Venus

What Are You Listening To?

Looking for Partners! (F for M | 18+)

One last bump for good luck

What Are You Listening To?

Project Untamed

^{An @Ejected and @Rosalia collaboration
Featuring Dwayne Freeman and Soleil Jameson}

Truth be told, Dwayne hadn't been paying as much attention to his surroundings as he probably should've been as he made his way down to the cafeteria. Maybe it was because he was still thinking about the craziness that he'd experienced a few minutes before leaving the gym. Or perhaps he was wondering how Nicholas Grey would act upon seeing him if he happened to still be in the cafeteria; would they go on as normal as he'd hoped, or would things be a little... awkward between them? Either way, the young man didn't snap back to reality until he felt a sharp pain hit him right in the lower abdomen; Dwayne let out a low groan and instinctively grabbed his stomach as he turned to see who'd done the damage.

"Damn, Sol. You tryna take me out or something? I thought we were cool peoples." Dwayne said jokingly, his expression softening considerably once he saw that it was none other than Soleil Jameson who'd bumped into him. "I'm cool though. But are you sure everything's alright with you? I mean, you seemed a little... upset." The pain in Dwayne's stomach went away almost as quickly as it had appeared; once it subsided, the young man returned to his original stance, his hands stuffed into his pants pockets and his shoulders slightly slouched.

Somehow, Soleil was able to muster up a fake smile. "Nah, man. It's all good. Don't worry about it," she reassured him, lightly punching him in the arm. "What's up with you, though? Normally you're alert enough to give me a heads up about things, but you look like you were kinda distracted yourse-" Suddenly, an idea came to her. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

Soleil was right, Dwayne normally would've spotted her coming from a mile away. He hadn't realized that he was so wrapped up in his own thoughts. The young man hesitated for a moment as he pondered Sol's proposition. Did he really want to disclose the details of what he'd experienced that morning in the gym? Was it worth the risk of being called crazy? Although Soleil was one of the few people at the school Dwayne considered a friend, and he was mildly curious as to why she'd been practically fuming a few seconds ago, he figured it'd be best to only tell half of the truth. "It's nothing," Dwayne said, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess I'm just a little more tired from the gym this morning than I thought. I've just been... out of it ever since I left."

“I heard that…” the young woman answered, rolling her eyes. “That’s kinda what’s happening with me too in a way, y’know? Before I came here, I felt like I had somewhat of a grip on myself. I mean, I wasn’t the best behaved person around or anything like that, but I knew when to take the high road and chill and when to let my anger out. But ever since I got here, it’s like I’m acting under instincts I didn’t think I had in the first place. I see things that upset me, and instead of thinking ‘oh well, I’ll just have to work harder at the gym later’, I just want to pounce at whoever’s pissing me off and make them bleed…” she trailed off, thinking back to that gory vision of the tiger and the peacock and immediately shaking her head to get rid of it. However, when she thought back to how weird her last statement must have sounded to Dwayne, Sol grimaced. “Fuck. Sorry! That came out a lot creepier than I thought…” she apologized with a small laugh in an attempt to ease any tension.

"Not creepy at all, Sol. But I am gonna pray for whoever it is in there that's pissed you off this morning. They're definitely gonna need it." Dwayne said, letting out a small, awkward laugh of his own as he nodded towards the cafeteria doors. "You know, I actually vaguely remember someone telling me that a lot of times, when you seem to be having trouble dealing with your anger all of sudden that there's probably some underlying cause or reason. And that if you want to get this anger under control, you gotta figure out what that reason is and resolve it. Not really sure if that helps at all... But you can always come to me and talk everything out before things turn... homicidal."

Soleil joined in with his initial laughter, and remained quiet and thoughtful of Dwayne's words, but she suppressed her instinct to groan at his suggestion. "I mean, I know what the cause of my bad mood is. The way to resolve it, however, is a little more… complicated. And risky…" she admitted with a sigh. "I could lose a friendship I really fucking cherish over it. That terrifies me."

"Soleil 'Shady' Jameson is scared to take a risk? This must be something serious." Dwayne said with a half-smile. "I ultimately can't make you do something you don't want, but what I can say is that maybe you should think more about the positives rather than the negatives. I mean, things could go how you say they might... but what if things go the way you hope and you don't lose a friendship? You won't know really until you at least try. Assuming that this is about a guy... I think he'd be pretty stupid to turn you down, Sol."

Although she smiled and was incredibly thankful for Dwayne's advice and kind words, Soleil's mind was racing. Here was yet another person advising that she grow some balls and face the music. As much as she hated to be wrong, there was no way she was this time. "Thanks, man. I guess we'll just see how it goes, right?" she told him with a small smile that fell just as quickly as it arrived. "Shit. I didn't mean to make this whole conversation about me. I'm sorry…" the dark-haired girl apologized, biting her lip. "Let's get back to you for a sec. Are you sure tiredness is all that's going on with you? Or do you think it might be something else?"

As soon as Soleil brought the conversation focus back on him, Dwayne could feel himself start to clam up. He was prepared to stick to his original story of being "too tired" from the gym until he came to a sudden realization. Soleil had been honest with him, so why shouldn't he do the same? "I uh..." Dwayne started, struggling to find the right way to word things. "I just had this freaky experience in the gym that really threw me off. I was running on the treadmill, listening to my music as usual. And then all of a sudden I hear this... voice in my head, basically telling me not to give up." As Dwayne spoke, he carefully studied Sol's face for any sort of reaction.

"And before you call me crazy, it's not like I'm just hearing things. I figure it was just a suppressed memory or something, maybe from when I was a kid. Except I can't picture who the voice belonged to, no matter how hard I try to remember..." Dwayne let his voice trail off at the end of his short story. And he only let a few moments pass before he said, "I know, it's not even that big of a deal. Not sure why I even kept thinking about it."

"Well that's strange…" Soleil mused, her green eyes now narrowed in an inquisitive expression. "Definitely a lot more interesting than me being hung over some guy, though," she joked with a smirk in an attempt to lighten up his mood while she mulled things over. "I don't think you're crazy: that's a fact. But I don't really have an explanation for what you're telling me, either. Maybe it's one of those cases in which you hear a voice in your head like you do when you're silently reading or thinking something, but under somebody else's voice?"

Dwayne let out a light chuckle at Soleil's joke, and nodded his head as she offered up a potential explanation. "Yeah, maybe you're right. That definitely makes the most sense," he said before checking the time on his watch. "Anyway... breakfast any good this morning? I'm starving."

"Oh yeah, it's great. Same as always. You know breakfast here is always good." Shady answered with a shrug and smile. "I'd walk in and have breakfast with you even though I just ate, but the hypothetical root of my problem is inside and I'm trying to buy myself some time before I face it…" she trailed off, instinctively taking a peek over her shoulder back at Theo before turning back to Dwayne with a sheepish expression. "So yeah! That was a nice talk! Think we could meet up again sometime soon? Maybe discuss more of our emotional and paranormal problems over some dinner?" she teased with a playful wink.

"Of course," Dwayne answered with a smirk. "Looking forward to it."

"Alright, cool! I'll see you later!" she told him with a smirk of her own, lightly punching his arm again in farewell before heading off in the direction of the dormitories. The prospect of dinner with Dwayne certainly made Shady smile and greatly improved her mood, but it also made her wonder why things couldn't be as simple as this when it cane to Theodore. Cry me a fucking river...

Looking for Partners! (F for M | 18+)

Bump! 👑

What Are You Listening To?

Cancelled - until next time family. Thank you for understanding.

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Riding shotgun in the van alongside Nate proved to be the perfect distraction for Val’s terrible mood. She wasted no time in putting her earphones on and losing herself in the voice of Hayley Williams, staring out into the ever-changing scenery stretching out in front of them. During the drive, she took some time to really think of all the reasons why her joining the trip wasn’t such a terrible idea after all: some good, some great, and some petty. There was, however, one that stood out the most: she’d been much too excited about this trip for so long, that it wasn’t fair to her if she allowed herself to be pushed away by people who wouldn’t be a part of her life after this anyway. She loved her real friends that much.

Sure: having Reyna’s presence getting in the way of her plans of confessing her feelings to Leon at some point after four years of a burning crush was pretty fucking shitty, to say the least. Yes: having Emilia going from scorching, suffocating sunshine to drowning, torrential rain pour in seconds would likely drive her over the edge. And yes: having Ava’s unwarranted input present at all times was probably not going to end well. But even then, Valeria was willing to use up all the possible patience in the world to see past it all and have a good time. Heck, maybe she’d actually try to put her moodiness and ego aside and build bridges with some of them. It was the longest stretches of stretches, but the fact that she was even considering it counted for something, right? Only time would tell.

Eventually, she and Nate arrived at their destination. She’d been on a few vacation trips with AJ to expect nothing short of a grandiose location, but even then Val was still stunned when she stepped foot inside the Bellagio Hotel. It was too bad that the initial excitement was short-lived. The conversation of who would be rooming with who quickly turned into an argument (so much for trying to be patient…), but eventually they were all able to come to a half-assed agreement. Although Val would be joined by Ava and Emilia, the absence of Reyna and the presence of Sami, Nate, Josie and Leon had definitely been a better outcome than what she had expected.

When the group arrived at their suite, they were all floored by the sheer size and beauty of it all: the luxury items, the attention to detail, the breathtaking view… However, the shortest girl of the pack didn’t spend too much time admiring the accommodations. As soon as she carelessly dropped off her belongings in one of the empty beds, Valeria quickly set out on the search for a secret prize hidden somewhere inside her suite. Every time she and AJ got into a fight that was his fault, the young man had a foolproof way of bribing himself into her good graces. And if she knew AJ as well as she did, then them being in Vegas would not change their dynamic. From the second she entered the large suite, Val knew exactly what she would find waiting for her.

She didn’t have to look for too long until she found her prize: a dainty gift box containing a dozen gourmet chocolate-covered strawberries-- AJ’s signature token of apology, appreciation and truce.

Grinning from ear to ear, the young woman quickly grabbed the box of strawberries and breezed across the room before anyone else realized the delicacy she was carrying in her hands. “I’m hoarding the bathroom for the next hour. Don’t knock or rush me.” Val said to nobody in particular before immediately disappearing behind the locked bathroom door. Chocolate-covered strawberries and a long, warm, relaxing bubble bath was exactly what she needed to kick off her Vegas adventure.

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

With the widest of grins on her face, Marisol hurried off behind Ryland, making sure to position herself at the vantage point of the majestic scene that she knew was about to take place. She pulled out her phone from the hidden pocket of her dress and started to record just as the music came to a screeching halt.

At first, their classmates looked equal parts annoyed and confused at why this nobody had the audacity to rudely interrupt their dance, and the collective feeling didn’t go away after his introduction. But when the boy apologized to Ariel, everyone’s mood shifted to curiosity, yet the short girl behind the cellphone camera couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Sure, she wanted her friend to be happy without caring about what anyone else might think. But she also didn’t want her friend to be stuck in a toxic relationship with a guy who cheated on her and played mind games with her. In other circumstances, her concerns would be hypocritical considering how volatile her relationship with Sonny had been the previous semester, but Mari wanted to think she and her boyfriend were past that… Maybe.

Rolling her eyes, Marisol shifted her attention back to Ryland, who had just announced that this whole spectacle was aimed at Julie Macmillan. The redhead’s confusion only added to the charm of the whole thing, and Mari couldn’t help but snicker at how she and Chanel seemed to be searching for answers in each other. Yet before anyone else had time to react in any other way than gasps, Rye was serenading Julie with a mediocre rendition of that annoying Shawn Mendes’ song Mari hated so much. God, couldn’t he have at least chosen a better one? the young woman thought, grimacing and shaking her head. She didn’t spend too much time dwelling on the atrocious track choice, because soon she was laughing in amusement and excitement as the tall boy traded his questionable singing to show off the impressive dance moves that would eventually lead him straight in front of the object of his affection.

When Ryland extended his hand to Julie, Marisol’s breathing stopped. The worry of Julie rejecting Rye suddenly overtook her, as did the fear of watching her best friend get his heart broken in front of their whole damn class. But once Mari saw the way the queen of the school was eyeing the bold young man in front of her, the brunette smiled. Julie was going to say yes: she was almost sure of it. And when the redhead finally accepted Ryland’s invitation by taking his hand and leading him to the dancefloor, the short girl couldn’t help but squeal in delight and join in with the cheers of the onlookers.

The match had been made. Her plan for the night, although not how she expected, had fucking worked.

Unfortunately, her moment of elation was short-lived. Lost as she was in saving the video evidence of her accomplishment, Mari had failed to notice her upset boyfriend approaching her, and it wasn’t until he was forcefully grabbing her by the wrist, pulling her away from the crowd and to a nearby corner that she realized something was wrong.

“Okay, start talking. What the fuck was that, huh!?”

For a brief moment, Marisol just stared at him in shock: her eyebrows raised, her green eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape. Who did Sonny think he was?! A few days with Julie, a fitted suit and a closet upgrade later, and suddenly he was acting like the king of the fucking castle?! This would not do.

“First of all, don’t you fucking grab me like that again unless you want me to give you a black eye-” she growled, violently shaking her wrist off from his grasp and putting some distance between them by shoving him hard. “Second of all, you don’t fucking talk to me like you just did. And to answer your stupid question, I’m pretty sure we both saw the same thing: Ryland made his move on Julie, and she accepted. That’s what that fucking was. Oh, and by the way, it’s so fucking nice to see you too, asshole,” the girl finished with her middle finger in the air, her voice dripping with the same sarcasm so evident on her expression.

Looking for Partners! (F for M | 18+)

Bump! ♡

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