#chatzy aj 1

[blancheharlow]

And, Even More Surprisingly, Nobody Got Grounded || AJ & Blanche (Chatzy)

Backdate: June 4th

Blanche learns the after effects of Alcohol: AKA the HANGOVER. AJ saves her ass.

Blanche felt her head was splitting. That was her first realization, other than the giant fluffy mass on her neck and her Granny lecturing her the second she let out a groan. Her head was killing her-- what the hell had happened last night?! Did she even-- Blanche hissed as she opened her eyes, shoving Nutmeg off her with a grumpy growl and wrenching her blankets over her head to block out the light. 'Don't you start that with me! I cannot BELIEVE you, young lady! Getting drunk and then spending the night with a boy! I cannot-' It all came rushing back to her. Prom- Logan- the punch... By the time Granny warned her the punch was spiked she had already had way too many glasses, favoring chugging more of the punch whenever she was caught talking to herself. The perky little popular girl hadn't helped, always offering her another one. That had to have been on purpose. And--" Blanche glowered at Granny, wanting to sink lower into her covers. "... Boy? What?!" And then she remembered AJ. "Oh my god!" Blanche loudly moaned, pulling the blanket over her splitting head. She was going to be sick. Poor AJ had been forced to drive her home. 'Don't you do that, he's still here! Missy! I don't care if you're hung over you-' Blanche bolted out of bed with a loud thump, hurriedly realizing she was still in her prom outfit from the night before. But she was dizzy, and she stumbled slightly trying to grab one of her giant sweatshirts to yank over her head. "Was- going on... Ugh.." Blanche groaned rubbing her face and taking a look in her mirror. The pretty curls she had styled last night were now a rats nest. "What the hell did I DO last night?" she groaned rubbing her head as she flat out sat on her bedroom floor. "Owww."

 AJ couldn't sleep. Blame it on the lack of an actual bed, the cat he had woken up to crushing his sternum, or just the general uncomfortable feeling he got when he slept anywhere but at his house. Something about it made him feel unprotected. It was not a feeling he was a big fan of. Since the locker incident, AJ had been smart enough to pack a change of clothes and keep it in a bag stuffed behind the seat of his truck. He had changed from his button up shirt and dress pants into a plain black tshirt and gym shorts before crashing on the couch. When he woke up the next morning he was completely covered in cat fur with a cat resting right on his chest, purring deeply against him. He nudged the cat off of him and sat up, unsure if the right thing to do would be to leave before Blanche woke up or stick around to make sure she was actually alive. He eventually decided for the latter, pulling his laptop from his bag and booting up, sitting cross legged on the couch while he finished up some homework. A few hours had to have passed by the time he heard a thud from upstairs and knew that Blanche had either finally woken up or rolled off the bed.

 ‘He's still here!' Granny hissed at Blanche, as she finally started to fumble to check the time. How late was it? How early was it? Blanche eventually gave up and she sntached a pair of pajama shorts, tucgged the skirt of her dress off, and those on. 'Too short! Those shorts are too short!' "Granny I love you, but can it!" Blanche hissed. "Where is he?" She was going to be sick, that was a definite possibility. But she wouldn't do it with AJ in her house. Would he have snooped? In horror, Blanche realized her open diary was on her desk-- did she do that? And the equation she had graphed that angrily sent the swear out to the world. 'Down stairs. Fix your hair, you look awful.' Granny then decided to fuck off for a bit, having enough of her attitude. Blanche blinked some of the dizzyness out of eyes and groaned quietly as she pulled her hair back into a bun. Everything made her head hurt. Everything. Blanche started ever so slowly moving out of her room and towards the stairs. She wasn't sure if she believed Granny, and she glanced around for her. "... Hello?" Blanche's hoarse voice called, quietly.

The cat had snuggled back up against AJ while he worked on his laptop. His parents had never had a pet, they both loved travelling too much to have the time to take care of one. AJ had never had a problem with pets, but it wasn't exactly something he had a desire for either. He could appreciate a dog or cat for being cute or whatever, but he mostly liked to do that from afar without the actual responsibility of owning one. He glanced up at the ceiling when he finally heard a door creak open and he set the laptop aside and standing up and heading towards the kitchen, the staring at him as if he was some kind of traitor for abandoning them on the couch. He grabbed for a glass and started to fill it with water, then carried it back into the living room and dug into his back for some of his tylenol. "Are you talking to me or is this more practice for your job interview?" AJ laughed to himself and set the water and tylenol down on the coffee table, "Confidence is key!"

Blanche grimaced slightly as she slide from the darkened hallway into the living room. Stairs had been a trip-- almost literally. But she had clung to the railing, and entered the living room hesitantly. Blanche never had friends over, and most people at school never saw a hair out of place on her either. She made a face when he joked about her job interview, and she glanced him up and down. He was covered in cat fur, and Wilco was glowering at him like the traitor he was. Nutmeg flew past her feet in a white blurr and into the kitchen. "Confidence is overrated and so is that job interview," She mumbled, holding her head slightly as she inched to the couch. He was being nice to her. At least that was a good thing. But Blanche felt awfully grumpy, slowly going for the tylenol and water he set on the coffee table. She could apologize for being rude later. She sniffed. "You... uh. Took us all home, right? I don't... Really remember." Blanche frowned, her face twisting as she was realizing most of the night was merged together. "Thanks... Though." 'BLANCHE! You have a problem.' Blanche had to fight not to let out a groan as her Granny appeared back, turning to stare as she phased through the wall, mildly unimpressed. She looked panicked. "Did you sleep on the couch?"

AJ: "You know, I was this close to saying I was your conscience? Couldn't decide which one would make the better joke." AJ pinched his fingers together for show and dropped back onto the couch. He grabbed for his laptop and pulled it back onto his lap, unsure if her being up and alive meant that it was time for him to leave. Maybe he could head home and get some actual sleep. "You? Don't remember? I'm shocked. You seemed so well adjusted." Last night had been the most time he had spent with anyone outside of school in close to two years. Most of it had been an awfully loud and obnoxious experience that he would rather chug bleach than repeat. Side note made, if he did somehow make real friends in the future either drink with them or avoid them drinking at all costs. "Yeah. With your cat." He added grumpily, "On a scale of one to ten, how much like shit do you feel?"

 Blanche ignored her Granny, looked at him dryly. “Yeah, well, in case you couldn’t tell, I don’t drink.” Blanche took the Tylenol and sipped at the water. God, she was nauseous, but hopefully the Tylenol would help her head not feel like it was being pound in with a hammer. “I can’t believe I didn’t know there was any alcohol in that punch.” She added, just as grumpily. She looked over at him, and Wilco seemed to be content snuggling up to him. There was another white blur, and Nutmeg popped up onto the armrest, looking at his computer curiously. She snorted. Traitors. “I couldn’t tell—I thought you just naturally covered yourself in white hair to add to your whole black aesthetic.” Blanche muttered, before feeling a fresh wave a nausea hit her. She dropped her head in her hands, rubbing her temples as she cussed as she folded herself over on the couch. “Is: ‘I’m never drinking again’ on that scale? Because if it is: It’s an 11.” Granny was hissing in her ear about her parents, but she waved her off.

AJ thought about telling her about the punch, but he didn't actually have any real knowledge that he could fill her in on. All he knew was that something had made all of those kids at prom last night trashed, but it had tasted nothing like alcohol. If he had not first hand witnessed the flask being emptied into the punch bowl he would have gone as far as to theorize the bowl had been drugged. But it had definitely been something liquid. AJ had never liked giving half a story when he himself didn't know all the facts, so for now he kept it to himself. "This is exactly what I do every morning. I don't have cats so I usually use an over sized white fluffy pillow to get the coverage I need. Your cats are... cuddly." He glanced around at the two of them snuggling on either side of him and wished that he had worn anything other than black. Would all of this fur even wash off when he did laundry? "I've actually heard the never drinking again thing, and as far as my experience goes it doesn't really stick. But an eleven, that fucking sucks.”

Blanche turned her head slightly to look at him with her two cats. Nutmeg and Wilco seemed perfectly content to snuggle with AJ instead of their cranky and hurting master. “That’s quite the image. White fluffy body pillow to fill your aesthetic. You should start a paid Instagram.” Blanche muttered, sitting up slightly and pulling her legs up onto the couch. “They sure are, and they like you. Last time someone came over Nutmeg bit them.” Then again, they were in the fifth grade, and she was pretty sure that that girl had pulled her tail. Blanche let out a sigh leaning back. “I think I might mean it—unless this is the gateway drug you were talking about before. Unfortunately, I don’t have any bath bombs for us to snort.” She grumbled. “Incase you couldn’t tell, I, uh… had a lot of punch last night. Good distraction from actually talking to anyone—And I mean I couldn’t say no to perky little what’s-her-name behind the punch table… Ugh.” ’YOUR PARENTS ARE COMING!’ Granny finally hollered, causing the TV to jolt on and the all the lamps in the room to flicker. The light hurt her eyes and she felt like she was going to be sick—but— Wait what? Blanche’s head snapped up. “Son of a bitch!” Blanche cursed, turning. ’They just pulled in! You would have had time if you listened to me!’ Blanche ignored the dig from her Granny, stumbling to try and stand. “Look like you’re doing… uh… homework!” And that he didn’t just spend the night. Blanche winced slightly as she heard the front door open, her parents voices flooding in. “I’m going to be sick.” She groaned, hopping off the couch to her backpack that she discarded that Friday and wrenched her biology textbook and notebook and flung it haphazardly at the coffee table.

AJ let out a laugh. A paid instagram, that was a laughable thought. "I don't know if I could handle all the negative comments from the popular kids. Those mean comments, they really get to me." AJ stuck out his bottom lip into a pout and used his index finger to trace a single tear from his eye down his cheek. AJ couldn't decide if he should consider himself lucky that Blanche's cats liked him or not. He didn't necessarily mind them, but he wasn't exactly crazy about the idea of them following him around rubbing their fur all over his clothing either. "Wow I feel so honored." He made a foolish attempt at picking some of the cat fur off of his shirt. He could spend the rest of the day picking at fur and still only clean off his sleeve. “Smart choice. If I had to talk to those asshats I would have been chugging the punch too. Lucky me they were all too busy trying to kiss ass so that I would take some decent pictures of them.” He paused for a long second after the lights flickered and the TV turned itself on, looking over at Blanche to see if she was going to have any weird reaction to it. When she didn't, he shrugged to himself and went back to his computer. Power surge? Maybe. AJ was getting the feeling that there was something else going on. Then Blanche hopped up from the couch, rather impressively considering how sick she must feel. “I am doing homework?” He held up his hands, confused by her sudden burst of energy. Seconds later, he heard the front door opening. Oh. That makes sense. How the hell had she known that was going to happen? Was it her parents walking through the door? “Right. Getting sick wouldn’t be obvious at all. Just stay cool.” He whispered to avoid the people walking through the door from hearing him.

“I am cool!” Blanche whispered back, even if she was anything but. She clambered back over the couch, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach. Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away—She slammed open her biology text book just as her mom and dad walked through the door. Blanche looked up at them, trying not to look like a deer in the headlights. “Hi mom, hi dad.” Blanche put a smile on her face, hoping it didn’t look like she was in pain. Her parents stopped, staring at the two of them, confusion clearly on their faces. Their daughter had someone over? A boy? Without them home? Her dad frowned slightly. “I hope your medical conference went well!” Blanche continued before they could start. “This is AJ, he’s my friend from school. We have a big biology lab report to do. Right? Because we’re lab partners. I told you about that before you left, remember?” Play it cool- she was totally cool. This was cool, she was cool, AJ was cool, Granny was cool, everyone was cool. Nutmeg let out a loud meow before hopping down to go great them. Blanche really felt ill now. Hopefully, they would buy it. Blanche was generally a good child, minus the tattoo incident a couple months ago, and they usually didn’t listen when she spoke anyway. They had forgotten things she’s told them before. “… Right.” Her mother broke their silence, looking her daughter up and down. ‘Your hairs a mess, you’re wearing penguin pajama shorts in front of company, and a UMAINE Sweatshirt that’s big enough to be a dress. They’re suspicious.’ Blanche didn’t need Granny’s help right now, as her mother stepped forward first, eyes trained on AJ. “Well, hello dear.” Her mother was barely taller than Blanche, and had the same blonde hair. She held out her hand. “I see the cats got to you. I’m Diane, it’s a pleasure. And so nice to see Blanche invited someone over, you never do that, Blanche.” Her father cleared his throat. “Biology, hm? Quite the interesting subject. Nice to meet you AJ... Sorry, what was your last name?” Blanche sank into the couch, unsure whether she was going to vomit or just drop dead from mortification.

Blanche was sinking. She clearly had no experience with lying to parents about the boys sitting on their living room couch. AJ figured that with all the lying she did on a daily basis defending herself against the onslaught of cruel teenagers that she would be a little bit better at it by now. She clearly needed some work. AJ could only imagine what her parents must be thinking right now about the two being alone in their home the night after prom. Blanche looked like she had just spent the entire night partying and AJ had clearly been there long enough to amass the insane amount of cat fur that he had. AJ needed to do some damage control. Fast. He practically tossed the laptop aside and jumped up with a certain pep in his step that no other high school student had probably seen from him since maybe freshman year. Her father's face looked entirely unamused and her mom seemed incredibly apprehensive when introducing herself to him. He shook her hand eagerly before moving over to shake her father's. "AJ Ricci ma'am. I think your cats love me. It's so nice to meet you guys! You know, I am great at writing lab reports and everything but I just can't for the life of me figure out how to graph the results. My boyfriend told me how good Blanche was at math and I gotta tell you she's been a complete lifesaver!" He laughed a little too excitedly and clapped his hands together, "Blanche is a genius!" He glanced back at Blanche, his face hidden from her parents and gave a smug smile aimed towards her. "My boyfriend and I keep trying to tell Blanche the same thing. We have been trying to get her to invite us over for what feels like forever. Who knew all it took was getting assigned lab partners!" Another fake laugh. Real AJ had never been a huge hit with any parents. They found his fascination with horror and mystery to be a bit unnerving and the fact that he had a bad tendency to snoop through others belongings did not help the matter. But AJ had quickly learned that he could figure out what a parent wanted in a potential friend for their child quite easily. Then it was just a matter of crafting that alter ego and plastering it onto him like a mask. He could play whatever part he needed to. "I was actually just trying to convince her to go out to breakfast with me."

 Blanche was going to be sick. She watched in horror and amusement as AJ started to charm her parents immediately. Granny was roaring with laughter. 'I knew I liked that boy!!! Clever devil, he has your mother wrapped his finger– oh dear. Not so much Jean, though. He always was a hard ass'. Blanche looked to her parents faces. Granny was right. Her mother was absolutely delighted to see her daughter had actually made a nice friend- while her parents worked long hours her mother did try to keep up. Her father... Well... He didn't look too impressed with AJ's song and dance. He always was serious, and she was pretty sure he still hadn't forgiven her for getting a tattoo. Lord knows what he was thinking. His eyes were darting between the two suspiciously, even after AJ mentioned his supposed boyfriend. But before he could open his mouth, her mom started hovering, instantly doting over AJ. "Oh how sweet!! Our little Blanche has always excelled in math— she'll be on the medical track soon enough like her father!! Oh and Honey, you should have invited the both of them over sooner than the end of the year! Goodness, it's early too. I'll have to have you both over for dinner when Jean and I aren't working—" her mother was off on a tangent, and Blanche was really starting to feel ill, especially at AJ's smug grin. Her father looked from his wife to AJ, carefully sizing him up. "I've heard the name before..." He muttered, as if trying to remember. Blanche froze, and Granny let out a word she didn't even know that the old ghost knew. "You said he was your lab partner? You must have said over dinner." Blanche nodded, stiffening slightly. "Have fun at breakfast." Maybe it was just to get her mother to stop her dinner plans, but she had permission to leave the house. "We'll go unpack. Have fun." He said, stiffly leaving the room. Her mother tutted. "I'm very sorry, he's just cranky from the plane ride- you know he pretends he just hates the service but he's terrified of flying. Ridiculous, right!" Her mother laughed, looking Blanche over. "I see your making quite the fashion statement, Blanche." Curse her penguin pajama bottoms. "And you, AJ, are always welcome! Maybe next year you can drag her to the prom— she was so insistent on not going, the silly girl. I loved my prom- oh! He's already upstairs. Have fun at breakfast. You should head to Flopped, I think Blanche gets a discount. oh and Blanche keeps a lint roller in her car, if you want to do something about that cat hair." Her mother smiled kindly, patted AJ on the shoulder, and then gave her daughter a stiff hug, before disappearing off up the stairs. 'Well that wasn't that much of a disaster. Really, my grandson can be quite hard sometimes, he certainly didn't get that from MY side of the family.' By now, Blanche looked positively green, and she was pretty sure her head was actually splitting in two. She was silent for a moment, before she looked at AJ. He probably wasn't prepared for the verbal onslaught that was her mother or whatever her father was trying to do. And now he knew that she hadn't told her parents she was attending prom in the first place. "Thank you," she said, softly. He just saved her ass. But Blanche shut her mouth, the feeling in her stomach preventing her from continuing. They had to leave now— Blanche pointed to the door, before rushing for the pair of flip flops by the door and grabbing her purse. "What are we actually doing?" Blanche asked, highly doubting the two of them were actually going to breakfast. She wouldn't be able to keep anything down anyway.

AJ gave Blanche a knowing look at the comment about medical school. Soon after Blanche’s mom mentioned AJ bringing his boyfriend over to have dinner with them and without missing a beat AJ clapped excitedly, “That’s an amazing idea. I’ll just have to see if I can get home to come over. He’s completely vegan so finding something for him to eat is like finding a matching outfit at a flea market.” Fuck. Most likely AJ would never see Blanche outside of school again, but in the unlikely chance that he did he would have to find himself a fake boyfriend. A vegan fake boyfriend. That was made even harder by the fact that he didn’t even have any friends. It was clear that her father was not as big of a fan of AJ as her mother was. He only paused slightly at the comment made about his last name. He had grown used to people recognizing his father’s name. If her dad worked at the hospital it was possible that he had handled some of the cases of the victims. Wait. If her dad worked at the hospital it was possible that he had handled some of the cases. At the very least he had access to medical records and files. Things that AJ needed. Maybe AJ had just found his reason to come back over to the house. He had definitely just found a reason why Blanche could be a useful ally. AJ was playing the game strong, laughing at her jokes and smiling widely. His dad had always taken a few times to warm up to AJ’s friends also. But maybe that was because all of his friends had been pieces of shit though. “I tried to convince her to come with me and my boyfriend but she just would not budge. Don’t worry next year she will be going even if I have to escort her arm in arm myself.” Her mom eventually left to go unpack and Blanche turned to thank AJ before asking where the two were heading off to. Meanwhile AJ had started shoving everything back into his book bag and dug his truck keys out of the side pocket, swinging it around his index finger. “Don’t worry I’m just going to add it to the list of all the other shit you owe me from last night.” He smiled at her, but it wasn’t the fake one that he used for her parents. It was less friendly and a hell of a lot more sarcastic. But it was surprisingly genuine. “I thought you might want to go get your car. But considering you didn’t even go to prom I’m a little confused what it’s doing parked at the school.”

 AJ had definitely picked up on the fact that her mother hadn't known where she was at all last night. She did almost snort at AJ's promise to bring him herself, but her face did eventually slide into a frown. The frown didn't leave  Blanche's face, even as AJ gave her that sarcastic little grin. 'Your mother loves him.! Oh she always was the doting type- I knew she would. Jean will warm up to him, probably.’ Blanche stared at Granny, before moving back to AJ at his question about prom. "I owe you big time," she confessed. "Sorry about my parents. Mom's a bit... Much. And dad's kind of a... Well, he hasn't forgiven me for getting a tattoo." Her voice had lowered, but she had almost forgotten about her car. "Shit! My car! Thank god you didn't let me drive home last night holy shit-" Blanche said, her eyes going wide. She dug sunglasses out of her purse. "Uh—" Blanche didn't have a useful excuse as to why she was at prom without her parents knowing. She grimaced slightly as she opened the front door, holding back a groan at the daylight and fresh air. "Ugh." Blanche inched out. All she wanted to do was crawl back under covers and die. "It's parked at the school because I went to prom last minute as a favor to someone," she explained once they were out of the house, still talking lowly. "I, uh, took advantage of them not being home to... Sneak in. Looks like I paid for it by drinking my weights worth in punch." She mumbled looking away from him and fussing with her purse. She stopped. "Wait, do you have my keys?"

 One thing at a time. AJ had learned that from his father. Once seven year old AJ had expressed an interest in doing what his father did, Giovanni Ricci had taken it upon himself to begin teaching him everything he knew. It was some sort of pride thing, plus the idea that AJ could be some sort of police academy prodigy if he was a genius on the subject before graduating high school. One of the lessons that his dad would teach him time and time again was that patience was key. AJ had always had some problems getting ahead of himself, especially when he was younger. Patience had never been his strongest attribute and his confidence never helped him. His dad had embarrassed AJ a lot as a kid to prove to him that he couldn’t get what he wanted immediately every time no matter how smart he thought he was. There was no point to get ahead of himself, so AJ just held himself back and asked a single question, “Your parents are fine. They both work at the hospital here in town?” Then, follow up with some more friendly conversation as if he was never gathering evidence in the first place. “You got a tattoo without your parent’s permission? I never knew you were such a badass. I haven’t even done that.” Not that he would really need his mom’s permission to do much of anything. “Right. Wouldn’t want to miss the date with that illusive prom date of yours.” He had taken pictures of people the entire night, including some great ones of Blanche avoiding the cameras and downing copious amounts of punch. None of them had captured any picture of her with a date. He could tell that she was going to go on some tangent about her date that was unbelievable like the rest of her lies and just stuck his hand up in protest. “You don’t owe me some bullshit excuse. It’s not any of my business plus lying about it wastes both of our times anyways.” He dug her set of keys that he stole from her out of his bag and shook them as proof. “Of course I have your keys. Who do you think I am?” He scoffed at her and when she reached for them he pulled them away from her, “That doesn’t mean I trust you to drive home yourself yet. The jury is still out on that.”

Blanche nodded. “Yeah, mom’s a nurse in the pediatric wing. Dad’s a surgeon,” she said, pausing as she felt a wave of dizziness hit her. There wasn’t any way they could just, shut off the sun, was there? Blanche glanced at him, pushing her sunglasses up her nose and patted her ribs. “Yeah, right here. I, um… Wouldn’t call it badass though. It hurt like hell and I might have cried. Not that there’s no proof.” She wasn’t sure how to describe why she needed to get a tattoo. Blanche didn’t think he would particularly judge her, but there wasn’t any need to tell him that it was really an anti-possession tattoo. “I’m getting another one. Once, uh, I turn 18 later this month.” That officer has said she needed more than one to prevent possession. It really scared her, her little gift always had freaked her out. She hated seeing ghosts, even if Granny had been a great part of her life. They were scary, and a lot of them were angry. Seeing them, especially when they were bloody and massacred (especially when they were bloodied and massacred), horrified her. And she hated it when they asked her to pass on messages when she obviously couldn’t do that. The thought made her stomach churn and she rubbed her head, glancing over at him. “My date? Uh—“ He cut her off, telling her she owed him no explanation. No one had ever told he that before. Blanche hadn’t realized she had tensed up before she relaxed. “Well gosh, that’s a different point of view than most of the people at school who seem to think everything is there business. Color me surprised.” Or green. Either one. She shrugged though, reaching for her lanyard. “Ah- hey.” She frowned at him, but he was right. She relented. “Let’s see how motion sick I get on the ride there—unless you actually want breakfast, I’ll buy.” But she hoped he didn’t expect her to eat anything. If she even looked at a pancake she’d probably die.

One thing at a time. AJ had learned that from his father. Once seven year old AJ had expressed an interest in doing what his father did, Giovanni Ricci had taken it upon himself to begin teaching him everything he knew. It was some sort of pride thing, plus the idea that AJ could be some sort of police academy prodigy if he was a genius on the subject before graduating high school. One of the lessons that his dad would teach him time and time again was that patience was key. AJ had always had some problems getting ahead of himself, especially when he was younger. Patience had never been his strongest attribute and his confidence never helped him. His dad had embarrassed AJ a lot as a kid to prove to him that he couldn’t get what he wanted immediately every time no matter how smart he thought he was. There was no point to get ahead of himself, so AJ just held himself back and asked a single question, “Your parents are fine. They both work at the hospital here in town?” Then, follow up with some more friendly conversation as if he was never gathering evidence in the first place. “You got a tattoo without your parent’s permission? I never knew you were such a badass. I haven’t even done that.” Not that he would really need his mom’s permission to do much of anything. “Right. Wouldn’t want to miss the date with that illusive prom date of yours.” He had taken pictures of people the entire night, including some great ones of Blanche avoiding the cameras and downing copious amounts of punch. None of them had captured any picture of her with a date. He could tell that she was going to go on some tangent about her date that was unbelievable like the rest of her lies and just stuck his hand up in protest. “You don’t owe me some bullshit excuse. It’s not any of my business plus lying about it wastes both of our times anyways.” He dug her set of keys that he stole from her out of his bag and shook them as proof. “Of course I have your keys. Who do you think I am?” He scoffed at her and when she reached for them he pulled them away from her, “That doesn’t mean I trust you to drive home yourself yet. The jury is still out on that.”

Blanche stated at him innocently. "What embarrassing crying story?" She asked, shrugging slightly. "The next one's not going on my ribs, I learned my lesson." They reached his truck, and Blanche glanced at him as he decided to give her more advice— right. Granny had said he was just like that. Granny was the same way, it was uncanny how much he reminded her of the ghost. But she didn't think he'd appreciate being compared to an old woman. Granny was nodding approvingly. 'That's what I keep telling her! Getting even every once and a while never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it.' Blanche grimaced slightly. "It's easier making excuses to let them laugh at you." She shrugged again, hopping into the passenger seat and buckling her seatbelt. She had vague memories of Lea, Dustin, and Quinn, but it had all eventually run together, not being able to pinpoint a distinct memory. Blanche paused slightly, before glancing over to him. "You get even often? What'd you do after they decided to Carrie you?" She hadn't heard anything, from her Granny or otherwise. She hoped they got what was coming. "Since clearly the administration didn't do anything about it." Blanche had to resist pulling her legs up, the sun beating through the window made her want to double over and die. She looked at him again, unsure if that meant he was an avid drinker or something else. He was right, her stomach lurched at the thought and she sunk in her seat. "Is that word of advice number 3? Or did you skip a few numbers? I'll try something greasy, but I make absolutely 0 promises not to get sick." She paused. "But I will promise not to get sick in your truck."

 “I thought about getting one.” AJ interjected. To make conversation? Not really his thing, but then again hanging out with anybody was not really his thing. “Not sure what I would get. What are you getting?” He supposed he could try it out. “Your favorite subject is math. I didn’t figure you to be the type to go for the easy route.” Math was not a particularly challenging subject for AJ but he knew how difficult it could get. Plus, as much as he hated to admit it, Blanche crushed him when it came to mathematics. AJ had peaked at her record, more out of curiosity than anything else. Her math scores blew everyone else’s out of the water. “I make people second guess screwing with me.” Even might not be the most accurate term for AJ. When people got even the score was settled, practically null and void. It opened the floor for future pranks or jokes or something crueler. To truly get them to leave him alone he had to go above and beyond their pathetic schemes. After that they would always think twice before as much as making eye contact with him. “In your boring ass terms, I prefer greater than to equal signs. But to answer your question, not yet. I haven’t had time to figure out who it was yet.” He had taken the tapes from the office, but hadn’t actually gotten around to watching them yet. “But I’ll figure out soon and then I’m start my evil scheming.” He pulled the truck away from the curb and started driving down the road, glancing over at Blanche to make sure the drive wasn’t going to push her stomach over the edge. “Ha ha. Very funny. Speaking of, word of advice number four, don’t make promises that you can’t keep.” He pointed between the window and the crank to roll it down, “Puke out the window if you have to.”

 Blanche glanced at him, unsure how to offer advice on tattoos. Hers was for necessity—really, everyone should get anti-possession tattoo. Maybe more. “What I did was I found something I felt needed to be there. That was helpful for picking one.” Blanche said, shrugging slightly. “But, uh, probably an equation on my back—like the quadratic or something similar. Nothing with pi though, I’m so sick of pi.” It was a lie, and she wasn’t sure how good it was, but maybe he would believe her considering her seemed to pick up on her favorite subject. Not that she particularly made it a secret. Honestly, after years and years of harassment, easy was a better way to go. And the excuses liked to spawn different rumors. Blanche shrugged slightly. “I like solving equations, not high school,” she said, dryly. She wondered if she was supposed to be alarmed by what he was telling her, but Granny had already filled her in on his little blackmailing scheme, even if she didn’t know specifics. Blanche wondered if she would be next, but he hadn’t bought anything up yet, but her head whipped to him. “Boring ass terms?!” She mock frowned at him. “I’ll have you know, I was a big fan of ‘the alligator eats the bigger number’ rather than ‘Greater than’ for a long time, thank you. That’s not boring.” Especially when you drew teeth on sign. “Evil scheming sounds like you’re going to poison them—not that I’d blame you.” Blanche winced slightly as the truck started to move, staring straight ahead. She was okay, for the moment. “You, uh, have a book for all these word of advices? I’ll start losing track soon and I’ll need to study.” Blanche carefully snaked her hand to the window crank, just in case. “Have I mentioned that I’m never drinking again?”

 “Sounds cool” AJ spoke absent mindedly. Equations weren’t his thing, but if that was what she wanted tattooed onto her body he was not going to try to stop her. He wouldn’t have cared if she got a giant butterfly tattooed on her lower back. He knew that he couldn’t think of anything that needed to be inked permanently onto his skin, but that thought would do little to stop him. Once he had an idea in his head the only thing that could change his mind was if a better idea was brought to his attention. “I don’t think high school is a solvable equation. I just call it survival.” AJ dealt fine with the pranks and the harsh words the students reserved for AJ daily. It hadn’t even bothered AJ when he had been jumped a few weeks back by Bruno and a group his friends. AJ instinctively brought a hand up to his lip at the thought of it. The bruised cheek and cut on his forehead had finally went away and now the only evidence anything at all had happened to him could only be felt in the slightly swollen area where his lip had been busted from someone’s fist. He had moved on from that. Eventually someone, whether it was one of the kids he went to school with or a parent of the deceased would decide that the ultimate revenge against the man who murdered their friend or family member was to kill his son. AJ didn’t let that thought get to him often, he considered fear a useless distraction. He ignored her defense against math terminology in hopes that she had been speaking sarcastically. For whatever reason, the comment about poisoning the students actually got to AJ. When people made similar comments at school he flipped them off, stared at the ground and walked off towards class. He knew that Blanche had not meant it literally. He knew it was a joke. “I’m not a murderer” He said it like he was joking with her. He thought he was. “I’ll fill out a notebook for you. What happens when someone spikes the punch next year? Are you going to drink then?”

 Blanche nodded once, refraining from letting out a sigh of relief. At least he bought it, she didn’t have the mind capacity to start thinking of any better excuses. “There are very few unsolvable equations.” She mumbled, glancing at him. “I like to call my answer to survival: Graduation and going to school not in Maine or in a town that’s trying to kill us every other week.” Blanche thought she was just fine at school. Most people took to talking behind her back, and the people that did heckle her usually got bored once she started off on one of her tangents. It wasn’t a bad life, even if her Granny was always hounding her to make friends. They all thought she was weird or schizophrenic. AJ had it worse anyway— People held real hatred for him after what his father did. Pigs blood and she was pretty sure he was the one that got jumped a few weeks ago. Blanche would be lying if she said she hadn’t googled the cases before, along with her Granny. It wasn’t AJ’s fault, and really, it wasn’t any of Blanche’s business to either way- maybe he deserved to blackmail some of those students after the way they treated him. Blanche snorted. “No, but if you wanna know where Henry McAllister’s paint cannon got stashed after it ‘accidentally’ backfired, I’ll let you know.” The one time someone really tried to fuck with her other than rumors had been last year. Granny really saved her ass from getting covered in bright orange paint. But she shook her head, trying to ignore the dizzy feeling. “I’m not going to prom next year— dances really aren’t my thing,” Blanche shrugged slightly. She remembered having a decent time dancing with everyone, no matter who it was, but she had a feeling once she got the will to check her phone, there would be some pretty nasty snapchats of her. It would break her mother’s heart, but she’d get over it. “’Sides, they’ll probably cancel next years prom after this year’s catastrophe--- but a better answer to that question is: I don't drink alcohol often- if ever. Last night was the first time I had more than a sip."

 AJ realized the similarities between their plans for the future and laughed, “Mine too. I’m apparently just a bigger dick in the present.” He couldn’t argue that Blanche’s way to survive probably made her a better person, scratch that, definitely made her a better person. He was also pretty confident that after everything was all said and done and the two had finally escaped this hell hole, Blanche would escape rather unharmed by her high school experience. She didn’t seem to let the assholes get to her. Like ignoring them or whatever was a possibility. Sometimes AJ wondered if he truly didn’t care what the other’s thought or if his constant desire to get greater than even came from some place deep down where he actually did give a fuck what they thought. “A paint gun, huh? I will make sure that I keep it in mind.” He had heard about the incident, even had the satisfaction of watching good old Henry being escorted through the front office post malfunction. He had not seen where the gun had been taken, though he probably had a key to the room. “You are most definitely going to prom next year. Did you hear your mom in there? She would kill me if you didn’t go.” He couldn’t give less a fuck if she actually went to prom next year, chances were he was going to find a way out of it unless his teacher blackmails him into going again. He just liked fucking with her, “Plus, didn’t you read my guide book? I don’t make promises that I can’t keep.” The idea of prom being cancelled was almost laughable. The popular kids would throw a fit, which meant their rich parents would throw and even bigger fit. “People died at prom a few years ago and it didn’t stop them. Some spiked punch isn’t going to either.” AJ wasn’t a big drinker anymore either. He had a short stretch, right after the cops showed up at AJ’s door and he found out that his father had left. He went through alcohol, cigarettes, and weed. The things he could get ahold of without too much hassle. When his mom started doing the same thing AJ learned that alcohol was not the kind of thing he should be messing with. Plus, AJ had some control issues. He never liked the feeling of being out of control.

 Blanche laughed too, smoothing her sweatshirt down. “The farther away I get is better. All the Maine colleges I keep visiting are just places to collect another overpriced sweatshirt.” That, and she had to avoid some way of majoring in pre-med for an under graduate career. That whole problem was another can of worms entirely. Where to go and what to do… Her father would be livid and her mother would be so disappointed… Blanche was damn good at ignoring things when she really needed too. Insults from school, responsibilities, ghosts—Well, not so much the latter. Granny was sitting between the two of them, staring at Blanche expectantly and Blanche was starting to get mildly uncomfortable with her just looking at her like that. “Complete with bright orange paint, yeah. Someone, uh, tipped me it was supposed to be aimed at me. Looks like he didn’t know how to work it.” Or Granny did some of her ghost-magic and shoved a blonde bobby pin in it to make it backfire in his face. She grinned at the memory, until he mentioned prom. She looked at him making a face at him. “Well I sure hope you’re ready to come over for pictures, then.” Blanche said dryly. “Because if I have to go and suffer, so do you. Oh, and by the way, she wasn’t joking about cooking you dinner—so unless you want to dodge my mother for the next year, which is very hard too do, you’d better scrounge up a vegan boyfriend or come up with an elaborate breakup story.” She was laughing. He was right though, there was no way they were going to cancel prom after all those kids died. But Blanche suddenly started—Logan! Blanche didn’t see him at all after she was carted out by AJ. She’d have to seek him out, she wasn’t really a good date for his prom experience. “I still can’t believe they didn’t catch that the punch got spiked until the King and Queen were stumbling all over themselves. I wonder what the punishment for being caught drunk at the dance is going to be? Suspension?”

 AJ couldn’t agree more. Get him the hell out of this state. “I don’t know if I want to even apply to a college unless it’s at least five hundred miles away from the border.” He specifically had nothing against Maine as a state, but there were just too many bad memories and too many people that knew about those bad memories. He would suffer through his last year of high school and he would stay just long enough to prove his dad’s innocence. Then he was gone. “What a nice Samaritan” AJ thought of Dustin, coming to help him out after the pig’s blood incident. He wondered who had been kind enough to actually go and warn Blanche about the paint gun before it actually happened. “Woah, woah, woah. Prom thing aside, why do you just assume I was lying about the boyfriend thing? Do you really find me that unapproachable?” It would not actually be a problem anyways, AJ could not imagine any scenario where AJ and Blanche were still talking to each other a year from now. Prom shouldn’t be an issue. He still had yet to mention that the spiked punch from last night had not tasted spiked in the slightest. Yet somehow it had made everyone drunk as fuck in just a few hours’ time. “Yeah weird.” He offered casually, “I don’t see anything super bad happening. They are going to try to do something to them, they will all collectively claim that they never drank anything but the punch. The administration will then start asking for people to start pointing a finger and blame them."

 "I might go to California," Blanche mused. "I like the sun and not the cold. But, uh, I'll probably end up in Massachusetts attending my dad's old school." She grimaced slightly, but shook it off. Major in Pre-med or nursing and then continue on for a masters.... Not what she wanted. Blanche rubbed her temples. Even the thought of it made her headache at least ten times worse. Granny cackled. 'There are benefits to being dead, boy. You'll find that out one day-- if you become like me.' Blanche shot her a look from behind her sunglasses. She didn't like it when she talked like that. "Yeah, I owe them one," Blanche said carefully, before fully turning to look at him at the mention of the boyfriend. Granny hadn't said anything about him having one and she was fairly sure most of the people at school would be throwing even worse insults at him than they already did if that were the case. "I assumed from the sweet little innocent song and dance you put on for my parents, but if you do have a vegan boyfriend I can text my mom right now to set up dinner. Does Friday work for you both?" Blanche said innocently, pretending to start digging her phone out of her purse. "Or should we do Saturday? " Blanche couldn't imagine AJ actually showing up to dinner like that, let alone with someone to pretend to be his vegan boyfriend. "Mom will make food especially for him." But her head tilted slightly, frowning at that. "I wonder who spiked it...." She muttered. "And I wonder who it'll be they blame." That was a concern. She wasn't supposed to be there, and while she tried her best to dodge out of the way of pictures, there was bound to be proof she was there. They could easily start pointing fingers at her.

 AJ had considered California. He was almost positive that he could get into Stanford, the main question being whether he could get enough aid and scholarships to be able afford Stanford. If not, there were plenty of other schools in California or around the coast that he could go to. He enjoyed the beach, or at least enjoyed looking at the beach. From afar. “Your dad’s old school? That sounds stupid.” When AJ was not putting on an act to get something, he could be a tad blunt. Blanche tried joking around about AJ’s obviously fake vegan boyfriend, going as far as digging into her purse and pulling out her phone to feign a phone call to her mother. “Very funny. I was kind of hoping that the vegan thing would stop your mom from inviting us over for dinner. It was the first thing that came to mind on short notice okay?” He didn’t have any friends to play the part and most certainly didn’t have a real boyfriend. Dustin and Quinn both owed him after last night, maybe he could convince one of them to play the part. AJ didn’t mention that he had a picture of who spiked the punch, even if his back had been turned from his camera it wouldn’t be too hard to pick the dude out from AJ’s other photos. “If I had one guess who their scapegoat would be.” He held up his middle finger and tapped it against his temple as if contemplating his options. He had this happen to him far too often. Granted, some of the times that kids blamed him for something it was actually his fault, not that they had proof.

 Blanche let out a laugh at AJ's bluntness, her head starting to spin. She winced. "Tufts University in Boston for Pre-Med. Not exactly what I have I mind. What about you? Do you have a plan other than '500 miles out of Maine'." But Blanche gave a weak grin at his defensiveness. Clearly he didn't understand her mother at all. "Oh nooooo, that just gives her more of an excuse to make my father wear a tie, put on something other than unicorn scrubs on it, and look up vegan recipes. She's probably sitting at home online googling." The sad part was that Blanche wasn't joking. She was grimacing. "But it was a good excuse, you won her over easily, if you couldn't tell. I won't stop hearing about you for years- I'll be 30 and she'll be like 'Oh! How's that boy that so totally obviously didn't spend the night on our couch? The one with the vegan boyfriend? You talk to him lately?!' Just fake sick repeatedly or fake a breakup— she might make lava cakes then and we'll all end up happy." Blanche looked ahead, her eyes focusing on the road. Honestly sometimes she couldn't believe that Granny was related to her father and not her mother. But her eyes went wide when she figured out what AJ was insinuating and she looked at him, alarmed. "They wouldn't blame you, would they? You wouldn't spike the punch." Blanche scoffed at the idea. "Not like there's any proof either."

AJ shook his head at Blanche in response to her question, “Not a specific school, no. I was thinking maybe journalism or pre-law maybe.” Something that fit into the skill sets that had been drilled into AJ’s head from a young age. He had been specifically trained for criminal justice or law enforcement, but something about it all left a bad taste in his mouth now. “What you have sounds less like a plan and more like a very carefully constructed path laid by your parents.” His dad had always wanted him to go into law enforcement, but the difference was that up until a couple of years ago AJ also wanted to go into law enforcement. It was pretty clear that Blanche had no interest in pre-med. “That’s what I get for being so damn likable. I swear it’s a curse.” His acting was too damn good, even his parents had been impressed in a terrified sort of parent way. That kind that said they were proud but afraid of the monster they had created. “I guess if you need me to pop up and be your token gay best friend again I could. I’ll con someone into fake dating me or I’ll come up with the most emotional breakup of all time. Very Romeo and Juliet style.” He found it almost laughable that she would find it hard to believe that they would blame him for something going wrong at the school. Whether they did it just to spite AJ or because they actually thought he had done, he was probably the first that would come to their minds. “They would totally blame me. I’ll just have to find proof that I didn’t do it.” Since they seemed to operate on a guilty until proven innocent basis. He was surprised to hear her say that AJ wouldn’t spike the punch, shocked to hear it for once. He probably wouldn’t. Too many people that he had nothing against. He pulled into a fast food drive thru and turned towards her, “What do you want?”

 Blanche nodded. “Those sound like things you’d be good at.” Was that a weird thing to say? Maybe. But from what her Granny had told her, both of those sounded like damn good options for him. She made a face at his comment about her carefully crafted path. “Really? What makes you say that? Was it my dad mentioning it to a total stranger covered in cat hair or the Tufts merch on the mantle.” The diploma, photos, everything was on there trying to appeal to her. She put on a grin though. “I’ll end up off the path somewhere—probably after some dramatic confrontation where we all cry at the end. Probably.”  Blanche shrugged, glancing out the window. It wasn’t that big of a deal, right? She laughed out right. “You’ll put Romeo and Juliet to shame—and hey, maybe you’ll totally convince my dad and he won’t awkwardly try to talk to me about boys this summer.” Blanche wrinkled her nose at the thought. It was easier for her and her dad to remain at arms length and to just not get involved. Blanche looked at him, frowning slightly. “I’m sure they’ll find the right person to blame. I doubt you’d have anything to gain by making everyone have a killer hangover.” As he pulled into the drive thru, Blanche sank in her seat. She knew that greasy things would make her feel at least a little better, but the thought of food made her stomach clench and twist. She took a glance at the menu, suddenly thanking the fact that he didn’t go to a real restaurant and make her go out looking how she did. “Ugh… Number 3 looks greasy enough for me, with the hashbrown and a… water. You can get what you want too, I’ve got it.”

 AJ just nodded his head. They were things that he was good at. Both required a certain degree of people skills that AJ would have to learn to fake. He used to be so good with socialization. Now he spent so much time being weary and untrusting of everyone who talked to him that he never really had time to get to know people on a personal level. By the time he would have had the chance they usually thought he was a nosy douche anyways. They were sort of right. “That plus you hate biology. Kind of important to pre-med.” He wondered if she was serious about telling her parents to stick it sometime down the road. “Maybe before you get your doctorate? No offense, but judging from your Biology grade I would not want you cutting me open.” He laughed about her dad giving the sex talk and tried imagining either of his parents trying to do the same thing. “I didn’t even want to be there.” Which would mean that people could argue he had a reason to want to spike the juice. Being forced to go to the prom against his will could be seen as motivation enough. He ordered for Blanche and then started pulling around, “I’m not hungry.” Or he didn’t like the idea of owing someone else money. He passed the food over to Blanche and pulled back onto the road. “This is either going to make you feel better now or make you throw up and you’ll feel better after that.”

 He’s a strange boy.’ Granny pipped up. Blanche was surprised that she hadn’t interrupted before now. ’Be his friend, Blanche. You never know how you could benefit from it. I like him. She had to hold in a snort at that. Of course Granny liked him—not that Blanche didn’t. AJ seemed like a good person, thought she did wonder what he was doing blackmailing people. Granny hadn’t exactly figured out what she wanted yet. “OH really? I thought you needed gym.” Blanche widened her eyes, pretending to be surprised. “My bio grade isn’t as bad as Kelsey McNabb’s—trust me, she used to be my old lab partner. Also, no offense, I wouldn’t want to cut you up. Mostly because 1. That thought particularly makes me feel sick at the moment and 2. I almost passed out when we dissected frogs in December.” If Blanche was remembering correctly, she had been even greener than, and the teacher just pointed and she ran to the nurse. Blanche looked at him. “You were taking pictures for the paper, right? I’m sure you got some great ones.” Blanche said, glancing into the bag. The smell of grease and egg and sausge hit her nose and she immediately turned her nose away and she cranked the window down a little to get some non-fast food air in the truck. ’Oh please, I’ve seen you eat three hamburgers in one sitting and THAT makes you feel ill?’ “We’ll find out.” Blanche grumbled, fishing out the hash brown so she could start munching on it.

 It was unlikely for anybody to excel in every single subject, unless they were geniuses. Even then, most geniuses excelled in certain subject areas and simply passed the others. AJ was lucky in that he had always learned and retained information easily. Part of which he most likely owed father, who had taught him from a young age how to observe everything and remember all of the information. “Don’t worry I’ve seen her grade too. Believe it or not you have a better grade than a lot of the kids in the class.” He was pretty sure that Blanche would be halfway decent at the subject if someone besides their teacher could explain it to her in better terms. Still, no matter how good someone was at a subject, if they didn’t like it the shouldn’t make it into a career. “I’m not telling you how to live your life because it’s none of my business, but the longer you wait to tell them you don’t want to be a doctor the worse it’s going to be. I’d rip the bandaid.” He wanted to give her a break from life talks and advice so she could attempt to eat. She already had enough reason to puke.

 Blanche looked at him, nibbling on her hash brown. “How did you see all of our grades?” Not that she particularly cared, but she was curious. ’He works in the office, doesn’t he?[/I]’ Granny quipped, and Blanche glanced at her. ’Remember dear, it’s impolite to puke in front of boys!’ Blanche wished Granny would stop trying to be helpful. She finished her hash brown and stuffed the wrapper back in the bag and took a sip of her water. Now AJ was trying to help—Blanche glanced at him. He wasn’t wrong, but the earlier she told them, the more she would have to live with their disappointment and that sucked. As she started on her sandwich, they fell into a fairly comfortable silence and Blanche settled into her seat. At least, until a giant wave of nausea hit her and her head felt like it was cracking itself open. Granny’s voice felt like nails on a chalkboard. ’Blanche… I know that look.’. She gulped the bite of her sandwich and calmly put it back in the bag. Very calmly, Blanche turned to AJ. “Pull over right now. Please.” Everything was calm, she was calm, Granny was calm, AJ was calm, everything was calm.

 AJ considered himself pretty resourceful and capable of getting his hands on just about anything that he put his mind to. But even he couldn’t manage getting the password of every teacher who had a student AJ disliked. Online grades were surprisingly well protected, with each teacher having their own username and password. Those grades are for their eyes only, other teachers can’t even see their own students grades from another class and only a few members of administration have access to an entire student’s GPA. Each student had their own username and password that gave access to their grades in each class as well as grades on individual assignments. Student access was typically easier, the usernames all used the same setup, first letter of first name, first five letters of last name followed by the year of birth. Most of the students had generic passwords also. But that only showed individual student’s grades. AJ had found that the easiest way to figure it out was by classroom on a teacher’s laptop. “The teacher was distracted. I got a glimpse of them on his computer screen.” Distracted being code for, AJ made something up to get them into the hallway and a glimpse being code for took a picture on his phone. Just in case they would ever come in handy. He practically slammed on his breaks when Blanche told him to pull over and immediately steered off into the grass. Lucky for both of them there were no cars on the road yet. He sat waiting in the driver’s seat. “You okay?”

 Blanche was jerked forward a bit as AJ all but slammed on the breaks and pulled over. Grimacing, Blanche ignored him as she snapped her seatbelt off, snatched the bottle of water, threw open her door, and nosedived out of the truck. She rushed for the coverage of a tree, hoping AJ would just wait patiently. Granny followed, hollering at her. ’HONESTLY! Blanche, dear, you couldn’t have waited ten minutes before he got back to the school! This is quite embarrassing oh—oh dear, honey…’ Granny looked concerned as Blanche doubled over and emptied her lunch out behind the tree. ’Oh dear, if I get my ghostly hands on whoever spiked that punch I will do some very bad things to them! I’m sure AJ doesn’t mind, dear, it’s not like—‘ Blanche cussed, her head whipping to Granny. “Can it, Gran.” she snapped, only lowering her voice a little. Granny huffed loudly, but seemed to take the hint. Blanche breathed in, and out, leaning against the tree for just a second to settle her stomach and to wash her mouth out. Grabbing the water was a good move. Good job, self. “I told you I wasn’t going to get sick in your truck!” Blanche called to AJ, irritably. But he wasn’t wrong. She did feel a bit better, at least.

  Not knowing whether or not Blanche needed help from AJ or would rather be alone, he eventually decided to just sit in the car while she ran off towards the tree line. He heard her shout something while by the trees that he didn’t catch, but could only tell that it had not been directed at him. He only knew this because when she had spoken to him a minute or two later her voice had been louder and more articulated. “I appreciate it. I’ve already cleaned puke off of the seats once.” Or twice. Or three times. He had lost count. The first couple of months post arrest warrant had been rough. He sat waiting in the car until Blanche eventually came back towards the truck. “Good now?” He asked, paying little attention to her the way he figured she would want. If he had just puked he wouldn’t want someone making a big deal about it. Once she had climbed back into the seat and was buckled in, AJ switched the car back into drive but kept his foot planted on the brake, “You ready to go?”

 Blanche clambered back to the truck and was already digging in her purse for the mint gum she kept back in there. Unwrapping a piece, she popped it in her mouth and glowered at her forgotten sandwich like it was the sandwiches fault for all of this. “You did? It wasn’t any of ours from last night, right? I don’t remember that.” Blanche said, thought she relaxed slightly once AJ seemed not to mention anything or be patronizing or was hovering over her. ’Good boy!’ Granny cheered, approvingly. Blanche almost rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m good. Thanks. I think I feel a bit better too.” She’d likely nap in the back of her car before she went anywhere now. “Does they jury say I can drive home now?”

 AJ continued driving towards the school, which wasn't for away. "No. None of you guys puked thankfully." He answered, not offering any other explanation. If she had really wanted to know or pushed the subject he would admit that it had been his mother. The only reason AJ had never gotten blackout drunk and puked in his truck was because he never went anywhere to drink. No friends did that to a kid. When he would binge drink he just raided his parent's liquor cabinet and ended up spending night in the bathroom with his head hanging over the toilet. "Fried food and puking always made me feel better" He admitted to Blanche, "If you drink too much you're fucked no matter what you do, but it helps at least." The school was just around the corner now and Blanche asked about her driving her car home. AJ glanced over at her and narrowed his eyes at her as if assessing the situation. "I guess I'll let you."

 Blanche looked at him curiously for a moment. ’I think some things aren’t meant to be pushed, Blanche.’ Granny’s oh so helpful voice reached out to her. “Well, that’s a relief. I hope Quinn and Dustin also didn’t have sex in your truck bed. I can’t confirm that either.” Blanche said. They were probably so grounded by now. Blanche looked at him. “You sound like you have the experience, huh?” Maybe she was the loser here. It was really embarrassing having something like this happen to her, especially with a kid from school. She didn’t really have any friends, and really, she had been content with staying pretty much anonymous until she graduated. Blanche gave him a weak grin. “If you’re guessing yourself, I’ll have you know I’m fully planning on making use of the blanket I have in my trunk and am taking a nap.”

 AJ started laughing and glanced back at the bed of his truck. “Nah I don’t think so. If they did they were really fast and really quiet.” He paused, maybe they had been if they were both virgins. Plus if they were drunk they might have gotten the deed done even faster. But he found it hard to believe that Dustin was capable of doing anything quietly. Quinn maybe, he was pretty quiet in general. But drunk Dustin had constantly been jabbering. AJ couldn’t remember a time that he wasn’t saying anything besides when he was busy using his mouth to kiss Quinn or stuff food in his mouth. “I used to take care of people a lot when they were drunk. My dad was a cop so I was too afraid to get in trouble with him. But I was pretty stupid and drank myself into a stupor and threw up all over my bedroom once. Great times.” It was weird to talk about to someone other than his mother. She hadn’t had much of a reaction to it either. “A nap isn’t a bad idea.” He pulled his car onto the street that school sat and started glancing around, “Where is your car at?”

 /me laughed a bit too. She felt considerably better, even if her headache hadn’t totally gone away, and she was pretty sure if she took off her sunglasses she would be blinded by the sun. “I think Lea might have murdered him if they even tried,” Blanche offered, glancing in the truck bed herself. “I do remember she was pretty cranky most of the night. But If I got stuck with a drunk sibling and his boyfriend I’d probably be cranky too.” Lea hung out with most of the popular crew that didn’t like Blanche, but Lea hadn’t said anything too awful too her. She looked at AJ as she mentioned his dad, and winced when he mentioned puking everywhere. “My parents don’t really approve of alcohol or anything like that either.” Blanche offered. “But, well, they’re kind of oblivious. They didn’t even notice my car wasn’t in the driveway.” Blanche shrugged slightly. “My car’s on the far side. Near the back entrance a ways away from the gym.” She realized how weird that must look. “I, uh, thought it would look more suspicious if I parked near the gym.”

  Nodding in agreement, AJ could only imagine how aggravated he would have been if he had been the sober one in Lea’s shoes. Forced to listen to her older brother’s sex talk must have been pretty strange. “Thank god I’m an only child.” AJ blew out a whistle of relief. He really dodged a bullet there. He wasn’t sure he was prepared to be someone’s brother, especially somebody’s older brother. He would not really consider himself a picture-perfect role model. “Oblivious parents. My favorite kind.” Thanks to an oblivious parent he had been able to get away with a lot of things the last couple of years. Maybe the only upside of his father being gone. He pulled past the gym and kept driving down the road until spotting a lone car down the road away from the school. “Ah. That must be the one then.” He laughed, pulling off of the road behind the car. “You sure you’re good?”

 Blanche nodded in agreement. "I don't know what I'd do with a sister or a brother." Blanche said. Honestly, Blanche couldn't think about what her parents would do with a second child. Blanche had been independent since she could start cooking for herself and was trusted enough not to leave the stove on. "I'm sure Lea's soooo pleased about everything last night. Especially the sex talk." Blanche shrugged slightly at the oblivious parent comment. "It can be really nice sometimes. I barely even have a curfew. I think my dad might be thinking about cracking down though, especially after this morning." Not that he wouldn't get distracted with work after a week or so. And he couldn't stop her from working either. AJ pulled off the road as her car came in sight. Blanche only felt slightly nauseous now, even if her head was going to split open. "Yeah, I'm alright." She decided. Granny had disappeared off god knows where-- probably the school to go talk to more ghosts. She turned to him as she unbuckled her seatbelt and paused slightly. "Hey. Um. Thanks. You know, taking all of us home and staying with me and for saving my ass with my parents. And, um. For being so nice." Blanche wasn't sure how to word that without sounding like a total spazz, but it needed to be said. "I just need my keys, and then I'm going to take the longest car nap of the century."

Lea seemed pissed enough about having to be in the presence of AJ without adult supervision or prison bars separating the two and he could only imagine that a drunk and very talkative older brother was a large factor in the bad attitude she seemed to maintain the entire night. “Yeah the absent parental figures can really work out in your favor sometimes.” AJ agreed, and he was telling the truth. Half of the shit he got away with now never would have happened if his father had still been in the picture. Granted, before his father vanished he never had much reason to do any of the shady shit he had recently gotten himself into. Still, having the freedom to do what he wanted whenever he wanted was nice and he was sure Blanche felt the same way. Every kid’s dream. Unfortunately, the absence isn’t just while you’re out trying to party or procrastinating on doing homework and chores. It’s when your car breaks down and your first prom night and all the times when you need them too. That part is the part that fucking sucks. AJ practically groaned as Blanche thanked him, “Please don’t tell anybody you’ll ruin my bad boy rep.” Maybe Blanche would keep this favor he did for her in mind when he came to her someday asking for help. Having a doctor for parents had its perks after all. AJ dug in his bag and handed the keys off to her, “Here you go, now go pass out. Your head ache will thank you.”

"Got that right." Blanche murmured. Sure she got away with a lot of shit, but there were rimes when she really wanted them to be around. Her mom would fuss about making appearances for him and then disappear back into the hospital with the sick children. Blanche coughed slightly shaking her head at his objections. "Oooh pardon me. I wouldn't want to damage your uh 'bad boy' rep, there, buddy." Blanche laughed. "Can't have everyone at school thinking that you like sugar and cotton candy or...." Blanche paused for dramatic effect. "nice!" She smiled at him but took her lanyard. "Thanks AJ. Really. Owe ya one." 'Careful who you owe favors too Blanche.' Blanche jumped slightly at the voice of her grandmother and she hopped out of the truck. She can't look like a total moron. Blanche hurried to her car, pressing the button on her keys to pop the trunk before she paused, turning back to wave at AJ. And then she turned back, pulling out the blanket, and practically diving into the backseat of her car. Time to sleep the rest of this off.

[leaparrish]

Stick to the Status Quo || Lea & Amadeo

AJ finds out things he probably shouldn’t. Popular kids can also be jerks.

It was a good fifteen, maybe even twenty minutes after the final bell. Lea had spent some of it in the library, making sure that she had a few books that she'd need for her final projects and essays. The hallways were empty now - with the weather improving, more and more students made their ways outside as quickly as possible. But that was fine, she didn't need all the company right now. She made her way over to her locker and switched the books into the crook of one arm, fiddling with the lock with her other hand. Before she could catch them, she felt the books slipping and did a quick 360 of the hallway before reaching her hand out, palm flat - stopping the books a few inches above the ground. That way they didn't have to fall and make a loud noise or let her papers spill everywhere, creating unnecessary messes. Locker finally unlocked, she bent down to grab her books and scoop them back into her arms, holding them with both arms this time.

AJ had stopped by the main office on his way out of the school. After the locker mishap that had effectively ruined one of his favorite shirts plus permanently stained the bottoms of his Converse he had decided to start keeping his stuff in the office. He spent his free period there working as an office aid for the secretaries anyways, so they were more than happy to let him store his stuff there during the day. The secretaries seemed just about the only three people in the entire school not hell bent on ruining AJ's life recently and he was pretty sure they did most of the kind things they did for him out of pity. AJ didn't need their pity, but he did need them to keep turning a blind eye to his copier and laminator use, so he figured he could keep paying the heartbroken puppy dog for at least one more year. He got trapped in a conversation with one on his way out that put him behind getting out of the school. By now the student parking lot would be backed up with traffic, so AJ was in no real rush to get to his truck. Turning into a hallway heading towards the exit he stopped suddenly when he noticed Lea Parrish out of the corner of his eye. He knew her more by reputation than anything else. He had seen her with the same group of kids that had ostracized AJ on a few occasions. Plus, AJ was in a couple classes with her brother. But until the moment that she dropped a few books and they began levitating mid fall, AJ had never really had any interest in learning more about the girl. "Well, there's something you don't see everyday." He tried to keep his expression neutral, but inside he could feel the wicked grin splitting across his face.

Lea pulled her backpack off her back and set it on the floor before opening the locker more fully. She absent-mindedly fixed a few of the Instax mini-polaroids of herself and her friends that were stuck with magnets to the door of the locker and set about grabbing some of the notebooks that she'd need for tonight's homework plus three of the books that she was reading for fun at the moment. But she felt herself half jump when she heard a comment. Lea had been so sure that she'd been totally alone. "My backpack?" She said, standing up to face the source of the voice. Amadeo - AJ - whatever he preferred to be called. "It's pretty cute, I know." She twirled her ponytail around her fingers. Because of course it was that - it had to be - because there was no way that someone - anyone - had seen her do magic, especially not so shortly after the whole Dustin thing. Dropping the ponytail, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Didn't exactly take it to be your style though, but if you want, I can give you recommendations." Just fake it - she reminded herself. Pretend things like magic aren't real and that one of the most intimidating boys in school didn't just maybe see you do magic.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets and strolling down the hallway towards Lea as slowly as possible, AJ let the tension build. They both knew exactly what he had just seen, and if AJ played it cool for just a moment longer maybe he could get some kind of nervous breakdown of a confession out of the girl. He had certainly never seen anything like that before in his life, although he had always suspected that it had existed. He considered himself a pretty logical guy, but growing up in a town like Ashkent Creek with a detective for a father, a line between logical and impossible had to be drawn. Had Lea's little trick taken him off guard? Yes. But had it surprised him? Not so much. Now standing just a few feet from Lea, he leaned against the lockers and stared her down. The girl seemed innocent and fragile enough, but he had seen first hand just how cruel the people she called friends could be. He wasn't dumb enough to let people off the hook just because they didn't look like they could harm a fly. Especially when they could do whatever the hell Lea had just done. "I'm more interested in your textbooks actually. They looked light as a feather. They practically floated to the ground. You know, if I had books that light I'd just carry them around with me all day. I certainly wouldn't have to use that damn locker of mine." He was assuming she had heard about the blood in the locker prank earlier in the week. Since it had been her friends that had arranged it and her brother that had actually tried to help in the aftermath. "Care to share your secret?"

Every fibre of her being wanted to turn around and leave, but for some reason Lea couldn't move. She watched him carefully as he walked down the hallway before stopping just a few feet from her locker. She slammed the door of her locker shut with as much force as she could manage and raised an eyebrow at the boy in front of her. She shouldn't have stopped the books. But then they would have made too much noise and could have caused unnecessary messes on the hallway floor. Which was absolutely not what she wanted. Too much of a mess of things - of anything, be it books or something more abstract, was bad. "Well, my locker's in a good location." She gave a shrug, one she could only hoped implied a lack of care. "I don't know what you're saying about them being light, though. Sometimes I think my backpack ends up weighing more than I do." She let out a nervous giggle. "Or so my parents say." Lea fiddled with the edges of her sweater, tugging it down a bit more over her leggings. "No secrets to share, unless you want to know how I keep my nails neat for weeks at a time. I don't know what sort of thing you thought you saw." She glanced back behind her. She couldn't leave, still. Not now.

AJ had to admit, Lea was impressively committed to this playing dumb act. If AJ hadn't mastered the art of avoiding the question and changing the subject, he might actually think that the girl was just nervous around him instead of lying to him. Given AJ's reputation, especially coming from the people she considered her friends, he couldn't really blame her for being nervous around him. He had been accused of everything from blindly ignoring that his father was a killer, to helping to cover it up, to committing some of the murders himself. The rumor will was on steroids when it came to AJ Ricci. "Right." AJ released a single, humorless laugh at the awful excuse and feigned disinterest. Two could play at that game. "Maybe I'll just go talk to the principal about getting my locker changed then?" He pointed a finger, hoping Lea would follow it right up to the camera swiveling up and down the hallways. It had only been a year or two since the cameras had been installed following a break in that had resulted in a kid being killed, but AJ had to admit that it had worked in his favor on multiple occasions. "I bet I can even pull up some footage to show him exactly where I want the locker too." He pulled his hand free from his pocket and held it against his heart, giving a heartfelt sigh, "We could even be locker buddies."

Lea should have just left school when the bell had rung. With Jenna and Katie, and any of the others. They could have gone to somebody's house, done homework and just hung out and then she wouldn't be in this situation. Her mother would kill her if she knew how foolish she'd been, especially after Dustin's idiotic move. She was supposed to be the better sibling, the one who never did any wrong. It was part of how she was able to use Dustin's misbehavior as leverage against him. Yet here she was, standing with perhaps one of the worst people who could have seen what just happened, especially because he did not seem all too keen on brushing it off as a sort of trick of the eye. Too tired, too much studying, the brief heat in Maine getting to him. "Can't get lockers moved this late in the school year." She pursed her lips to the side. She'd heard about what had happened to him in his locker - and felt bad - though she didn't know just who it was who had done it. But that didn't excuse what he was doing now. She followed his finger up to the cameras and sucked in a brief breath. "These lockers are all taken." Lea half-snapped, taking a few steps back. "Don't think the administration'll switch up lockers, no matter who they're doing it for."

AJ crossed his arms. From the looks of it, the two were at some sort of stand off. Lea, unwilling to admit what the two of them had both clearly seen and AJ unwilling to let an opportunity like this pass him by. Trying to find the evidence that he would need to prove his dad's innocence would be tricky enough, and while AJ had no clue what all Lea had up her sleeve in regards to the magic he had just witnessed he did know that whatever it was it was a trump card he intended to hold. The two stood in a stare off for what felt like an hour before AJ broke the silence again. "Look, I know what you've heard about me. I know who your friends are. Given the stories that they've told I don't understand why you seem so hell bent on pissing me off." He began. It was dark even for him. Usually he hated playing on the rumor card. He spent so much time vehemently denying anything that related to his father's warrant for arrest that the idea of using those same rumors to get what he wanted just seemed... wrong. As if nothing else he did to get what he wanted wasn't just as morally ambiguous. AJ wasn't going to get the chance to fully play the card anyways it seemed, when he heard the voice behind him squeal out in protest. "Lea! What is he doing?" the voice sounded startled, like low budget thriller film startled. AJ rolled his eyes and shifted his glance over at the group of three girls rushing toward Lea and him. The one leading the charge, Amanda, was a junior like AJ, followed behind her was her little sister Katie and another friend, Jenna. "What the hell do you think you're doing talking to her?" Amanda excused AJ, practically stepping in between the two as if Lea's life had been in danger or something. "Hmm. Free country? Class project? Magic?" AJ spirit fingered in Amanda's direction while giving a quick but hopefully noticeable side-eye to Lea. "Take your pick. You usually just make stuff up for me anyways."

Lea narrowed her eyes at him. She wrapped her fingers tightly around the straps of her backpack and gave a small huff. She'd never flat out say she'd just done magic, especially not in front of him, of all people. If Jenna or somebody had caught her, she might have - but not in front of a stranger who she'd heard more bad than good about. When he finally spoke again she took a few steps back. "Yeah, but if you try anything, there's the cameras, remember?" She snapped back, pointing right up at the cameras. But before much else could be said, Amanda, Katie, and Jenna appeared. Lea startled briefly before reminding herself that they clearly hadn't seen what she'd done, because they would have rushed to intervene long before. When Amanda stepped in front of her, Lea let Katie grab her and pull her back, though she carefully watched Amanda and AJ's interaction. "Not in any of the same classes," she rolled her eyes. Amanda replied, "Maybe it is a free country, but harassment is still frowned upon, especially on school grounds. Especially to freshman girls." Lea glanced around the hallway, wondering if any of Amanda's other friends were around. Right now, she just wanted to go, but at the same time, she wasn't about to step in between Amanda and whatever she was doing. Especially if this got her out of having to circumvent talking about what she'd just done. "All I wanted to do was leave, frankly." She said with a small shrug.

If there had been time before Amanda and her gang of mindless Barbies had shown up to rescue Lea from the big bad wolf, AJ might have mentioned that he controlled those cameras at the school. The footage was kept stored in an otherwise empty office used mostly for storage and the thing went unchecked unless a specific case was brought up against a student. AJ spent enough time in the office to have plenty of opportunity to delete anything that might be used to criminalize him for any reason, but there had been more than a couple of times that a certain disc with footage of a student lighting up in the hallway in between classes or lighting a trashcan on fire had mysteriously found its way onto the Principal's desk. Upon Amanda's threat, or what AJ assumed had meant to be a threat, he let out a single laugh. "Harassment, right." Is that what this was considered? "It's not like it would be the worst thing you've said about me. Does it ever get tiring? It's got to be exhausting to constantly make up lie and after lie. The least you could do is get a little more creative with them." Amanda scowled at him, as if he was nothing more than a gnat that had flown too close to her ear. Behind her, the three freshman stared wide eyed at the exchange. They didn't speak, but they didn't leave either. Two years ago if AJ had been in Lea's place would he have done anything different? "I don't tell anybody anything that shouldn't be heard. We were friends with you. We don't need others making the same mistake." AJ rolled his eyes, using his leg to push himself off of the locker and pacing from locker to locker. "Next time could you tell them that I like skinning Dalmatians for their fur? Or that I like stealing voices from mermaids? Come on, give me something to work with here." He turned to Lea next, "It wasn't like I chained you to the locker. I'm not an X-Men."

Moving closer to Katie and Jenna, Lea watched Amanda carefully. She was incredibly elegant, even if the words she spoke were not done so in a kind manner. But if it distracted from what AJ had seen, it was fine. She quickly admonished herself for thinking so - bullying wasn't okay, but if the things Amanda and others had told her about AJ held any truth, Lea was at least fairly glad that they'd come up before anything else could happen. Her mother would kill her if she found out what had happened. Then Dustin - well, she didn't know what he'd say. He was in the same grade as AJ, but she didn't figure the two knew one another well, if at all. In a small enough school as theirs was, rumors got around and people mostly knew each other at least by vague recognition, but she wasn't entirely sure how much Dustin knew. But he could easily call her a hypocrite, or an idiot, or anything. She wondered if he'd be concerned for his or her well-being at all. "I didn't try and be friends with him." Lea whispered to Katie and Jenna. "He just showed up." Katie rested a firm hand on Lea's shoulder, almost modeling her behavior after her sister's. "No worries." She whispered, low enough that neither Amanda nor AJ would be able to hear. Lea's focus returned to Amanda and AJ. "You don't deserve things to work with." Amanda scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Murderers and the children of them should get nothing - and that'd be a blessing." Lea took half a step forward as AJ addressed her again. "No, the X-Men aren't real anyhow, and I think that'd be a few steps past harassment if you did that." She watched as AJ paced back and forth and bit her lip. "You could've just let me be." Lea continued, all but locking eyes with AJ. He wouldn't say anything, not right now. That much she had a pretty good feeling of. It wasn't like he could get Amanda and Katie and Jenna to believe it, anyhow. Besides, Amanda stepped in to speak again. "You shouldn't have talked to her. You should know better, know your place in this school."

AJ didn't let words get to him. It was the cardinal rule. The one thing that he couldn't get away by just faking. He had constructed a hurried but sturdy wall around himself made of glue, capturing the words and making sure not to lose them. Each harmful thing making his wall that much stronger. He had his own words as weapons, a carefully crafted sword of sarcasm and jokes to keep everyone else at a distance. Things worked better that way. His dad had always called him soft as a child, he had never believed it until he realized how hurt he had been when all of his friends had turned their back on him. He didn't want to feel the sting of that betrayal again. Everyone now was an enemy, all of them ready with daggers to plunge into his back. "And you could have walked away at any time." He didn't even bother trying to defend his father again. That shtick had gotten old long ago. He would show them all. "Don't you worry a head on your pretty little head Amanda. I've already figured out my place." Before leaving, he turned his focus onto Lea one last time, "These used to be my friends too, if they ever get around to telling the truth once in awhile. They dropped me as soon as they found out that my imperfections didn't fit their narrative. So if you have any skeletons in your closet you better hide them. You might end up just like me." Then he turned his back to leave.

Lea sucked in her lower lip. Her father and mother would be displeased to see her act this way. She even knew the term - bystander effect - letting something go wrong when it should not. But if she spoke up, she could be found out, and things could fall apart. Which absolutely could not happen. Lea felt her nails dig into her palms - she knew there'd be light marks there, now. She remained standing by Jenna and Katie, protected by Katie's almost ethereal (despite her cruelty) sister. "We believed in you." Amanda murmured, each word filled with ice. "The last time we'll dare make that mistake." She clicked her tongue against her teeth. Lea startled as AJ addressed her again, giving a rolling of her eyes. "They care about me." She said, seeing Katie and Jenna nod out of the corners of her eyes. "But thank you so much for the advice." She replied, watching as he began to leave. Before he'd even gotten out of earshot, Amanda turned to Lea and the other two, and commented - "Let's go. My car's all ready. Wouldn't want to be around someone like that any longer." As she began following the three out, Lea looked back, giving AJ's back a small glare. She'd have to make sure none of this ever got out, ever. Absolutely and totally simple.

[amberjade-rhodes]

Making Up | | AJ + Bryce

WHEN: 1 April 2021

LOCATION: Bryce’s room

NB: After having a few drinks, AJ decides that enough is enough and goes over to Bryce’s place to talk to him; the two not having communicated since their heated argument almost a week ago. NB: this chatzy is a work in progress so will be updated as we go, however it is almost finished!

@brycecortez

It had been a few days since she and Bryce had gotten into an argument and he had sped off alone, the two not having spoken at all since that argument. AJ had called Lola to pick her up after learning that the last bus of the night was cancelled and had cried herself to sleep in the guest bedroom, having no idea whether she and Bryce were even still together. The argument itself had happened on the Saturday night and still not having answers, she had stayed back at Mars Bar on Thursday night when her shift finished, knocking back a few drinks with some of her co-workers. When she ordered an Uber to go home, she impulsively ordered it to Bryce’s apartment instead of the beach house. Once she got there, she gathered a few pebbles and stated throwing them at Bryce’s window; a decision that she would never have made whilst sober. As soon as he opened the window, she launched into the speech that she had loosely planned on the car ride over; talking quickly so that he didn’t have the opportunity to tell her to fuck off. “I don’t understand why you’re trying to push me away and I’m not going to lie and pretend that it doesn’t hurt. Hell, I’ve spent this whole week unsure if I even have a boyfriend anymore and my brain keeps telling me to cut my losses and run away before I get hurt any further but I can’t do that. I won’t do that. I refuse to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over, especially when it means possibly losing one of the best things in my life. I love you, Bryce, even when it’s not pretty. Even when you make me cry or want to scream or quit, I’m still going to love you. God, I love you in this huge, stupid all consuming-way that makes me get drunk and do dumb clichés from romantic comedies! You don’t give up on something like that. I’m not sure if you’re ready to admit it, even to yourself, but I think you need me just as much as I need you so no matter how hard you try and push me away, I’m still here and I’ll still be here when you’re ready to talk to me”, AJ yelled up at him. “... and that’s all I came to say so now I’ll call an Uber and we’ll pretend that I’m not awkwardly standing outside your apartment whilst waiting for my ride”.

Bryce had spent the last few days in a haze, in and out of his emotions. One day he was sniffing ten lines of coke to help him get rid of his thoughts, the next he was completely numb to the point he didn’t need to touch anything. He had come completely out of touch with reality, almost to the point that he was becoming not functional. Bryce finally gave his professors, job and coach some bullshit excuse about his absence, blaming it on the military. All that they knew at this point was that he was out of town for a quick training. He had just taken a few lines, feeling practically on cloud nine when he heard a noise outside. He paused everything for a few moments, assessing what was happening before he heard the noise again and again. The knocking like sound almost becoming more and more frequent. Quickly putting the plate and drugs away, he got up and walked over to the window. Shock flooded his body when he saw Amber-Jade. The two hadn’t talked in a few days, and before that in a week. If he were being honest, Bryce didn’t know where exactly he stood with his girlfriend... if they were even still together after their blowout. He hadn’t been given the chance to say anything before she began talking. With each word spoken, he could feel his heart sink further and further into his chest - feeling the same heaviness that he had spent the last month trying to push away. He didn’t realise how much he needed to hear those words, /I’m still going to love you/. “Come inside”, Bryce requested, just loud enough for her to hear. He met her downstairs at the entrance, opening the door up for her and stepping to the side to let her in. “I’m honestly not sure if Ryan’s home. I haven’t really seen much of her”, he admitted, basically verbalising how he had been isolating himself. The man grew nervous as the two stepped into his room, knowing that it had all practically changed since the last time she was there. New furniture to replace the one he destroyed. A new mirror to replace the one he also destroyed. New TV, new everything. “Make yourself comfortable... do you want anything?”

Amber-Jade wasn’t stupid. She noticed the fact that Bryce didn’t say it back, that there was no apology for his recent behaviour; nor any sort of explanation or assurance that he still loved her and that they were still together. Still, he invited her inside rather than telling her to fuck off and in her mind, that was a step in the right direction. AJ quickly made her way upstairs before he could change his mind, which is when the pieces clicked into place for her. She wasn’t sure what the cause was but she recognised the symptoms - isolating himself from the people that cared about him, pushing people away, the substance use, the fact that his entire bedroom looking different... it seemed like a trauma response, something that AJ knew well because of her own engagement in such behaviours over the years. “I don’t know if she’s home either but I’m only here to see you so it doesn’t really matter”, AJ said softly. “This is going to seem a little weird for a moment but bear with me, okay? I promise that it’ll make sense at the end. Can you please go and make us hot chocolates?” As soon as he left the room, AJ made herself busy. She cleared enough space in the wardrobe for both of them to sit in there together before dragging as many blankets and pillows inside as she could; essentially building them a little fort. By the time he returned from the kitchen, it was finished and she looked at him nervously. “When I was little, I used to hide in my wardrobe with a good book so that I didn’t have to hear my parent’s arguing. I was actually hiding in the wardrobe on that night. My mind doesn’t allow me to remember all of the details, which I think is to protect me, but I remember enough to really fuck me up. It’s hard to explain how it feels but I’m going to try...”, she trailed off for a second, collecting her thoughts. “On a good day, I can manage how I’m feeling with exercise and maybe a few drinks but even on the good days, I can feel a little emotionally detached. I almost always feel guilty for the fact that I survived, guilty for not doing more, guilty for being angry at my mom for dying. The nightmares are pretty bad too, even on a good day”, she said softly. “Bad days, though? I can’t even get out of bed without taking something for the pain. I want people to be close to me because I hate the thought of being alone but at the same time, I can’t have them /too/ close to me. I’m angry at the world, I’m so anxious that it feels like I’m drowning under it, so I take whatever I can get my hands on because feeling like that... sometimes it feels like it might actually kill me”. When she finished talking, she avoided his gaze; worried about his reaction. “I think you might be feeling some of those things too so I thought we could get in here and just shut out the rest of the world for a while”.

Bryce furrowed his brows at her request. He found it odd, but he shrugged it off and left the room to go to the kitchen. He put milk into a pot and began the process of making the two hot chocolates. As what could be expected, he spiked his with a bit of Tito’s vodka, but kept hers the same. He walked back into the room with both mugs in hand, an expression of surprise evident on his face when he noticed the set up. Bryce didn’t understand where all of this was coming from; her words continuing to surprise him as she spoke about her own experiences. His eyes remained fixated on the ground as he tried to process; the more she spoke, the quicker he could feel his high slipping away, and the quicker he felt that black hole reappearing. Still, he was too exhausted to say anything, let alone be a dick to the one person that cared about him. “Okay...” He caved in, his voice quiet and broken. “Your hot chocolate’s going to get cold.” He said as he handed over the mug, all before walking towards the wardrobe. Bryce took a seat inside, taking a sip of his drink as he made himself comfortable. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this. I was sober for four years, and now that’s completely down the drain.” He said simply, taking another sip of his drink.

"Thanks", AJ said softly, taking the mug of hot chocolate before taking the seat opposite him in the wardrobe and closing the door behind them. The two were thrown into relative darkness, although the pinpricks of light seeping under the door were enough to see his outline. "I'm really sorry. I've never been sober for that long so I can't even imagine how rough that must feel right now", AJ said, her voice soft but empathetic. "If you want to get sober again, I can... I can quit with you. Go to meetings with you. Support you through it all". It was a big offer from AJ, who had barely spent more than a day sober since she was around 17 and Ollie had left the group home. "If you aren't ready for those steps yet though, that's okay too. I'm still here".

Bryce allowed Amber-Jade to close the door behind her, leaving the two in almost complete darkness. The light peering in from under the closet door illuminating the closet just enough he was still able to make out his girlfriends features. “I can’t ask you to do that.” He shook his head. “I’ll stop soon. I have no choice. I can be dishonorably discharged from service for this shit.” Sighing, he took another sip of the drink before putting the mug on the floor next to him. He brought his knees up close to his chest and rested his arms on them. “I lied to everyone about what happened when I left last year. To my sister, my brothers, Oliver, Lola. Allison’s always been very worried about me, especially when I leave. She makes it a point to know absolutely everything that’s happening wherever I am, and she heard about an explosion and freaked out when she couldn’t get in contact with me. I told her that it didn’t happen at my base because I didn’t want her or anyone else to worry, but it did. I watched a friend of mine die March 11th. /I/ almost died March 11th. And part of me thinks I should’ve.” This was the first time he ever said those words out loud, the first time he ever brought up the date. Bryce felt his chest tighten at the thought of opening up about something so personal to him. He hated nothing more than being vulnerable. “Nobody knows. Nathan only knows because he used to work with one of the guys that died that day. Nobody knows about any of it, anything that has happened during my service I keep to myself. It should’ve been me that died that day.”

“Except you aren’t asking, I’m offering. If you need someone down in the trenches with you, I’m it. I know how much serving means to you so I don’t want you to lose that”. It was easier for the two to engage honestly in this environment, where it was dark and they both knew that they were safe. She listened quietly as he spoke, her heart constricting painfully in her chest and a few errant tears burning down her cheeks. It was hard listening to Bryce’s confession, to know what had been haunting him and why he had been so intent at pushing her away. “I hope your friend is resting peacefully”, she said quietly. She didn’t want to depend on the “I’m sorry” cliche because they both knew that it didn’t help anything. “Your friend, your sisters, your brothers, Ollie, Lola... there’s a reason that you survived and I think they’re a large part of it. I know that you don’t see it but so many people are better because of knowing you, because they loved you. I don’t know your friend but if he cared about you even half as much as we do... he wouldn’t this life for you. He wouldn’t want you to spend the rest of your life wishing that you were dead instead”. Her voice was gentle and completely non-confrontational as she really didn’t want to do anything to trigger him. “All I’ve ever known is the darkness, Bryce. I’ve come to terms with it now because I’ve always been sure that there’s no escaping it; that it’s ingrained in me and I can’t do anything about it but... sitting here with you, listening to you... I don’t want this to be your future. Our relationship is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, you’re the best person to enter my life and I will do everything I can to get you through this because you deserve more than a life spent hiding in wardrobes with me”.’ AJ’s anxiety and insecurity meant that there was a part of her that worried that if Bryce got better, he would realise that he deserved more than her but she loved him enough to take that risk; all she really wanted was his happiness, even if it meant that it wasn’t with her.

“I don’t want you to do anything you’re not ready to do. I’ll get through this, I always do.” Bryce assured. If he were being honest, he had been completely thrown off by Amber-Jade’s offer. He didn’t know much about her drug use, and that was mainly because he had worked hard to stay away from environments that promoted drug use. He never had a problem with alcohol, but if there was one thing he struggled with often, it was compulsion. His head snapped up, looking at her with sad eyes when she said the comment about Eric. “Yeah, I hope is resting peacefully too. He was a good guy.” Bryce said in agreement, sighing immediately after. He nodded as she continued speaking. The man appreciated her words, it was comforting to hear, but it was still hard for him to hear. It was the same words people told him after the car accident, and when his father died; the same words he just couldn’t bring himself to believe. “I don’t want to live like this either, but I’m not your responsibility, Amber-Jade.” He said simply, his voice soft. “If this is because you’re scared of losing me, you’re not. I’m sorry for being up and down with you. Last week...you saw a side of me that I try to keep suppressed. The side that’s insecure, angry, and broken...it came out that night, and I’m sorry.”

“I don’t think there will ever come a time where I’m /ready/ to do it but that doesn’t mean that I don’t need to take that step. After that house party and then seeing you at that apartment... I think I’m starting to realise that I can’t keep being so self-destructive. I have people that care about me now, I have goals for the future, things I want to do and achieve... I can’t keep this up for the rest of my life”, AJ admitted, nervously rubbing at the back of her neck as she spoke. “I really hate the fact that I’ve become a stereotype”, she added. It was true — traumatic background, poor socioeconomic area and she had turned to sex work and drug use. She wanted to be better than that. “Do you want to tell me about him?” she asked. She was unsure if that would be helpful or not but she wanted to give Bryce a safe place to talk if he needed it. “You aren’t my responsibility but we’re partners, right? There’s no way in hell that you’d let me go through this shit alone. Whenever I’ve needed you, you’ve dropped everything to hold my hand and help me through the worst of it. I’m going to do the same for you and there’s no point arguing with me because I’m just as stubborn as you”, she pointed out, ending her sentence with a slight joke. “I’m not going to lie... I’ve spent the last week fairly certain that you had broken up with me that night and it did really hurt. Part of me just wanted to pack my bags and run away because that’s what I always do, it’s what comfortable to me. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realised that this is bigger than us. Even if you did end our relationship, I’d still be here and I’d still want to help you because I know what it’s like to be in the darkness alone. Yes, I’m scared of losing you because I always lose the people that I love but this is more than that, I promise”.

Bryce simply just nodded at her words. “I’m really glad you have people that care about you. If you feel as though you need to get clean, then do what you have to do.” In that moment, he couldn’t really say that he agreed. With his sister gone and his estranged relationship with Oliver, the man sometimes felt as though he was alone. That, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to sober up; he loved how numb the drugs made him too much so give it up. “It’s not my place to tell you about him. I just want to forget about all of it. The accident, my father, the bombing, everything. I don’t want to relive things more than I’ve already had.” He stated simply, his voice monotoned and a bit emotionless. “Do you still want to be with me?” Bryce asked suddenly, finally looking up at her. “I know I over reacted at the drug dealers house, but I just want to make sure we’re on the same page here. Because I know I love you, and I do whatever the hell I have to do to make sure people respect that. I know I can’t stop people from hitting on you, but...I just need to know that this is serious. Because unlike you, I have nothing here, and I’m not afraid of packing my bags and running.”

AJ just nodded and said nothing further on the topic. She had extended the offer to help her boyfriend before he experienced any consequences, such as being discharged from active service, but it was clear that he wasn’t ready for that help. She wanted to be there for him but it felt like she was walking on eggshells; like she was just one conversational misstep away from causing their relationship to implode. Her anxiety really was sky high, her hands trembling slightly as she held her hot chocolate. “I get it. I’m the same way about my mom. I just wanted you to know that you can talk to me if you want to”. Whilst people knew that her mom was dead, no one really knew anything about who she was as a person; or the relationship they had shared before her untimely death. It was too hard to talk about. “Of course I do, I’m sorry for making you doubt that. I’ve just... I’ve been hearing comments like that since I was 15 so it just feels like white noise to be now. Sometimes it’s easier to just let the comments wash over me and just bite my tongue because the alternative isn’t always pretty. The racist and sexist verbal abuse I’ve received when I reject someone, the insistent wandering hands even after I’ve said no... those past experiences have made me wary of speaking up all the time. I just want you to know that even when I don’t push someone up against the wall and threaten them because of the comments, I always find a way to tell them that I have a boyfriend and that I’m not interested”, she told him. “This is serious for me. I didn’t flippantly make this commitment, Bryce. There is a reason why this is the first relationship that I’ve ever been in... this isn’t something that I take lightly. I know I’m not perfect. I know that you can do better. I know that it probably feels easier to just cut and run but p-please... please don’t pack your bags and run. Please don’t leave me”. Her voice broke slightly as she spoke and she placed her mug down on the ground so that she could pull her knees up against her chest; resting her head against them to conceal the raw emotion on her face.

“Thank you. I really do appreciate it.” Bryce said, his words sincere. “I understand, trust me I do. And I wouldn’t want you to do anything to jeopardize your safety, but...fuck, I don’t even know what to say right now.” His thoughts were messy, which only made his words just as messy. Hearing her voice crack the way it did...well it was a sound that Bryce never wanted to hear every again. “Hey, hey, hey...” he said quietly, immediately reaching out to grab her hand. “I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I don’t ever want to leave you, I love you, and if anything you’re the one that can do better. It’s just...I don’t know. I feel lost. I want to get better, but I don’t know how. I can’t bring myself to talk about anything...and I don’t want you changing yourself or feeling as though you have to look after me every second. I hate being that burden on you, I don’t want that.”

“That’s okay”, AJ said simply, allowing that part of the conversation to come to a natural conclusion. Neither of them would push the other to talk about things that they found difficult to discuss. “I meant what I said that night, Bryce. I won’t go back to that guy’s apartment again. I can’t control how other people talk to me but I can make sure that I don’t intentionally put myself in situations that make you uncomfortable”. It did hurt that Bryce didn’t fully trust her in that regard but she understood that he was in a heightened state so his ability to engage in logical and rational discussion was reduced. She started slightly when he reached out and grabbed her hand, sure that he was just trying to soften the inevitable blow he was about to deal her. When she heard his soft words instead, she slowly lifted her head, her cheeks stained with tears. “You aren’t the only one that feels like that. I spend most of my life feeling adrift and lost but somewhere along the way, you’ve started to feel like home. Being with you doesn’t magically fix all my issues but you make me feel steadier on my feet. Understood. Seen. Loved. You make me feel like maybe the rest of my life won’t be filled with bad things, that maybe I’m allowed some happiness too. I don’t think you see me as a burden, right? You don’t constantly feel the need to change yourself to be with me? Why can’t I be the same for you?”

Bryce nodded when she told him that she wouldn’t go back to the house. He felt like he was being a bit unreasonable, and he probably was, but it felt as though everything heightened. Especially emotions. “I change myself every day to be with you. Because you deserve more, deserve better.” He whispered. “I just don’t want you to see me like this. I don’t want anyone seeing me like this. All I can think about right now is how the coke and heroin in my drawer will help me forget about all of this. I can’t feel like this anymore…I’m scared, Amber. I don’t know how to get myself through this time.”

Amber-Jade looked at him sadly when he said that he changed himself every single day to be the person that deserved to be with her. She reached out and gently stroked his cheek, a sad smile gracing her face. “You don’t have to be perfect, Bryce. I love you exactly how you are, flaws and all. All I really need from you is to be here, to be with me, to not leave me behind”, she assured him. She didn’t need him to be trying to fit this perfect ideal of a boyfriend; she just wanted the Bryce Cortez that she had fallen head over heels in love with. She just wanted him by her side. “I know that it’s not easy to let someone see you like this but I’m not just anyone, okay? No matter what version of you I see, I’m not going anywhere. You won’t scare me away, I promise”. The one good thing about her past was that Bryce’s current presentation wouldn’t scare her away, she was able to take it in stride and focus on helping him. “Do you want me to get rid of it? I can toss it out right now if that’s what you need. If you aren’t ready for that... maybe we could go to bed? I can hold you until you fall asleep, it’s what my mom used to do for me when my father was high... before she started using herself”.

“I don’t want to leave you...you’re the best thing thing that’s ever happened to me.” Bryce spoke quietly, not being able to maintain eye contact with the other. He gave a shy smile as she stroked his cheek, finding her touch rather comforting. “You shouldn’t have to see me like this, though. It’s not fair to you, especially given your past.” He realized in that moment just how much of a monster he probably was a week ago, and just how selfish he was for forgetting the history of her parents for just a split moment. “You don’t need this in your life. You don’t need /me/ in your life.” He whispered, letting out a defeated sigh. Not saying another word, he grabbed his mug and shimmied his way out of the closet, offering her his hand to help her get up. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I don’t want to ruin any plans.”

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me too. I never thought that I'd have this with someone... I never even /wanted/ this with someone until I met you", AJ said softly. Noticing the way that he smiled for the first time all night, she kept her hand on his cheek and shifted the rest of her body a little closer to him. "I'm not letting you go through this by yourself. We're in this together so even though it's hard right now, I'm still going to be here every step of the way. You've seen me at my worst and loved me just the same and nothing is going to stop me from doing the same for you". AJ certainly hadn't entered into their relationship lightly and she was in it for the long haul, for better or worse. "I do need you, though. I wouldn't have started dating you if I didn't need you. I wouldn't have fallen in love with you if I didn't need you. The way I feel about you... how much I trust you... how I can be truly myself around you... none of that comes easily for me so I'm not throwing in the towel just because you need me a little more than usual right now". She took his hand and got to her feet, the two of them leaving the closet together. "I'm not going anywhere. Could I please borrow a shirt though? Sleeping in this skirt isn't exactly comfortable", she said with a small smile, trying to lift his mood somewhat as she gestured at her leather skirt.

Bryce didn’t hesitate to pull the girl closer to him, taking full advantage of her shifting closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. “I love you.” He whispered, the words coming out more easily this time than other times. Those were three words he didn’t say often to anyone, but with her it seemed to come naturally. The man simply nodded at her statement, still finding it hard to believe that someone could love him as much as she did, especially in that moment. But he wasn’t going to question it; he already questioned her enough the last week or so. He picked up the two mugs from the closet and walked them over to his desk, taking another sip from his before putting it down. “I think this conversation sobered us up, but I have a confession...I may or may not have spiked my drink.” He said with a sheepish smile, sighing in relief as the words left him. Bryce chuckled softly at her request, turning to look at his girlfriend and smiling. “It’s a nice skirt, though. You look good.” With that, he pulled out a cotton shirt from the drawer and put it over his shoulder. “Hey, about what you said last week, and earlier...” He trailed off, beginning to help her get out of the tight skirt and her shirt. “I know this wasn’t easy for you, to be with someone — because it’s not easy for me either. I never want to hurt you, but I’m still not used to all of this.” He admitted as he helped strip her of her clothing, unhooking her bra before helping to put on his shirt.

"I love you too", AJ murmured in response, holding her boyfriend tightly. She had /hated/ arguing with him, hated the uncertainty as to whether they were even still together, and was incredibly relieved to know that she hadn't lost him. AJ knew that they still had a lot of things to work through, both individually and together, but at least they were still in this; at least they were still a team. "I'm kind of offended that you only spiked yours, where was my liquid courage?" she jokingly questioned, laughing softly as she noticed the sheepish smile on his face. The bigger conversation about his sobriety would happen on another day, right now she just wanted to support him through the worst of it. "I always look good, you have a very hot girlfriend". Again, another joke. She just wanted to keep that small smile, that laughter, that lightness in play for a little while longer. "I'm not used to all of this either and I know that I'm not perfect. I just... I want you to know that I would never do anything to break your heart, Bryce. I wouldn't betray you or cheat on you or disappear on you. When I made that commitment to you, I wholeheartedly meant it". She was quiet as he finished helping her change into one of his shirts before leaning forward and pressing a gentle kiss against the corner of his lips.

Bryce was still a bit in denial about the status of his mental health. A part of him knew that he was lying to himself when saying that this relapse is just a way for him to cope as he got through this tough anniversary month. But one thing he did come to realize was that this doesn’t have anything to do with anyone else in his life, so he really needed to be careful with how he treated some people — especially now that he couldn’t just run away like before. “I’m pretty sure liquid courage is what brought you here to begin with.” He joked lightly, attempting to push any dark thoughts and cravings to the back burner. “I do. I’ll never deny that.” He said lightly with a smile. Bryce sighed as she spoke, nodding his head slowly to show that he understood. “I know.” The words came out in a whisper as his head hung low, not being able to find the courage to remain eye contact with her. He gave off another shy smile when he felt her lips pressed against the corner of his mouth, attempting to hide the fact that he could feel his heart beating all over his body. He /hated/ being vulnerable, and although he knew it was necessary for the two to make things right, he found himself attempting to push off his fight or flight. “There’s food in the fridge if you’re hungry. I’m drained so I think I’m going to call it a night.”

“Touché. I can't believe that I actually threw pebbles at your window and then gave a big speech... I never thought I'd be recreating that cliché", AJ groaned before laughing softly at her own expense. She really had pushed herself out of her comfort zone tonight but it seemed like it was worth it because she and Bryce had actually spoken again; and patched up a few of the issues that they had been experiencing. "It's refreshing that you see me as more than just a pretty face, though", she added. In her past, she had predominantly been treated as a piece of meat so her relationship with Bryce really was refreshing in that regard. She just squeezed his hand gently when he hung his head and said that he knew, not pushing the point any further as she didn't want to make him feel any more upset or guilty over everything. "I'm not hungry, I just want to go to bed with you", she assured him. Right now, there was nothing that she wanted more than curling up with Bryce and hopefully making him feel safe and secure, at least for tonight.

“If it means anything, I’m really glad you did.” Bryce admitted, speaking in a soft tone. He didn’t want to admit it right there in the moment, but he didn’t realize just how much he needed someone; how much he needed /her/. “That’s because you are more than just a pretty face, Amber-Jade. The looks are merely just a bonus at this point.” He said in a sincere tone, giving her a shy half smile immediately after. Nodding his head, Bryce began to undo the bed; pulling the sheets out so the two could climb in together. “It’s a new bed so it should be much more comfortable than before.” He chuckled softly. He hadn’t gotten much of the chance to break in the new bed, considering he found himself to be an insomniac as of lately.

"I'm a little embarrassed but I am glad that it seemed to work". AJ had never been the type to engage in grand romantic gestures, yet Bryce was seemingly the exception to her own rules. "You know that I feel the same way about you, right? It's not just physical attraction and sexual chemistry... this is real", she said softly, the two of them climbing into bed together. "Holy shit, it feels like a cloud! I think this might just be the most comfortable mattress ever... you have good taste, Cortez". When she was sure that Bryce was comfortable, she curled up behind him; essentially taking the 'big spoon' role. "I'll be here when you wake up, I promise", she whispered, the woman holding her boyfriend until he eventually drifted off to sleep.

[miss-sue-sylvester]

Presentation 4 Pairings

I’m sure I will be much more impressed by these presentations than the last ones.

6am-Catalina Lopez - Nick Duval 

6:30 am-Eva Corcoran - Davina Fabray

7am-Sofia Jones - Dana Abrams

7:30-Wyatt Sylvester - Astrella Smythe

8am-Blake Clarington - Mackenzie Lynn

8:30-Sebastian Smythe - Hailey Rose

9am-Atticus Corcoran - Josephine Clarington

9:30-Malachi Jones - Silas Karofsky

10am-Henrietta Hudson - Gabriel Anderson

10:30-Ryder Lynn - Karsyn Hart

11am-Kitty Wilde - Monica Berry

11:30-Wilder Anderson - Robin Sylvester

Noon-Adelaide St. James - Augustine Wilde

1pm-Abel Berry - Elizabeth Karofsky

1:30-Mateo Lopez - Sawyer St. James

2pm-Bethan Duval - Orion Chang

2:30-Quinn Fabray - Nova Hart

3pm-Kurt Hummel - Envy Evans

3:30-Nathan Lynn - Katelyn Hummel 

4pm-Pepper Motta - Stella Fabray 

4:30-Charley Rose - Cadence Schuester

5pm-Daniel Schuester - Blaine Anderson

5:30-Cecilia Sterling - Anthony Chang

6:30-AJ Wilde - India Adams

7pmHunter Clarington - Thomas Sylvester

7:30-Jeffrey Sterling - Zachary Pierce

8pm-Caelan Smythe - Scarlett Sterling

8:30-Spencer Evans - Hayden Hudson

9pm-Taylor Abrams - Kolbe Adams

Partners will present in front of the headmasters in the performing arts center at their allotted times. Please do not go longer than 25 minutes. New students, please make sure you know your limits and have plans for aftercare. Partners are non-negotiable. Presentations are mandatory. Name listed first is Dominant, second is submissive.

OOC Information:

Please post your chatzy/para with the tag presentation4.  

Basically, you’re doing a scene in front of Sue and Will, who will be grading you and awarding up to 100 points. Please keep them short and focus more on what can be seen and heard rather than on inner thoughts. If you have a gif or picture that sums up the set up, feel free to use that instead of writing out all the set up. Grades/points are based on creativity, communication, degree of difficulty (also depends on individuals experience level), demonstration of D/s skills and safety.

Please remember!!!! 

Sue and Will grade the interaction between the two students, not the scene’s concept. So, while giving use the head cannon of what the scene entails is important, it’s much more important to tell us how the student did, what they said and how they were acting.

NEW RULE: For all headcannons, please include at least four lines of dialog during the “meat” of the scene. We need to see how they are communicating and interacting. This is especially important when there is an NPC involved. Remember the slaves have all been trained and are rented that week, so they can practice with them in the dungeons if they’d like.

Options:

1. For up to 100 points, you and your partner can chatzy/para out the scene.

2. If, for whatever reason you two cannot get together to write the whole thing out in detail, one person can write the framework of the scene and the other can fill in their characters reactions etc. DO NOT godmod you partner. Communicate.

3. If one writer cannot or doesn’t want to write things out, the other writer may write a scene with an NPC. The NPC would be a slave rented by the school for doing exams. Both writers can take this option, but your max score will be lower. Please keep in mind, we’d like to use this option sparingly, so please do the best you can at communicating with your paired partner first.

4. If the character does show up for presentations, please message the main and let us know. There will be repercussions IC.

5. If you want your character to get points, it needs to be either written out in some way. There is the option that the writer does not have to write something out and nothing will happen IC to your character, however, they also will not receive points.

If you have any questions about presentations or your options for turning them in, please message the main.

[miss-sue-sylvester]

Presentation 3 Pairings List

   Last month was a bit of a disappointment. I certainly hope that you monkey’s can pull it together for something entertaining for this month. Seemed like a lot of you focused on scene week a lot more than your presentations, a choice I certainly hope you won’t make again. but what do I care if you all end up slaves? I’d love to rent a few of you to mow my lawn with your teeth like my own little mowing goats.

Please read the OOC notes, rules have been added

6am: Sebastian and Tony

6:30: Charley and Robin

7:00 Mateo and Gabriel

7:30 Wyatt and Silas

8:00 Spencer and Auggie

8:30 AJ and Kate

9:00 Sofia and Hayden

9:30 Stella and Ryder

10:00 Kurt and Davina

10:30 Atticus and Eli

11:00 Abel and Josie

12:00 Nate and Dana

12:30 Jeff and Sawyer

1:00 Caelan and Eretria

1:30 Bethan and Zachary

2:00 Juno and Mackenzie

2:30 Hailey and Xian

3:00 Taylor and Eva

3:30 Henrietta and Nick

4:00 Cat and Blaine

4:30 Blake and Orion

5:00  Marco and Monica

5:30 Brittany and Marley

6:00 Sutton and Kelly

6:30 Harmony and  Nova 

Partners will present in front of the headmasters in the performing arts center at their allotted times. Please do not go longer than 25 minutes. New students, please make sure you know your limits and have plans for aftercare. Partners are non-negotiable. Presentations are mandatory. Name listed first is Dominant, second is submissive.

OOC Information:

Please post your chatzy/para with the tag presentation3.  

Basically, you’re doing a scene in front of Sue and Will, who will be grading you and awarding up to 100 points. Please keep them short and focus more on what can be seen and heard rather than on inner thoughts. If you have a gif or picture that sums up the set up, feel free to use that instead of writing out all the set up. Grades/points are based on creativity, communication, degree of difficulty (also depends on individuals experience level), demonstration of D/s skills and safety.

Please remember!!!! Sue and Will grade the interaction between the two students, not the scene’s concept. So, while giving use the head cannon of what the scene entails is important, it’s much more important to tell us how the student did, what they said and how they were acting.

NEW RULE: For all headcannons, please include at least four lines of dialog during the “meat” of the scene. We need to see how they are communicating and interacting. This is especially important when there is an NPC involved. Rememeber the slaves have all been trained and are rented that week, so they can practice with them in the dungeons if they’d like.

Options:

1. For up to 100 points, you and your partner can chatzy/para out the scene.

2. If, for whatever reason you two cannot get together to write the whole thing out in detail, one person can write the framework of the scene and the other can fill in their characters reactions etc. DO NOT godmod you partner. Communicate.

3. If one writer cannot or doesn’t want to write things out, the other writer may write a scene with an NPC. The NPC would be a slave rented by the school for doing exams. Both writers can take this option, but your max score will be lower. Please keep in mind, we’d like to use this option sparingly, so please do the best you can at communicating with your paired partner first.

4. If the character does show up for presentations, please message the main and let us know. There will be repercussions IC.

5. If you want your character to get points, it needs to be either written out in some way. There is the option that the writer does not have to write something out and nothing will happen IC to your character, however, they also will not receive points.

If you have any questions about presentations or your options for turning them in, please message the main.

[miss-sue-sylvester]

Presentation 2 Pairings

Alright, the sorry excuses for human beings I call my students. The amount of fighting, bickering and all around noise making between you lot has started to make my forehead wrinkles deepen and my heart ache for the future where you will be in charge of so much as a order at McDonald’s, let alone the entire planet. If you want to act like children then we will treat you like children. So, put on your get along shirts from your obese, diabetic slightly creepy aunt and learn to play nice with your siblings, then many be you’ll learn how to get along as a school. Half of you are on your second presentation and I expect to be impressed. -Sue Sylvester

7:00 am Eva Corcoran and Blaine Anderson

7:30 am Sofia Jones and Madelyn Smythe

8:00 am- Nate Lynn and Ryder Lynn

8:30 am- Wyatt Sylvester and Robin Sylvester

9:00 am-Eli Karofsky and Silas Krofsky

9:30 am-Mateo Lopez and Santana Lopez

10:00 am-Taylor Abrams and Dana Abrams

10:30 am-AJ Wilde and Augustine Wilde

11:00 am-Blake Clarington and Hunter Clarington

11:30 am-Bethan Duval and Nick Duval

Noon- Rachel Berry and Monica Berry

12:30 pm-Stella Fabray and Davina Fabray

1:00 pm-Sebastian Smythe and Caelan Smythe

1:30 pm-Harmony Sterling and Jeff Sterling

2:00 pm-Hailey Rose and Marley Rose

2:30 pm-Regine Hudson and Katelyn Hummel

3:00 pm-Kurt Hummel and Makenzie Lynn

3:30 pm- Kelly Hummel and Hayden Hudson

4:00 pm-Brittany Pierce and Tony Chang

4:30 pm- Abel Berry and Josephine Clarington

5:00 pm- Leah Anderson and Gabe Anderson

5:30 pm-Sam Evans and Luna Evans

Partners will present in front of the headmasters in the performing arts center at their allotted times. Please do not go longer than 25 minutes. New students, please make sure you know your limits and have plans for aftercare. Partners are non-negotiable. Presentations are mandatory. Name listed first is Dominant, second is submissive.

OOC Information:

Please post your chatzy/para with the tag presentation2.  

Basically, you’re doing a scene in front of Sue and Will, who will be grading you and awarding up to 100 points. Please keep them short and focus more on what can be seen and heard rather than on inner thoughts. If you have a gif or picture that sums up the set up, feel free to use that instead of writing out all the set up. Grades/points are based on creativity, communication, degree of difficulty (also depends on individuals experience level), demonstration of D/s skills and safety.

Options:

1. For up to 100 points, you and your partner can chatzy/para out the scene.

2. If, for whatever reason you two cannot get together to write the whole thing out in detail, one person can write the framework of the scene and the other can fill in their characters reactions etc. DO NOT godmod you partner. Communicate.

3. If one writer cannot or doesn’t want to write things out, the other writer may write a scene with an NPC. The NPC would be a slave rented by the school for doing exams. Both writers can take this option, but your max score will be lower. Please keep in mind, we’d like to use this option sparingly, so please do the best you can at communicating with your paired partner first.

4. If the character does show up for presentations, please message the main and let us know. There will be repercussions IC.

5. If you want your character to get points, it needs to be either written out in some way. There is the option that the writer does not have to write something out and nothing will happen IC to your character, however, they also will not receive points.

If you have any questions about presentations or your options for turning them in, please message the main.