Senior year. This was going to be a fresh start for Aj — all things in his past considered. The past. I mean, he practically hated the thought of it. He wasn’t the type to dwell on anything regarding previous issues, but last year was rough, man. He did, however, owe it to his bestie, Phoebe, for being a real one after Julie and everything with his mom. And among his other friends, Hera was a big help on getting him in sh*tty situations. Hera was his bank robbing alternative. If he wanted to be wild and judgy, it was them. @raviola Aj arrived back home a couple weeks before this party from his summer trip, hoping this year would be the best respectable fun of his life. After all, who better to have fun with than Aj himself. He was destined to have fun. Dancing in the rain, climbing on top of buildings, jumping off of waterfalls — Aj was more than ready to be happy again.
He woke up rather late — which was normal to him. Adlai could sleep through an earthquake if he wanted to. The sounds of car horns and birds echoed through his open window. He could smell the familiar scent of Belgian waffles wafting through the air like a snake, straight into his nose; causing his stomach to grumble. Aj closed his eyes tightly with a light groan, despite being minutes away to arriving late to his first senior party.
That is, until Logan ran in screaming: “I MADE WAFFLES! Come eat, bro,” Aj instantly opened his eyes, heart racing as the kid nearly scared him to death.
“Mmh, waffles? no way, bud…” He muttered, slowly closing his eyes again.
Logan was simply appalled that his dearest brother would sleep through such a victory of his (with the help of their nanny, of course) and walked away for a second. Though, quickly came back with his secret weapon. A nerf gun. “I said, I made waffles!” Logan insisted, giving this as a warning to his big brother. Logan instantly fired shots straight towards his brother’s head and torso with the famous soft blue and bright orange bullets. Aj started laughing, holding his hands up to cover his face. “I surrender, I surrender!” He said, sitting up and scooping up his brother over his shoulder as he stood up. “You will pay for that, big man!” He teased, carrying his brother and tickling his sides. Logan’s giggles carried all the way from Aj’s room to the living room. “Put me down! Put me down!” He said, trying to tickle his brother in return. Aj chuckled and lowered him onto the ground, ruffling his hair as he ran away towards the kitchen.
Adlai walked towards his mother who was sat on her black recliner while she watched the television. He placed a tender kiss on her head and gave her a sip of her drink. “You alright, ma? I’m heading to the party soon. Logan is good. Friends are good.” He said, continuing to tell her about the rest of his day. His mom was usually laid in the east wing of their home, so it was unusual for her to be in the living room. It was a good sign. He smiled to the nurse next to them, and went off into the kitchen. Aj plopped a waffle into his mouth and went to his room to get changed. He then walked out of the door and grabbed his skateboard, considering he didn’t live far from the event.
Aj settled by a wall once he got there, noticing a very dim pool, waiters, and a DJ. This was very normal to him and basically anyone attending. In fact, this was a casual party in Blue Royalty descriptions. He placed his board against the wall as he felt a familiar hand grasp his upper arm. ”MY EYES… Aj… I just saw…” He raised a brow and turned towards the girl. Phoebe was his best friend. The only girl it he never had unruly intentions with, which was the best part of their little duo. “Look who finally arrived… Are you okay?” He started off with a smile, and it slowly faltered into a worried expression. With the mention of a drink, Aj smirked lightly with a shrug. “Sounds good to me, but you look like you’ve just seen satan in a bikini… Can’t say I’m not worried about your news,” He cracked as he familiarly grasped her hand while she practically dragged him to the open bar.
He grabbed a drink and they turned in unison as she spoke. ”I just saw someone…” Adlai’s face quickly formed into a sheepish grin as she started to do the hand motions of something he knew all to well. “Phoebs, you look insane,” He said falling into laughter as he hid her little charade behind his obviously bigger hands – covering it from the people around them. “Already? D*mn… Who was it??” He asked. “Where was it?” Aj needed more information. This was an great way to start off the year in his book, in fact, why hadn’t he thought of it?
”I’m scarred for life but hey, at least you look nice,”
He smiled lightly and took a sip of his drink. “You know, with that as our kickoff, it just shows that this year is going to be… wild,” He said, exaggerating the last word. It was good and bad. Aj just didn’t want death and betrayal to be the theme of this year. “But thank you, thank you. I tried so very hard if you couldn’t tell,” He said, gesturing to his outfit that he knew that she was probably thinking was so effortless that he probably wore it yesterday, knowing him. Throw on a few chains, a couple rings and call it a fit. But that was all apart of the Aj charm: Be indelicately humble. “And you look great as well. Why don’t you give the audience a little spin, P?” He suggested with a light laugh, giving her an approving look as he spun his finger in a small circle in the air.
@astxrism pheobe x
