate,” she shot back, giving him a mischievous grin. “Becoming a martyr would be a good way to go down. ‘Gone but not forgotten’ and all that shit.”

After a long, deep, initial sip of the crystal scotch glass with it's heavy base he carefully placed it on the small bar he was behind, eyes returning to stare at the girl across the room from him. The only special feature to the office were the monitors, and those had gone dark, switched off by Claudia if he had to guess. There was a wooden desk that looked heavy and expensive, but it wasn't. The chair behind it wasn't bad, and there was at least one gun in it's drawers, but it just looked expensive.

The couch, the chairs, the bright rug over a dark stained hardwood. None of it was lived in, all of it looked barely touched but always kept clean and ready. The club office of a club owner who had far too much going on? Or just the hideaway escape that had yet to be settled into? It was a question about his own life that he couldn't help but think about as he poured her drink next, ice and glass, and voila: a glass of scotch that would cost a few hundred dollars downstairs. His thoughts shifted as he took her glass even as he sipped at his, moving across to the couch, offering her glass before finding his own seat in the dark brown leather chair adjacent to her end of the couch. The young woman accepted his offer, taking the glass from his hands.

Carefully he sat, a passing look of discomfort that Marlena didn't notice coming and going before he politely smiled at her. "That's why I made Hush, by the way: an escape from Salem people. And I wasn't fucking with you. That's not what it looks like if I decided to fuck with someone." He felt amusement at the girl’s shocked expression upon hearing he owned the club she loved so much, but he tried not to dwell on it.

“Hold the fuck up. You own this place?” the brunette cried out in disbelief, eyes wide in surprise. Was he being serious?!

"Indeed. Glad you're enjoying my club," he said simply, rendering Marlena speechless. His tone was deeper, his eyes glazing as the mixture of scotch and narcotics heavied his head, his mind going further.

"Honestly? I don't think you were here to kill me. My normal people, they're cool, they're hitting on the American girls. They could give a damn about my safety right now," It made him chuckle, because it was only half-true, and because of the next sip of charcoal barrel aged perfection that was the Scotch whiskey in his glass. "It was the newer people. 'A Castillo!'" He laughed at it, like it was joke. It was entirely possible it was to him.

“Good to know the sight of us still gets the alarm bells ringing like they should,” Marlie replied proudly, taking a sip off her glass of scotch, the burning sensation down her throat somewhat empowering her even further.

"You're vicious, I think, but you don't seem centered in history. You seem more the girl that lives for the moment. But I just moved here, and don't know shit." Fast, sudden, smirk and it was gone. Replaced with the glass on his lips.

At his comment, the young woman couldn’t help but crack a teasing smirk, eyebrow raised in amusement. Vicious, he said? For someone who was new to town he sure had a way of knowing the right words to describe her, even if he might not be aware that the adjective applied to her in a different context than the one he probably meant.

“You’re half right about that, Aleksander. I do live for the moment and I’m not centered in history. And on the topic of you not knowing shit: we can definitely change that tonight, if you want. I could show you around our beloved city. It would give us a chance to get to know each other a little more, and maybe even show you just how vicious -as you say- I can really be...” she said in a kittenish voice, stroking the inside of his thigh while keeping her brown eyes locked on his.

He paused the sip of his drink just long enough to say, “Few better tour guides for Salem’s...attractions, I’d imagine.” Attractions, he said, with emphasis...as his eyes moved from her eyes and slid slow and certain down her frame.

He wasn’t referring to local landmarks.

Marlena’s smirk spread out into a full-fledged smile. She was really going to do it, wasn’t she? “Correct! And I promise you that, no matter how hard you try, you won't find a better tour guide once you have me,” she declared fearlessly, blazing brown eyes digging into his.

The smile of hers freed him. Big, bright, and alive with the electricity of adrenaline. She wasn’t scared, she wasn’t intimidated (even if maybe she should’ve been), and she wasn’t tense with second guessing herself. It was a pleasant surprise, one that led him to stand and smile himself. A small, sharp, thing that came all too naturally once he relaxed and decided exactly what he was about to do. A few steps and stood beside her, the trimmed fingernail of his right index finger tracing from her collarbone, up to her shoulder, and around and down her arm--barely touching her until he got to her hand, taking it into his without a single moment's hesitation, his eyes dancing between her body and those impossibly big brown eyes of hers.

"You can scream, if you need to. You can beg, you can cry, be as loud as you need to be --and you'll probably need to be. There's a nightclub outside that door… No one's going to hear us."

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

_{The future that we hold is so unclear
But I'm not alive until you call
And I'll bet the odds against it all
Save your advice 'cause I won't hear
You might be right but I don't care
There's a million reasons why I should give you up,
But the heart wants what it wants
The heart wants what it wants}

Diablo had been waiting in his car for April to respond, chewing on his thumb while never taking his eyes off the iPhone’s screen. When her reply finally came, the young man closed his and shouted a big fat “gracias a Dios, puñeta!” before hitting the gas pedal and speeding down to her place. How he managed to reply to her texts with one hand while tearing down the streets of Crown Heights and not cause any accidents was a mystery. But, as they say: la bendición es de Dios, y la suerte es del Diablo.

3 NewText Messages!

Before she was even able to respond to his message, the sound of the Lambo’s tires could be heard on the tiles of the Foster driveway. Then came the familiar honk of the horn, and the smiling Diablo turned off the engine and exited the vehicle. The handsome young man leaned against his car it in all of his charming, arrogant glory, buff arms crossed in front of his chest as he waited for his best friend to come out.

A grin spread across April’s glossed lips as the familiar Lamborghini crawled up the driveway. The sun glimmered off of it’s chrome red exterior as April paced up to the edge of the garage, a gentle smile now set on her face as she saw the shadowed profile of her best friend in the driver’s seat. The brunette paced over to the car as Santiago got out, her brown leather riding boots making little noise on the tiled driveway beneath them. April’s curious brown eyes glanced over her Santi as she closed in, trying to read his emotions before she even spoke a word. When she did finally speak after leaving a long moment of silence, her voice was quiet and reserved. April could feel her breath catch in her throat. It had been so long.

“Buenos días mi amor. I’ve missed you so much.”

The smile in April’s face and her adorable accent when speaking in his native tongue was enough to vanish at least part of dark cloud that had been hanging over Diablo for the last month. His gray eyes scanned her features, drinking in the stunning sight. She looked just as beautiful since the last time he’d seen her -perhaps even more so, since absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that shit. Her shiny brown hair was a tad longer than he’d remembered, softly cascading down her shoulders in the custom soft waves. The body he’d gotten to endlessly explore for the past three years looking every bit a killer in disguise, and the hazel eyes shone like jewels in the morning sunlight.

But her smile? It put that very same sunlight to shame.

It wasn’t until Santiago heard the young woman’s sweet, yet quiet voice that he realized he’d been staring, and the girl’s smile was now mirrored on Santiago’s. God, how he’d missed this girl… Even if he would never say to what degree. “Two and a half months without seeing each other and all I get is a ‘good morning’?” he teased, shooting her a mischievous wink and shaking his head. “That hurts, preciosa.”

April’s smile only grew larger as she closed the final few paces in between them, wrapping her long lost friend into a warm embrace. She pressed the side of her face into his chest and held him tight, feeling his strong arms around her and a soft kiss being planted on the top of her head, nothing but silence between the two of them. It was as if someone had brought back the entire other half of her life back after a two month-long hiatus. That’s what Santiago was to April, even though she knew he would never really commit to her. They had tried the whole ‘serious’ relationship thing a few years back and it had barely lasted a few weeks before the entire thing fell apart. But she didn’t want to think of that right now. April couldn’t bear the thought of losing him for another couple months.

“Does it? I thought you were tougher than that Santi.”

This brought on a laugh from Santiago, who had his hands on her hips and was looking and smiling at her in that way she knew all too well. April grinned and looked up at him as she batted her eyes playfully; no words needed to understand that they were both undoubtedly on the same page. Then, just as the two began to lean in for a kiss that was long overdue, the sound of the front door to April’s house being opened could be heard, followed by an all too familiar male voice.

“There you are my little Tiger Lily! I thought I’d missed you off on your first day of school.” Jamie Foster paced over to the pair of them as April died inside from embarrassment, her face going beat red in the process. Jamie -still in his glorious plaid pajamas- glanced between them with an inquisitive look before speaking once again. “Is this something I should be concerned about, April?” He looked to Santiago with an unimpressed and suspicious glance as if waiting for him to answer the question instead, before April jumped in.

“What are you talking about, Dad? We haven’t seen each other in like...ages. I’m just hugging my best friend.” April’s voice went from timid to defensive like the flick of a switch, pulling away from Santiago’s grasp on her in a desperate attempt to mend the situation.

“For sure, Mr. Foster,” Santiago chimed in, offering April’s father a sheepish smile. Although he’d never admit it out loud, there was definitely a hint of nervousness running down the body of the usually fearless Santiago Fernandez. Usually the thought of getting caught turned him on more than anything else, but not when it was by Jamie Foster. April had a reputation for being the biggest daddy’s girl around (not just to her real father, but to Santiago as well -although for obvious reasons this wasn’t a fact of public knowledge), so the thought of the older man finding them in a compromising situation was not one Diablo wanted to be in anytime soon. “Nothing shady going on here. I was out of the country for two and a half months, and I sure as heck missed my best friend!” he exclaimed, making emphasis on the word ‘best friend’ and wrapping April in one of those hugs that would lift her off the ground and spun her around.

“Anyways! Daddy, it’s the first day of school and we can’t be late!” April smiled to her father before walking over to him and pecking him on the cheek.

Jamie pulled her in for a tight hug before looking at the sheepish Santiago with a suspicious glare that screamed If anything happens to my little girl, you’re dead, making sure that April was none the wiser before letting her go. Jamie smiled at his little bundle of joy before watching her run back over and hop into the car. The secretly uncomfortable Santiago didn’t hesitate to follow his friend’s lead, giving Mr. Foster a nod before scrambling into the driver’s seat, turning on the car and driving off as fast as he could while pretending they hadn’t just been about to get caught making out.

The two drove in absolute silence for a few minutes, neither making any attempt at starting conversation as the awkwardness of the previous embarrassing scene still lingered. But out of nowhere, Diablo suddenly floored the brakes right in the middle of the deserted street. The young man looked over to April for a second, but before she could even think of what to say, he pulled her into the deep, passionate ‘I missed you’ kiss they had both been craving from the moment their eyes had met.

Not a moment had passed and April had found her way over to the driver’s side, her legs stradling Santiago’s lap and her hands grasping each side of his face gently. His hands were on her firm bottom, their breathing getting just as heavy as their kiss. It briefly crossed her mind that Santi hadn’t stopped the car in a terribly convenient place, but that worry and concern disappeared as quickly as it had arisen as the brunette remembered the dark tint on the windows.

Pausing the embrace of their lips only momentarily, April whispered gently to him as she caught her breath and took in the view. “I almost forgot how much I loved y-- this…”

Santiago gave a husky chuckle, choosing to ignore her obvious slip up -THAT was a can of worms he didn’t want to open any time soon- and instead planted a soft peck on those strawberry-flavored glossed lips that drove him crazy. “I know, beba, and I feel the same way. Te extrañé con cojones, puñeta: I really did. It’s been a hard few months,” he confessed, his hands cupping her face as their foreheads rested against one another.

Goddammit! April screamed inside of her head. Why couldn’t he see how much that they had between them? The yearning, the want --no, the need for something was eating away at her. It was almost unbearable, frustrating even. She looked into Santiago’s eyes, trying to read him like she always could before, looking for something that she hoped was there but knew almost for certain was not. It wasn’t that this -the relationship that they had, whatever it was- might be all for nothing that bothered her, not at all. It was the fact that she passed up something that could’ve been exactly what she’d been wanting, purely out of fear. Because she’d been a coward.

“Having someone with you would’ve made it easier. You don’t have to brave these things alone mi amor.” April leaned down and kissed him gently once more before shifting her weight onto his lap, cuddling into his chest.

“It wasn’t a matter of braving anything, bella. There’s just some things I have to do on my own, and this was one of them,” he told her earnestly. Santiago held her close, planting another kiss on the top of her head and then resting his chin on top of it. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel at peace when he was with April, and the comfort she was offering him right now was beyond anything she could even imagine. The loss of his grandmother had opened his eyes to many things, but the one lesson it had taught him was to never take something good for granted. And even if the thought of settling down with someone was daunting for a casanova like him, the young man had -very, very slowly- started to consider the possibility of doing so with none other than the one girl who’d stuck with him through thick and thin: April Foster. “But I’m here now, right? That’s all that matters.”

“And since you’re here…” April moved back and traced her finger down Santi’s chest, batting her eyelashes playfully “I can feel that El Tigre wants to come out and play…”. April grinned as she began to slowly unbutton her white blouse, biting her lip gently as she revealed more and more of herself.

“I mean.. You’re not wrong…” Diablo admitted sheepishly, offering April a mischievous smile. The gray eyes greedily taking in the sight of her were now shining with anticipation, his craving for her now so bad it hurt. There was no way they were going anywhere else until that had been taken care of.

“It’s been too fucking long, Princesa. Let me show you just how much I’ve missed you.”

---

Translations!!!

• Gracias a Dios, puñeta!- Thank God, goddamnit!
• La bendición es de Dios, y la suerte es del Diablo- The blessing is from God, but luck is from the Devil.
• Buenos días mi amor.- Good morning, my love.
• Preciosa- Precious
• Te extrañé con cojones, puñeta- I fucking missed you, goddamn it.
• Mi amor- My love
• Bella- Beautiful
• El Tigre- The Tiger; which is meant to be an inside joke since April’s nickname’s ‘Tiger Lily’.
• Princesa- Princess

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

_{Blood, blood, blood, pump mud through my veins
Shut your dirty, dirty mouth, I'm not that insane
Blood, blood, blood, pump mud through my veins
I'm a dirty, dirty girl, I want it filthy}

The short, petite figure of a girl dressed up in a black beanie and the King’s Academy uniform could be seen speeding through the neatly-kept sidewalks of the pristine streets of Crown Heights. Her long brown hair and plaid skirt floated behind her in the early morning breeze, as her skateboard carried her down the all too familiar roads she’d grown up in. In a move that was quite out of the ordinary, Marisol Castillo had been up by seven -a full hour and a half earlier than usual. And even with the scene her father had pulled at breakfast, she’d still managed to get out of the house before eight. For a lazy procrastinator like her with an endless rap sheet of detentions by tardiness, today was a historical day that would go down on the books.

Marisol had her wireless earphones on, blasting In This Moment’s ‘Blood’ and on repeat while she rushed down the streets, seamlessly dodging and jumping through the obstacles along the way. The young woman had welcomed the blaring vocals of Maria Brink with open arms, shamelessly singing along to the lyrics that kept the thoughts that had been eating at her for a few weeks now at bay.

During that past summer, she and Sonny had gotten into some philosophical conversations about all aspects of life after having a few edibles at the treehouse over at Sol’s place. The cannabis had kept them all mellow and giggly about it through the night, jokes about the heavy topics coming and going in an endless stream. But once the pot had worn off and she’d found herself alone in her room again, the reality of the situation had settled in: this would be her last year as a student of King’s Academy, possibly her last year living in Crown Heights for some time… And her last year surrounded by her beloved Misfits.

Crowns, King’s and The Misfits was pretty much everything she’d ever known. From the moment she was nothing more than a speck of a child with a loud mouth and a fiery temper, Marisol knew she could always count on one of her four best bros to always have her back, that they were surrounded by the safety blanket of a school under their parents’ control and a community in which everybody knew everybody. The thought of each of them going their separate ways and things changing forever had been one to keep her awake more than once. It was years of memories built and moments shared that were coming to a close in staggering speed, threatening to send the nostalgic Sol crashing and burning.

This was the prime motivation for Marisol to be dead-set on making this last year unforgettable.

Just as she was rounding the corner that would lead her to King’s Academy, a flow of text messages made their way to Marisol’s inbox. First was Archer, letting her know he was already on campus and asking to make their grand entrance together. Next was Sonny, bitching about how Gomez had already pissed him off. Then came Sushi -well, it was Airi Price really, but Mari had always called her Sushi the same way the Japanese-American affectionately called her Taco-, asking to take a smoke before heading off. And, finally, there was Jun, very obviously trying to bait the volatile Sonny and making Mari chuckle in the process.

The brunette made an abrupt stop before reaching the street to respond to the messages, earning her a scared honk from a passing car who got her middle finger as a response.

To Archer

To The Misfits

Only wild animal here’s Sonny LOL
But seriously tho: already, Drakey?
You’re worse than some bitch on her period.
I’ll be a bit late. Gonna get a smoke w Soush n’ Arch.

To Sushi

Bailey can suck my dick. Maybe that’ll make her loosen up.
And ofc I’ll have one w ya! Meet me at the school by Archie’s car.
C ya Soush!

Smirking, Marisol placed her phone back on the pocket of her blazer for safekeeping before tearing down the roads again and eventually rushing past the open gates of King’s Academy.

In typical first day fashion, there was a steady line of traffic stretching across the roundabout and the main street. It was in moments like this that Sol was thankful for her beloved skateboard, who always had her back and avoided her dumbass situations like that. A mix of familiar and unknown cars could be seen across the school’s parking lot, and accompanying those were the familiar and unknown students as well. Her green eyes scanned the area in search of Archer’s car, which wasn’t hard to find considering it was the cubic zirconia in a sea of diamonds. Eyes now on the finish line, Mari gained speed, narrowly avoiding a collision with a group of preppy freshman girls who shrieked like pussies and also earned themselves the finger. But just as she was about to reach the rusty blue Saab, the young woman found herself right in front of scene Johnny Baxter was causing, and she instinctively rolled her eyes. Leave it to Baxter to be the one berating some poor new girl for trying to steal his limelight.

In her mind, she furiously shouted something vicious back at him: “Hey, Baxter, why don’t you just go film yourself sucking some dick instead of shitting on some new chick? Maybe that’ll help your film director dreams go somewhere that's not the dumpster!”. But she knew that would probably piss off Archer, and Sol loved Archie way too much to piss him off -at least this early, anyway. And so, using up all of her minuscule self-restraint, the young woman chose to get back up on her skate and make a beeline straight towards her best friend's car instead. 'The things I do for you, you little shit...' she thought, shaking her head.

“That man of your dreams can sure be an asshole…” Marisol said in a matter-of-fact voice. She placed her skateboard on the backseat of Archer’s car, then took a seat in the trunk and rummaged through her backpack in search for some gum. Once she’d found the elusive pack, Sol popped two of them in her mouth and began to chew.

She looked down at her best friend in hiding with a playful smirk in her face, ready to start his day off with the usual morning dose of friendly banter. “C’mon, Archie. Wipe the drool off your face and get your ass over here. Or do you plan on hiding from ‘Prince Charming’ for the rest of the year?” she asked him, blowing up a bubble of gum until it popped across her lips.

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

Hi loves! In other roleplays I've been on, people often don't read everyone's posts because they see that they're not mentioned as part of interactions (even though it's rude and lazy as hell). That's something I want to avoid on this one, as we all work hard on our posts and the minimum you'd expect is for people to actually read the thing we put our work into. This is why I hadn't made a point of using the mentions, and I want us to ditch them in this RP. Sorry I didn't say so earlier in the rules. 💖

What Are You Listening To?

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

@spooner what Hero said! 💖

What Are You Listening To?