Once they got safely under the table, Hyun-Ae let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. “Are you ok? Luckily this seems pretty minor. We should be-“ Hyun-Ae said, cutting herself off when Niko began crying. Oh crap. She scooted over to Niko, hesitantly putting an arm loosely around them. “Hey…Niko, it’s going to be ok. As long as everyone is away from windows and things that could fall on them, our families will be fine.” Speaking of her family, Hyun-Ae’s phone began to ring, DNA by BTS blaring. Well…if she was going to end up getting crushed by falling debris, now would be a pretty good time. She grabbed her phone, cutting off the song. Answering, her mother’s voice coming out from the phone’s speakers. “Yes, we’re ok. Yes, Niko’s with me. We’re under a table. Are you ok?” There was a pause, and she nodded. “Ok, I’m glad. The quaking has stopped, but I’m going to stay under here for a bit in case of aftershocks.” After a couple more minutes, she hung up the phone, before wrapping her arms around Niko. “See? Everything is going to be fine.“ Then, on complete autopilot, she did what her mother did to comfort her. She gave Niko a kiss on the cheek. Time. Stopped. “OH. UM…sorry, that was complete autopilot. That’s what my mom used to do when I was having a nightmare or something. Hehehehe…sorry again.” She babbled, looking literally everywhere but at Niko.
@Caticorn - Niko
Well. That was a lot.
Alright fine, perhaps Eddie shouldn’t have been living through the lens of his camera, but making sure that footage would always be there even if he couldn’t remember it was a form of comfort. Especially as it was becoming more and more clear that even his own past had more blanks than he had thought. One of those blanks being in the form of Paige Pierce. That was a whole separate can of worms that Eddie was just starting to get into. However, the last thing Eddie expected on prom night was for the girl he had been needing to talk to for months now would come up to him. She started off by warning him to move or she would drop his camera in the punch. “Don’t touch my camera.” he said, holding onto his camera a bit tighter on instinct before turning to look at her. Eddie took a step to the side to let her pass, still confused by the dynamic between them. There were still so many questions, and none of them were leading to answers, only more questions. “Why didn’t you ever say anything about how we used to know each other?” It was clear, they had not simply known each other, but were friends as kids. Yet, when they first interacted when Paige came to Beryl, she didn’t say a word about it. With everything, she never brought up them knowing each other. That just didn’t make sense to him. Why?
Niko could hear that Hyun-Ae was talking to them, but they couldn’t register the words she was saying. They were too frightened to process anything other than the fact that the ground was shaking. Then Hyun-Ae placed her arm around them. It grounded them a little and made them feel somewhat safer.
“Arigatō.” They whispered, their Japanese slipping out without them even noticing. The girl’s phone began to ring and the sound startled Niko at first, making them jump. They listened to her speaking to whoever was on the other end, finding the sound of her voice comforting, even when she wasn’t talking to them. After hanging up the phone, she completely wrapped her arms around them and they relaxed into her arms as she started speaking to them. Though their relaxed state didn’t last very long as she took them completely by surprise. She immediately began apologizing to them and they really couldn’t decide what to say to her. Did they mind that she kissed them? No. If they were being honest, they had wanted to kiss her while they were dancing. However, was this the right time for that? Also no. She must’ve realized that because suddenly, she began apologizing profusely.
“Hyun-Ae, look at me,” They coaxed, putting their hand on top of hers. “It’s okay, you don’t need to apologize.” They didn’t say anything else. They just pulled out their phone and dialed the first family member they could find. Their brother.
“Sato?..Hai, watashi da. Kazoku wa daijoubu daka?..To Yua?..Arigatō gozaimasu.” They breathed a large sigh of relief when he confirmed that everyone was okay and when they thanked him, they used a level of formality that they very rarely used with him. “…Wakatta, Leon ni iu…Haha ni aisatsushite kudasai…Dōmo…Jaa ne…Aishiteru.” They hung up the phone and put it back in their pocket before leaning into Hyun-Ae.
“Do you think it’s safe to go out?” They asked her looking up at her. They knew that their makeup was probably ruined but there was nothing they could do about it under the table.
@Ouijaloveletters - Hyun-Ae
Translations
Hai, watashi da. Kazoku wa daijoubu daka? - Yeah, it’s me. Is our family alright?
To Yua? - And Yua?
Arigatō gozaimasu - Thank you
Wakatta, Leon ni iu - Okay, I’ll tell Leon.
Haha ni aisatasushite kudasai - Please say hi to Mom
Dōmo - Thanks
Jaa ne - Bye (literally - see you)
Aishiteru - I love you
Ok, so after Destiny had left with Eric to dance. Madison seeing a chance had grabbed Adonis hand and took him to the bathroom smashing their lips together, Adonis was a little hesitant at first but decided, f*ck it and had made out with Madison, trying to clear his mind from Destiny. One thing led to another and Maddy and him had slept together in the bathroom. Adonis had then carried Madison out of the bathroom and suddenly the room started shaking. The whole room was terrified and Adonis had hid under the table- he had once been told when he was training at a ‘place’ that if something like this ever happened he should hide under a table and dial the numbers ****** and so that is what he had done. Madison rested in his lap scared and asking him what was happening, he had brought one of his fingers to his lips to shush her, telling her not to worry that everything will be ok. Adonis had seen Destiny coming out from wherever she was and his eyes widened- why wasn’t she hiding? She looked drunk af as wel. Adonis had lied Madison down gently on the ground and came out from under the table, “Des-” His Des was cut off my Destiny grabbing his head and slurring, “What are you doing! Hide under the table!” Adonis ouched as she held his hair tighter. He pulled her hands from his head and brought her under the table, “I was doing just that till you came out. Why weren’t you hiding??”
–
Niko said something in Japanese, probably thanking her. “Of course. Just breathe.” Hyun-Ae gently tightened her grip on Niko when they flinched at her phone ringing. “Sorry.” She whispered. In her haste to close her mouth, Hyun-Ae nearly bit her tongue off, looking awkwardly at Niko. Those falling debris could come any time now…any time. Niko called their brother and began speaking in Japanese. Hyun-Ae zoned out, staring at the bottom of the table. She must have been really out of it, as she flinched when Niko leaned against her. “Oh, you startled me.” Niko asked if she thought it was safe to go out, and Hyun-Ae poked her head out from underneath the table. “Yeah, I think so…” She said, crawling out into the open.
@Caticorn - Niko
”god knows what they put in that.”
He laughed, pouring himself a small glass of punch, ”Yeah… but hey it might be good? Hopefully anyways…” He eyed the punch before taking a sip and immediately regretting it with a putrid look on his face, “Nope. No, no, no. That his by far the worst punch i’ve tasted. I cant even tell if there is any alcohol in it.”He followed her and took a brownie as well, “I’m trusting you with my taste buds right now. These so better be better than that… poison.” He now officially was weary of all the edible items on this table. Prom food is usually the worst so what did he expect. He has officially gained trust issues with Prom food.
”you look good” ”the suit really suits you”
He was wearing a bright red suit with a white under shirt, the buttons a quarter of the way down with his gold necklace he wears everyday peaking out. His mother had a lot of input in it, she’s very very smothering is the best way to put it. He laughed breathily at the extremely cheesy pun. Cheesy puns the best puns .“Why thank you, you are a breathtaking art piece in that dress.”The dress was beautiful as was she in it. A human sized artwork stood in front of him.
”not much I guess, my prom date already ditched me but it’s fine ” ”did you bring a date?”
He listened taking another bite as she talked, unsurprisingly she was right. It was pretty good. He quickly swallowed as she got to her prom date. Like ditching prom dates in cheesy rom come he gets, but in real life. “You’re prom date ditched you?” Repeating as if he didn’t believe her. “What an as$hole. Who was this idiot?” He asked with a roll of his eyes. Boys really are idiots ,”Well i’m lucky in a way because now i could get to accompany you for now, if you’d like?” He replied with a sweet smile. Shaking his head, ”No, I didn’t bring a date. I just got back actually earlier from a trip, so I haven’t really formed any connections with anyone yet. Plus i didn’t even really know if i was gonna come to this extravagant ball.” He spoke with a sarcastic tone in his voice, gesturing to the room.
Paige:
Flashback:
If one word could describe how Paige felt at this very moment - “free” felt pretty close. She found her little legs running as fast as they could - a difficult feat since… well, she was small. Small even for her age as she was shorter than most of her friends. But what did she care? At the current moment, all 5-year-old Paige cared about was making sure to tag her best friend who was (not so shockingly) faster than her with his long legs. Eddie, who was one of the shyer boys in her class, was just that - her best friend… and honestly, kind of like a second home. Yes, Paige loved her mom, and dad, and her sisters Jessica, Anna, and Emmy annnnnnnd even her brother William butttt they were sooooo old and most times she just found herself alone with the nanny until Will and Emmy came home from school. This - hanging out with Eddie - was an easy escape and she got to spend time with her friend.
Soooo maybe Paige had to play a little dirty to tag her friend… what could she say - you do what you gotta do and for Paige that included a surprise attack where she tackled the man from the back until they were on the floor, tagged him, and raaaaaan away. See - being small had some benefits… like Eddie taking waayyyy longer than her to get back up.
End of Flashback
Many things changed when Eddie disappeared - the most notable being an increased time stuck with her nannies. It was worse when Will decided to expedite his studies and honestly, most of the time Paige just felt alone. Any friend she had left and the lesson she realized was that the only person she could truly trust to be there for her was… herself.
That brings them to now - at prom once again talking to an irrelevant fool, who, just as he was in childhood, took far too long to catch up to her. “Then do yourself a favor and take that camera far away from here and from me, darling. It’s not all free shows.” she noted, looking down at the camera that was now pointed in her direction though Eddie wasn’t looking at it - rather at her.
And that’s when it came - a question she was wondering if he’d ever ask. If her old best friend would even remember- though after so long, she severely doubted it. “Because clearly we never really did, darling. Unlike you, I don’t dwell on the past… especially not on someone so useless. Now if you don’t mind? Id like to get so drunk that I also can’t remember you.”
@Littlefeets - formatting is off but will fix later
Matayto-The-Lovestruck-Dummy:
When someone’s mind runs a million miles a second for so long – it honestly just starts to feel normal. Well, in retrospect, Mateo knows no other normal. Rushing thoughts – whether relevant or not – constantly fill his mind, but at the current moment, most of those thoughts surrounded one person: Sophie. Sophie… and what Sophie was thinking. Was he messing this up? Was he doing well? Were his shoes tied? Yes? Yes… WAIT WAS HIS FLY UP. Okay Matty, let’s just casually put your hand near the zipper to check. Oh. Yes. Okay. Thank God it was… wait… did it look like he was… no…. sht…. He didn’t mean to look like he was…. Fck him.
For the first time in a long time, for some odd ball reason, Mateo Perez felt… nervous. He honestly had only felt this way a couple of times in his life, and he could already feel the antsy-ness that came with this feeling setting in. It didn’t matter that Sophie had already said ”It’s fine” He still felt like he had messed up. Though at least even through the mistake, he could talk…. Oh could the man talk. With Mateo, it didn’t matter what the situation was. It didn’t matter if he was half asleep, if he was being arrested, or if he was in church… or even a funeral – the man would talk the hell out of a room. Hence the ease at moving the conversation over to the chocolate. “Sooooo you like chocolate than? You know once I met someone who haatteeeeed chocolate. Like they were telling me how they never ate it and I was like WHHHHAAT and made them go try this chocolate milkshake that is to DIE for… well… not like really die for… like I didn’t kill anyone or anything or… it’s just… really… good you know? I don’t know what they put in it… maybe chocolate but anyways it’s just so good and I took them there and they actually said it wasn’t bad but they apparently still don’t like chocolate so… yeah…. But you like chocolate right so maybe you’ll like this place or… maybe you don’t like milkshakes but… I don’t know, want to come check it out with me? You don’t have to and you definitely don’t have to get the milkshake they have a lot of other stuff but…” okay maybe him talking = going off on a tangent which equaled him never stopping his words to let another person get a word in. BUUUUT WHAT DID YOU WANT FROM HIM? Apparently it was worse when he was nervous but how was he supposed to know that when he RARELY gets nervous.
Well… nervous and mad – those two are the rare emotions and irnonically recently Mateo has experienced his fair share of both of them. Nervous… well around Sophie and mad around… HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED 
aka his EX best friend Elio. Why were we mentioning Elio? Well, maybe the fact that Mateo had just caught sight of the man entering the venue with his date who, if anyone asked Mateo, looked a hell of a lot like Lenora. Was Elio trying to make Lenora jealous with this move? WELL IT WASN”T HIS PLACE TO SAY ANYMORE AND IT’S NOT LIKE ELIO ASKED HIS OPINION SO WHO THE HELL CARES. Hmph. Rude. (ps it totally looked like Lenora and this was totally a ploy for jealousy in case anyone was wondering).
Honestly he has almost forgotten that he had asked Sophie to dance in the midst of his endless words until she replied to him which switched his emotions back from angry to nervous. A soft smile met his cheeks as his mind caught up with what he had asked her and what she had said, and instantly he found himself taking her hand and walking towards the middle of the dance floor where the DJ was playing one of Dua Lipa’s songs. Spinning Sophie around, Mateo pulled her close and slow danced with her despite being in the middle of a fast song. “Sophie, how come we’ve never really talked before this? I mean, I know we don’t really have the same classes but I’ve seen you around? Did you not like me? You never talked to me.”
@Littlefeets
@Madilfill - mentioned
The-Man-Who-Punched-Fin-And-Lived:
Finley Klein: If you asked Mason Mitchel, the name was synonymous to “Waste of everyone’s Time”. Ohhh look, a big word that Fin probably doesn’t even know – “Synonymous.” Perhaps he didn’t have a real reason not to like Fin – but truth be told, the man was simply an assh0le and didn’t deserve Mason’s respect. And if William wanted to make a fool out of someone, he rather it be Fin than anyone else…
You see…. That was an issue. Coming into this whole…. Thing…. Well, making friends wasn’t supposed to be a part of his cover. William Pierce was supposed to come in, become friends with people and use them and part of him was still willing to make those sacrifices. William Pierce – aka Mason Mitchell – was still willing to tear those around him down because that was always the plan. Wasn’t he? Was Will really willing to hurt those he actually respected? Hurt Sophie? Diego? Maybe he was just more willing to tear down those that didn’t matter to him… such as Fin. Perhaps doing this – causing this irrelevant fight was a way to divert Blue Royalty’s attention from those he actually hoped to protect.
In either case, here he was, face to face with an idiot who had a comeback for everything. “It feels great, thanks for asking. Want me to do it again or will you go ahead and leave?” Mason replied to Fin’s sentiment. There was a frown on Mason’s face contrasting Fin’s smirk and honestly, the way Fin smiled only annoyed Mason more. Hell, it even annoyed William – but let’s keep that one in the bag. With fake frustration playing on his face – a reaction which he knew Fin expected when it came to Dean Klein and him… well… fcking - the man watched Fin’s every move, flinching with the man’s laugh. Mason knew everyone had camera’s on them – something that was playing to what the goal of this fight was. “Ruining? If anything, I’d think this was a free show for all your fans… and ex play things,” Mason responded to Fin’s ruining the night sentiment. Honestly, he would have loved to wipe the smirk off Fin’s lips but alas, here he was – holding himself back. “Maybe go fck o…”
It was weird, however. Mason didn’t get to finish this statement – instead, he found himself dumbfounded by an impact he didn’t expect. Instead of Fin punching him, a girl stood in front of him – her fist recoiling after the impact of hitting his chin. What the actual fck.
Malachi Azure
Kai’s words, they were less for Jess to hear, and more Kai letting out the stream of thoughts that filled his mind. He wasn’t mad at her, he was mad at the situation, even mad at himself. If he was in that situation, he couldn’t even say he would have been able to do much differently, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t still hurt. He hated Anna, but he would always love Jess. As much as he didn’t like the thought that he had ever gotten Anna pregnant, those kids were also Jess’s family, and they were his kids, his flesh and blood. It hurt knowing that he had spent so long never knowing they even existed. Even just finding out about them, he felt as though he had already let them down.
How much could one person fail in their life before it becomes too much? It felt like every single time he truly cared, he failed. What he cared most about in his life seemed to be where everything would crash and burn. Love, family, parenthood. More pain came than anything else. He broke Jess, breaking himself in the process, and when he loved Skye, he did everything to keep from making the same mistakes, only to lose her. His family, everything he knew growing up, was in shambles. Everyone was torn apart. Being a father, every time he took a step forward in trying to be a good father, he was pulled two steps back in some other way. It was like he was drowning, and soon enough his mistakes were going to pull him under.
To his kids, he never existed until now. They grew up raised in different families, not knowing a thing about him. To him, they hadn’t existed until now. Maybe it would have been easier to never have known, but there was no going back now. “dancing with them…” he repeated when Jess said the words. It was like rubbing salt in the wound. He danced with his daughters when they were little. He was with his daughters without knowing who they were. There was a part of Kai that was trying to remember, pick out every detail of the memory from so many years earlier, but it killed him to think about how he was that close and didn’t know, how everything he wanted at the time was within reach if only he had known. So many times in his life he had been just within arms reach of having a life like he wanted, but every time he missed the chance.
“Like I forgot about you? I never f^^king did Jess.” Kai may have moved on with Skye, but there was no way he could say he forgot about Jess, or ever fully moved on. She moved on, built a life for herself with a family of her own, but Kai, even having loved Skye, would always have a part of him tied to Jess. She would always be the one that got away. “and them, how can you expect me to just walk away and forget about them now? Could you? What am I supposed to do here Jess? What do you want me to say? That I’d rather go back to everything I f^^king hate about my life, just to still wonder if my daughters hate me or think I hate them. I can’t, and you know that. I have to know more about them, what their lives have been like. I have to know what kind of people my children have grown up to be. I need to see them.” It didn’t matter if they had any idea who he was to them or not, he needed to meet them. Even if it was just to take a small weight off of his shoulders, just enough so he wouldn’t have to spend the rest of his life wondering.
Niko felt comforted by Hyun-Ae’s presence. Where their reaction to the disaster was purely fueled by panic and the fear of losing their family, hers had been rational. Niko appreciated that, even now as she comforted them in the aftermath. They felt her flinch when they leaned against her after they hung up.
“Sorry,” They apologized after she admitted that they startled her, gently putting their hand on her arm. They trusted her when she told them that she thought it was safe to come out from under the table and so they followed her out. They slowly stood up when they cleared the table, dusting off their pants. They also delicately dabbed at their eyes with their fingers in an attempt to clean up their makeup.
“That was terrifying.” They commented, thinking out loud while crossing their arms. “Are you okay?” They asked, looking over at their date. She had seemed so calm in the moment compared to them but it made them worry about the effect the experience had on her.
@Ouijaloveletters - Hyun-Ae
“It’s fine, I just wasn’t expecting it.” Hyun-Ae explained when Niko apologized. She slowly stood up, hand resting on the table. “It doesn’t look too bad. Just some fallen objects. We’ll have to be careful walking.” Niko crawled out behind her, commenting about how scary it was. “Yeah, I’m surprised I stayed so calm. I guess that’s what happens when you read about earthquakes. Luckily I remembered all that.” Niko asked if she was ok, and Hyun-Ae nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. A bit freaked out, but that’s normal. Are you ok?”
@Caticorn - Niko
‘’
“He’s one of the guys on the soccer team,”
“Oooh, right.” Luna responded, that comment not helping her at all. To be honest, Luna disliked the people on the soccer team, she didn’t really have an idea of who was on the soccer team-ok she did know some, but anyways the people on the soccer teamed seemed like jerks. Luna knows it’s wrong to stereotype them all as @ssholes, douchebags but honestly with the lists they created, the things Luna has heard them say, the way they carry themselves, the way this school was like a stereotypical teen movie- making the soccer plyers and footballer players, the jocks the ‘bad guys’ Luna wasn’t especially fond of them. The next thing Athena had said, didn’t meet Luna’s ears as she was thinking about her dislikes for soccer players. She saw Athena’s lips moving tho, and thus nodded her head at Athena’s words. Athena had asked if Luna had a special game for them to play, Luna pursued her lips,
“ummm t or d?”."
Sadly-Not-a-Kardashian-but-his-name-still-starts-with-a-K:
So yeah… maybe Kaspian Ishida had something against the upper-class socialites he went to school with. Could anyone really blame him? No seriously…. Have you met the “future generations” of CEOs, CFOs, and all the other C’s that stand for something “important” (important being a loose term because let’s be honest, in Kaspian’s mind none of these goddamn people were important)? If you haven’t – here’s Kaspian’s advice, pray for your fckin’ future to whatever god, entity, or spiritual being you believe in because everyone in this already-damaged world was going to need it.
Maybe it’s hypocritical coming from Kaspian who went to said school for the elite – but hey, Kaspian didn’t consider himself elite. If anything, he was truly the opposite of that… just ask his mother. Trust him, he was not the son his mom wanted, and never would be. Though, with the bull she pulled on him, she also wasn’t currently his favorite person. In any case, he still found himself standing in the middle of it all – the elitist around him though his eyes were only on one person: Katherine Burton. Honestly, it was a miracle he still remembered her name. By now, he would have thrown out irrelevant information such as the names of people he would never interact with again. For some reason however, Miss. Burton had been stuck in his mind since their first interaction and maybe a part of him… a small part had been hoping for another one.
Was that why he was in someone else’s car giving said high girl a ride until she could come down from the state she was in? Maybe – guess no one could say Kaspian Ishida was all bad. Scratch that – he was pretty terrible. This right here, this moment, it didn’t count. Allowing his eyes to drift towards the girl sitting next to him, he smiled at her this is nice comment. It was nice – another thing Kaspian knew was how to steal from the right person. His soft smile dropped for a second – shifting into a laugh – with her next statement. Maybe, just maybe Kaspian was wrong about this girl because every time her mouth opened, he ended up surprised. Suffice to say, he wasn’t expecting her to want to do something more along the lines of breaking and entering. His perception of the girl being a goodie-two-shoes was fading, though, he didn’t necessarily hate that.
Controlling his laugh, Kaspian leaned from his side of the car towards her, closing most of the distance between them so that he was right in front of her. His eyes looked in hers, before drifting down to her lips, and then moving towards her eyes again. “Well clearly, Katherine, the food in there isn’t doing you any favors seeing as you’re on top of the world right now while still being stuck on solid ground,” he whispered, bringing his hand to her face simply to move a stray hair behind her ear. “…anyways, I’d like to think you’ll have more fun with me,”
With that said - now being at a red light - Kaspian leaned towards her almost making it seem as if he was going to kiss her, but instead, he reached for her seat belt and pulled it, clicking it into place so she was secure. See – Kaspian had different sides – this one just wanting to cheekily mess with the girl who wanted to break into another house. Looking back at the light that had now turned green, he started driving again – waiting for her answer about the food. Though, instead he found her unbuckling and opening the window – only to lean out. Great. High, and dangerous. Ironically Kaspian’s usual type, but right now he was more worried about her than anything else. Maybe because his mind was telling him that she wasn’t the type that should be high. [color= #b78c36] “Fine, I’ll eat and you can watch me then,” [/color] he responded to her statement, sighing as he drove slower and moved a hand on her waist – keeping her from…. Doing something stupid… more stupid than putting her head out the window, that is.
Though as she screamed Milkshakes, Kaspian knew where he was headed – changing his direction and taking a left turn down a street, then a right turn… then another left. Soon enough, the two were back in a residential area – similar to another one they were in weeks prior. Pulling the car into the driveway of the… unnecessarily large house… he hopped out and went to Katherine’s side – opening the door. [color= #b78c36] “Well come on then since you want to break into a house so badly. Show me what you’ve got, Miss. Burton,” [/color] Kaspian whispered, placing his hand out to help her up.
Though of course, this time they would be “breaking in” to his own house.
All Eddie wanted, was to understand. It seemed like everything in his head was shrouded in a fog. Especially when it came to his childhood, which included Paige. Eddie just wanted to know the truth. His family, they would sugar coat it and avoid pushing him. He hated being a burden on them, and being treated like a porcelain doll certainly didn’t make him feel like any less of a burden, or any less confused. Eddie knew he was broken, but he just wanted to what pieces he was missing. All he could do was wonder why when he looked at Paige. She only made him question everything more. Before she arrived in Beryl, he had been able to just continue on with life like normal, but once she reentered his life, so much of the past was brought back into the discussion and the more he found out, the less he could get it out of his head. “I’m not stopping you.” he said, gesturing to how there was now a clearly open path for her now since he had already stepped to the side when he first asked her about how they knew each other. “I know it was a long time ago, but I want to know…” Eddie paused, just for a moment. None of it, none of how she had been with him made any sense. He just wanted to understand better. “Help me understand and then I’ll leave you alone, whatever you want.”
“I was surprised at how calm you were, too.” They told her. When she told them that she was okay, they smiled, relieved. Then they nodded when she asked about them. “I’m still a little frightened but I think it will pass. All I needed to hear was that my family was safe.” They told her this with a small smile on their face but they were trying to hide the fact that they felt guilty about being here and not at home with their daughter, having a very strong feeling that she had been frightened by the disaster and it broke their heart that they weren’t there to comfort her. “Do you think we should stay here and wait for instructions or should we try to leave the school?”
@Ouijaloveletters - Hyun-Ae
“It’s always fun when you surprise yourself, isn’t it?” Hyun-Ae asked with a smile. “Yeah, it’s good that our families are ok. My parents probably just hid under the furniture.” When Niko asked what she thought they should do next, Hyun-Ae thought for a second. “I think we should stay here. If there’s another earthquake, we definitely don’t want to be driving. That wouldn’t end well.” She explained, gesturing to the damage around them. “If we’re in the open, there’s a higher chance we could be crushed by something.”
@Caticorn - Niko
In Sophie’s mind, it didn’t matter that Mateo was nervous. If anything, him being nervous was cute. He was far from messing up with her. He was sweet, and putting in the effort to make certain she was alright. As their conversation shifted to chocolate, Sophie listened to his every word, though surprised at his statement of someone Mateo knew hating chocolate. “Of course!” she said, confirming that she did like chocolate. “Really? That’s crazy that they don’t like chocolate that much. And a chocolate milkshake, that sounds really good. Going for a milkshake with you sounds really fun, Matty, I’d love to.” She liked being around Mateo in general, and going somewhere with really good milkshakes with him was a bonus. It was then that Mateo took her by the hand and led her to the middle of the dance floor. There was a faster song playing, but Mateo started off by spinning her around before pulling her close into a slow dance. Sophie couldn’t have tried to hide her smile even if she wanted to. Though, then Mateo asked a question that she really wasn’t certain how to answer. She didn’t know why they hadn’t ever spoken before, they just hadn’t ever had the chance it seemed. “I don’t know… I just didn’t know you.” she said with a slight shrug. “I didn’t know how nice you are, and now I wish I had talked to you sooner.”
Halston never came to Beryl as coincidence, she landed herself a ‘scholarship,’ or so that’s what her father thought. Beryl was the destination for Hal, the highschool being the main premises of that stupid game: Blue Royalty. She had always heard things about it, that it was rigged or that it was run by a terrible family. Or I guess… that’s what her mother had always told her. Anna Bailey: a journalist for The LA Times, and later New York Times. Yep, that’s her mom. A couple years ago she had passed away due to unfortunate events, and ever since then Halston’s been trying to uncover what her mom was really writing about.
After being in the city for 4 years, Halston’s became friends with lots of people, and made some of her own enemies. I mean, what highschool doesn’t have drama? She’s snuck out to parties, experienced ‘heartbreak,’ ruined a couple friendships. The typical ‘teenage’ life. It was nearing the end of senior year, everyone starting to split on their own paths, friends turning into strangers. But, the end of senior year meant one thing. Prom.Being a senior, you’re basically required to go to prom. Even the nerds show up. Although, showing up late, fashionably late, was Halston’s thing. She may have been 20 minutes late, well… Who is she kidding? She was 2 hours late, but at least she looked good.
Walking in, people were taking pictures, flashing lights going off in every direction. The thump of the music could be heard from halfway across the building. Looking for her friends, Hal spots the one and only ‘Mason Mitchell’ standing across from another guy, Finley Klein. She almost wanted to face palm, of course he was causing drama again. To be honest, she did ask him only a couple days ago to help her with a little task she was trying to do. But, this isn’t exactly what she had in mind. Playing into his hands, Halston makes her way over towards the two. Standing along the wall with her arms crossed, Halston pretended to look down at her phone, listening in on their conversation. Seriously Mason? Did you have to make the situation bigger than it needed to be? People stood around, cameras out facing the two. Of course everything Mason was saying was only to agitate Fin. Fin had a little bit of a temper, and by a little bit, it means a lot. He’s known as the ‘asshole,’ the one that doesn’t care.
‘“Ruining? If anything, I’d think this was a free show for all your fans… and ex play things.”’ And with that, she looked up, making eye contact with Mason, knowing this was her chance. He was helping her get an in, and this was the perfect way to do it. What better way to get the ‘asshole’ to notice a girl, other than by wanting to have s3x, tell the guy thats about to punch you to fuck off. Well, Hal did a little more then telling Mason to fuck off. Pushing her way between a couple of people, she finally made it into the inner circle of the ‘fight ring.’ ‘“Maybe go fck o…”’ Before he could finish his sentence, being nearly a foot shorter than Mason, Hal shot her fist out at the man’s chin. Of course she felt bad for punching him, he was one of her close friends. ”Keep your hands off other people Mitchell,” she grumbled. ”And you? Find something better to do than argue with this idiot.”
Mr-Terrible-Hubby:
Flashback:
Despite only being 5-years-old, Jordan already knew his job in the William household: Pretend like he didn’t exist - especially when his dad had a visitor and, as per the norm in his house, there were currently multiple men in the living room laughing, smoking, and drinking. The grumble in his stomach indicating his hunger was just a passing thought as Jordan sat in his small bedroom. Well… bedroom was one word for it. In reality, it was a small storage closet with a blanket and pillow on the floor and a few toys he had gotten from his aunt in the corner. On the other side were a handful of shirts and pants that went in rotation whenever he was going somewhere - Ill fitted as they weren’t actually his size.
But this was life… one that Jordan had grown accustomed to. To put it simply: he didn’t know anything different. He did, however, find solace in the tapping of his fingers and the way that every creek of a floorboard made a different sound - one of which he considered an escape as he combined two or three of the sounds to make a quiet tune. It was just a few days prior that Jordan had seen what was considered a “street dancer” and he found him self en captured by the speed of the movements that he couldn’t even compute. But there he was - moving his limbs trying to mimic what he saw… as the floors creeped under him making an interesting tune. Was he any good? No, well… he was trying though. Trying… falling… being scared that he made too much noise and his dad would come in with his belt… and then slowly starting again once he believed his dad hadn’t heard him.
Today was different. The shaking of his small glass of water on the corner was the first thing Jordan noticed after he stood and spun around. Was it him? Did he do that? All he knew was that within seconds, the glass fell and the water scattered. There was an instant fear that met his frail body - afraid of what his father would do to him if he heard that… however the shaking continued indicating that it wasn’t stopping anytime soon. What… what had he done? The initial fear of his dad coming in was replaced by the fear of what was happening around him as dust fell on him from the ceiling. His little chest heaved over the dust and in the next second, he found himself tripping over the shaking. All he could do was crawl over to his blanket and put it over his head - sobs emitting from his body from the new experience… one that the 5-year-old truly believed was his fault for… for not being quiet enough? For dancing? For not sitting still like his dad had told him to?
—-
As Jordan used his body to protect Jezebel and a little boy who was crying - he found his mind wandering to a moment he hadn’t thought about in years. Supposedly more years than he could remember, but it had still been a long time. Jordan could still remember peeking his head out of his… “bedroom” after hours of quiet sobbing and… finding his dad asleep on the couch. Did he know what an earthquake was? No. Did little Jordan believe he killed his dad? Yes. Was the truth that his dad never checked on him even after the earthquake? Yes. Did it end up with Jordan getting whipped for waking his dad up?
Yes.
In the entirety of his life - he never wanted to ever be close to the type of dad his own father was. He wanted to be there for his kids - all of his kids and it fcking… it…. It killed him that he couldn’t remember his current children growing up and…. God what the hell was he doing with Jezebel? If those were his kids he didn’t…. He held no resentment towards them so why was he resentful towards Jez? Well… maybe he knew the answer to that and maybe he was taking his subliminal frustration out on her. And now… looking at the fear on her face as she held her stomach - the same ice filled his veins. He knew Jezebel - and he knew this wasn’t okay… and once again he felt like the helpless child he was so many years ago.
Pulling the child closer to his body and Jezebels, he asked her if she was okay and…. without surprise he heard her words as the shaking came to an end. ”we’re not”
He found his heart skipping - and not in a good way. There was this ache in his chest at her words and a deep rooted pain that he couldn’t shake since the moment he started speaking to Jezebel in the way he did. It’s almost as if his body was moving without his mind playing any factor. Getting out from under the table, Jordan supported Jezebel and pulled her out first and sat her up against the wall. Grabbing Adain’s little body next, Jordan picked the boy up and ran to the first person he saw telling them to get him to his mother before running back to Jezebel, picking her up, and carrying her to his car that was parked outside - a whisper of “it’ll be okay… you’ll be… we’ll be okay. Breathe.” leaving his lips as he put her in the passenger seat and rushed to the other side where he instantly begin driving infe Jez was secured in.
Jez’ house was located within a 3 minute drive to the biggest hospital in the area. Jordan knew this was something Dan made sure of with… well everything that happened in the past. That didn’t, however, mean that the that the road wasn’t filled with cars after the earthquake. Most were abandoned as people went to go find shelter, and honestly, that made it highly difficult to swerve between them to get to the hospital. All he knew was that he would do anything to get there - which included driving on lawns and even slightly hitting cars to move his through. It was only at one point where he was truly stuck - and instead of waiting he simply stopped the car, rushed to the other side, and opened the door to grab and carry Jez the last 2 minute walk to the front doors.
The hospital, in general, seemed to be dealing with its own issues - multiple people inside after the earthquake. However, with a scream for help, Jordan found someone bringing over a wheelchair and within a second for Jezebel Parker… Jezebel Williams? She… was surrounded by healthcare professionals who were wheeling her away.
Fck.
What the fck just happened.
What the…
Jordan stood still for a moment, trying to let his mind catch up - but he found his legs running toward me where she was being taken away only to be stopped by a nurse.
“Sir… I’m sorry… you’re going to have to stay out here.”
“I can’t… is she… I need to make sure she’s okay. I need to… I… the babies. I’m the… I’m the fat… I’m the father… I’m her… I’m her husband.”
And in that instant - a strange weight lifted off his shoulder, despite the new weight of his worry for Jezebel.
“I’m her husband.”
@Littlefeets - Tis probably needs edging but I do later because I on a bus with low connection rn