The Rise of the Santa Monicas [open, signup required]

OOC: this is a sign-up topic, sign-ups being here. It is still joinable throughout the topic's running. Make sure that if you see someone that is not paired yet, that you give them some love. This topic is for fluff and sexual tension, nothing too out there and obscene; if you want to do sin/sexual stuff regarding the topic, then make your own topic to branch off from this one.

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Logan looked out the window, his head head pressed flatly against the smudging glass. It seemed that at noon, during the busiest time of day, no one came into the infirmary. Everyone who was sick had no time to get it checked, and those who were already sick usually felt their best at that time. Jane personally was in the backroom alone, possibly sleeping or whatnot. He bit his lip and watched the crowds pass.

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Lotte held the paycheck high in the air, the sun leaving it transparent save for the bolded numbers, 200 dollars. It had been late, per usual, but it was finally in her hands. For once cup noodles were not a necessity, albeit still very delicious; she wanted to hug the check and never let it go, but she knew she had to part with it. The bank, the bank would make it tangible! Once she had it in the bank, she would buy something fantastic. Maybe a steak, or a lasagna, or...
Her wide smile retained itself, but it hollowed, tightening and almost shrinking as realization crept over her. The most exciting thing in her life was food. She was already on the level of the fat cat lady, and her photographic career was at a standstill...
She needed a boyfriend.

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Maisie's favorite spot was the wall. In particular, the small brick wall that separated the bike racks from the rest of the courtyard, at the edge of the grassy knoll where the least people were. She lay across this wall, her back against the adjacent shed. The day was unmistakably beautiful for December, her jacket light and her legs bare beyond the long plaid skirt of the Beata uniform. In her hands was a book, a long one, the cover adorned with archaic ornament, the pages crisp and yellow. Didn't she have a class soon? Eeh, what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her...

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The courtyard was the busiest in the daytime. Particularly noon seemed to buzz with the fervor of lunchtime, with empty stomachs and tales of the morning. It was when the school was most busy, in the midst of work and responsibilities, urgently going from place to place, some students with sandwiches in mouth, others with stacks of papers in their hands. It was a hectic Tuesday when the girl walked in, unspectacular save for her lack of uniform. She wore a brown, fluffed up vest over a green hoodie. Any less-busy point in the day, she would have stood out. But here, she just looked like another person, not to be bothered with in the bustle that was Beata Academy's lunchtime.

A violent flash suddenly came over the schoolyard. Some people screamed in alarm, the flash so sudden and bright despite the clear day. It was almost as if it overtook sight entirely, personally, dazing each individual in the courtyard for a moment like a camera flash in a dark room. And like a shudder and whir, the flash would begin to dissipate. The girl continued to walk through the confused crowd without much of a worry.

Flash! Flash! Everywhere she went, an explosive daze shuddered the population around her, in classrooms and hallways. A teacher began to ask what she was doing, but upon being dazed, threw himself eagerly at his assistant, suddenly discouraged by his previous interrogation. The redheaded stranger smiled, head high, a swagger to her step as she made it further and further into the academic building.

This was it. Evelyn stared out into the sky, her hands tucked between her knees to fight off the cold, ragged wisps of fog leaving her lips with every breath. She'd been checking down the days since December started like it was an advent calendar, except there weren't any chocolates, and no presents at the end. Since she'd arrived at Beata, she'd only ever received one gift for her birthday. Evelyn reached up to touch the snowflake pendant looped around her neck, cold as ice against her chest. December Fifteenth. Eighteen.

That made her an adult. She didn't feel any older.

High school was never supposed to end, but inch by inch, it'd started to sink in like a knife. There was going to be a life after Beata. What then? After all this, what was she supposed to do with the rest of her life?

There was a dazzling flash, a few surprised yelps. She almost leaped out of her seat. Huh...? What? Was it a camera?

Three years ago, she'd been sitting in this same bench when... Evelyn blinked the lights out of her eyes and glanced around, but her eyes locked onto the first familiar face she saw.

"Ch-Charlotte...!" she blurted. For whatever reason, she shot up out of her seat, hands folded in front of her. Her face flushed. Evelyn was quick to correct herself. "Um, Lotte, s-sorry..." The words seemed to spill out of her mouth. It'd been so long. She'd been to wrapped up in her thoughts to notice her before, and Lotte... well, she could forgive Lotte for not noticing. "Was that y-y...?"

Her eyes wandered down, searching for the camera in her hands, but nothing. Her hands. Evelyn's eyes lingered on her left arm, chewing on her lip, and she tore her gaze away to meet her eyes. "I g-guess not..." She couldn't stare for long. Evelyn's cheeks burned with embarrassment as she turned her head away, reaching up to fiddle with her hairpin. "No n-newspaper club anymore, huh...?"

Of course not. Stupid.

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"All the people look like ants from up here!"

What a load of horse crap. Poppy was twisting through the air in freefall. The only ant-like thing that came to mind was that she didn't want to smash any of them.

She was still falling. You had to time it just right, or else her legs would snap like popsicle sticks. Just... right. One, Mississippi. Two, Mississippi. Three... Oh frick. Somewhere below flashes lit up the courtyard, and she had to wonder if it was the thinning oxygen, or if her nana had just been right about her being mentally ill. That was enough to rip up any shred of concentration she had clinging on in her head.

Poppy plummeted into the bushes, rolling, and sprawled out across the asphalt at someone's feet. Dirt, leaves, and twigs speckled her windblown hair, but that wasn't anything new.

Fuzz...

Harrison saw the brief flash and blinked a few times so his vision would return to normal. Then the girl came tumbling out of the air almost and wound up at his feet. He looked down on her with annoyance, wondering what reckless person would do something as stupid as that. But the feeling of contempt dissipated and the pink-haired boy had no idea why. "Are you alright?" he asked her, concerned for whatever reason. It was completely unlike him to be worried about anyone, let alone a daredevil of a girl. But here he was, asking about her well-being.

She blinked the stars out of her eyes. The sun silhouetted behind him, ringing his face like a halo. Pink hair. Glasses. Earrings. Cheese-and-crackers, he looked like a... what did nana call them? Like a pillowbiter? Oh, it didn't matter. Her stomach knotted up. There was that little lurch, a little nauseous and a little dizzy, and she was only half positive she didn't have a concussion, but there was that instant reaction. Tingles. "No," she answered flatly. Her bones felt like liquid, and there was a coarse sting up her back from where she'd landed, and she didn't think she could stand up. How did you go about this kind of thing?

It was probably best to be straightforward.

"Hey, you look like you like guys, but I think I love you," she deadpanned.

Ah, something like that.

Floriano smiled as he set through the courtyard in a chilly morning, grinning like a stupid child who was just left alone in a  candy shop. The boy strolled quietly through the courtyard, his eyes shinning as he walked by and waved to everyone with no reason in particular. "Beautiful day is it not?" he cheered and walked on.

Flash, Flash, Flash


The light seemed to tingle Floriano's eyelids as he was thrown backwards and tumbled to the ground like a toy. He struggled to keep them shut, something told him it would hurt to open them. His limbs felt like wood stuck in his torso like stick in a snowman. With difficulty, he brought himself half up, shaking his head, his blonde locks dancing in the sun. 

Why was he here again? Oh right. He was broke.

Harvey had never intended to return to this shit show. He wasn't fond of living in one place for too long, but a lack of funding forced him out of his adventuring phase once more. Unfortunately for him his family denied him any access to money until he finally finished high school. It was frustrating, especially when the only school willing to accept him was this queer academy.

The only thing he could look forward to out of this arrangement was the food. He always managed to snag a few sandwiches or burgers each day. Today was no special occasion as he walked down the stone pathway with a beef patty hanging in from mouth. At least they were always well stocked with his favourite meal. Despite the annoyance that was his teachers, he was feeling rather relaxed in this moment. At least he was until a bright light blinded him in his wake, causing him to drop his burger in shock.

It took him a minute to recuperate from the sudden white vision. Blinking away the eye floaters, the redhead scowled down at his now snowy meat. The boy bent his knees, squatting down and poking the beef with disdain. Letting out a long, drawn out sigh, Harvey's eyes rose from his lost meal and rested on a pair of soft legs standing a few feet in front of him. He swallowed hard as his gaze trailed further up her body until stopping at the sight of her brown hair. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. The boy's heart pounded. Why? Was he having a heart attack? Were his poor diet and drinking habits finally catching up to him?

He stood to his full height and clenched his shirt. This lump in his throat... This red hot blush coating his face... Just what was this?

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Farkas shivered in his coat as he walked out from the entrance. The day was chilly with a frost coating every surface it could touch. He felt his feet slip a little as he continued towards the grass, but paid no mind. He loved his plants with all of his heart, but it was beginning to become suffocating in his tiny, flower filled room.

Just before his foot touched down on the crunchy grass, a startling flash filled his eyes, blinding him temporarily. The boy lost his balance and slipped backwards. He landed with a harsh thud and hissed in pain. The light faded and left him sitting on the cold ground with scrapped hands and a sore hip. A low groan escaped his lips as he rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the sweet headache that unexpectedly appeared.

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Elaine walked into the courtyard and all of a sudden there was light and she looked at Maisie and just said "Holy fuck you're hot."

Floriano struggled up greatly, pushing himself, trying to find support. Why was the ground so lush, like grass near him? Surely the shock hadn't knocked him back that much... The boy found support and pulled himself up, only to realize that he had pulled someone by the coat and the next moment they were sent crashing down back on the frosty ground. He blinked in surprise and looked over at the human pillar. Something inside him grinned stupidly.

Long green hair... green hair is hot...and those gorgepus eyes... perfection in every trait visible, but Floriano knew that he would be perfect on the inside as well. He followed the lead of his heart and urged himself to grin. He managed a pathetic whimper and a blush before he murmured something that his parents would've been proud of. And sorta creeped out majorly about,  but hey, at least now he was feeling grown up.

"Hey, I think you are the hottest guy there is in this world and also I think I'm suddenly gay, so, please do forgive me for what I am about to do." he said, rather quick before pulling the boy in a kiss.

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"Charlotte."

Her eyes refocused on the figure of Evelyn, the girl startled by the flash but more so confused. Her friend was soon there in front of her. Evelyn, it had been so long. A wave of joy rushed through her, and Lotte abandoned any concerns she had about the flash, assuming it was all in her head. She began to twist a stray hair in circles around her metallic finger. "Oh, hey!" she said with a grin. When had Evelyn been so clear? She had never seen the girl so prominently. Her eyes were gorgeous, she never knew her eyes were so gorgeous.

"It's fine if you call me Charlotte, it sounded pretty when you said it."

A short laugh and a warm smile later, soft like candlelight, she bit her lip. "Yeah, we didn't get funding from the school. Turns out it is hard to manufacture newspaper alone in the middle of North Dakota." She folded the paycheck and placed it in her bag. It could wait, she was catching up with an old friend.

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The flash almost didn't affect Maisie. Her attention was not to the courtyard, and she thought it was someone taking a picture close by, some nuisance of a camera flash. So she resumed reading, grumbling to herself about the rudeness of the common person. Of course, this sentiment only heightened when someone exclaimed to her, 'Holy fuck you're hot.'

Maisie wasn't even sure it was directed to her at first. After a moment of no response to the exclamation, she looked down from her book, and sure enough, a girl was ogling at her. She was cute, but, well, she didn't really think about that stuff, how cute girls were, and, err...they...weren't...

"Fuck off, weirdo," she spat, but almost uncertainly. It seemed the word she chose to call the girl danced through more caustic options before she settled on what she did, rising in an awkward tone. Her thumbnail scratched with a bothered arbitration over the page of her book. "I'm not interested..."

"Ha, um..." She couldn't hold her gaze. The words, so simple, so light, they hit her like a lightning bolt. Evelyn breathed out a nervous, chittering laugh, wringing her hands as snakes wormed around in her gut. "Th-thanks...?" Her comment on the newspaper's demise hadn't really been a joke, or all that funny, but she laughed again, sneaking her hand in front of her mouth as she tried to hold it back. Right. No funds. That... sucked, or something? Evelyn couldn't keep her hands still, glancing up to look at her every couple of seconds before forcing herself to look around again. Shit... She nodded. "I-I guess it would be hard..." The words slipped out so quiet she knew Lotte probably couldn't even hear, but she didn't bother to repeat herself. It felt like there were cold invisible hands clutching at her neck.

Say something. Say something. Say something. Nice weather. Nice flowers. Nice, uh... she looked nice. Yeah. That felt like the right thing to say, but she couldn't just switch tracks like that. Her mind was racing, derailing, crashing, exploding. "I-it's a pr-pretty name, th-that's all..." she mumbled, and it came pouring out in a stream. "Y-you're just really pretty..." Quieter. Evelyn couldn't tell if she'd meant it to say it out loud, but she sighed it all out in one breath, paralyzed and rooted to the courtyard asphalt.

God. Did she just say that?

Her mind blanked.