During the truth or dare game Maverick had his first drink of the night, though it was surely not his last. Candice was kissed during the game, as a predictable choice, before she walked off to the bathroom. By the time he saw her come back, Maverick, for the most part, still had his head about him, but he was in no way sober. As soon as she had come up to him, she gave her goofy smile and took the drink right out of his hand, causing him to immediately give a look that clearly said, Hey! That was mine. He looked at the empty glass as she placed it back in his hand, still slightly in a state of surprise from the drink theft, then back at Candice. “Well alright then, glad I could get that for you.” He said with a hint of sarcasm. He nodded slightly at her suggestion then looked to the empty glass in his hand. “Well, as you can see, there’s nothing holding me here, so getting out of here sounds alright by me.” He set down the now-empty glass and looked at her. He had no desire to stick around the party. He lost interest in the party itself during the truth or dare game, so the drinks were the last thing keeping him there. Now with Candice he was up for anything, although it wouldn’t be the best decision for him to drive with everything in his system. “Where are we off to?”
The girl, later introduced as Tala, appeared familiar to Calen - though he couldn’t quite work out how. It could be a good thing, maybe she was a descendant of people in high places, or maybe he’d seen her face on the list of Blue Bloods. But the second choice seemed relatively unlikely. She seemed to nice to be able to handle the brutal game that was Blue Royalty. And, no matter how bad his judgement may be, Calen always went by first impressions. And his first impression of her was that she was no threat.
Though he smiled and nodded, Calen was completely uninterested in the first name of the girl. The surname was more important, as it told him whether or not she was worth talking to. “I’m Calen Hunter,” He replied, intentionally dropping the infamous family name that would easily be associated with the actor Warren Hunter. “You seem familiar…” Calen started, finding a way to get the surname from her. “What’s your full name?”
Kara failed to hide her surprise at Sadie’s announcement. Was it really so impossible that Sadie could be at a school like this? Did she really stand out from everyone else that much? Sadie avoided answering those questions, not wanting to let it taint her views on the school, and lose the little confidence she had with the students. Kara then gave her a small warning about it not being easy. “Do you think it’s hard?” Sadie asked back, wondering whether Blue Royalty was giving Kara a hard time. She considered the fact that due to her bold personality, the game thinks she needs to be taken down a few pegs.
Blue Royalty remained the subject of conversation as Kara began to talk about how very important the game was to her. So, Sadie would have to consider her a strong opponent. But she still had to call into question how important it was for Kara to win. Sadie didn’t audibly express her observation, but Kara seemed like someone who was already a household name with a lot of money. How could she want more? But it was clear how much she wanted it from the red colour that was growing on her face.
”Yeah, it’s pretty important to me too,” Sadie replied, trying to subtly let her know that she could also be considered a component.
Tala’s brows arched at the mention of his name, immediately recognizing it without a pause in her thoughts. Calen was the name that hosted tonight’s party—she was sure of it; Hunter, a name of someone respected in the same industry as her father. Almost instantly after realization, she slightly bowed her head and widened her smile, a bit ashamed of the fact of how casual she greeted him earlier. “Calen… you’re the host of the party. You have…” she rolled her eyes from one corner of her eyes to another, wincing when she saw a couple kissing… violently. “… a great party.”
She turned her attention to the man again, keeping up with her smile. “Are you, in any way, connected to Warren Hunter?” she asked, curious about the possibility that he actually might be. With a house didn’t make wealth and luxury oblivious in its every corner and a surname well-known to probably everyone, it was very likely for him to be a celebrity kid.
She nodded when Calen thought of her as someone familiar, not really surprised by the fact that he doesn’t know of her. Like some of the children of celebrities, Tala and her brothers weren’t the type to concern themselves with the spotlight, so she didn’t really get the every chances she had to join the overwhelming parties her parents would join. After all, being “famous” because of others’ achievements wasn’t her cup of coffee, and she really would rather be productive than to go to social gatherings. “Tala M. Garzon.” she answered, glancing to his hand in case he lifted it for a handshake. Looking up to him again, she shifted her weight and finished her water so that—if their conversation would last—she wouldn’t have to disrespect him later by taking small sips of it.
“Much appreciated,” she continued with a slight glimmer in her eyes as he continued explaining that the plan to ditch the party a little early was ‘fine by him.’ Though, Candice knew his response before she had even truly asked. They had done so many times before and sometimes, in all honesty, Candice felt like Maverick had become a closer friend to her than Val - who had been slipping away as of recently.
“Where are we off to?”
“So many questions… do you not trust me?” CC asked with a laugh as she started walking out of the party with the expectation for Maverick to follow. She led him towards where her driver was parked a few feet away from the entrance near the road of the house - after all, a quick escape was always a part of the plan. As she entered the car, Candice whispered a destination in her driver’s ear before making room for Maverick. Though, once the man had started driving - she decided to lay down with her head Rick’s lap.
“So…” she started, looking up at the man, “Ready for school tomorrow?”
For some reason, seeing Sadie stand in front of her was annoying, and she didn’t know why. It was not like Sadie did anything bad to her but she still didn’t want to be completely nice to her either. “Heck yeah it’s hard, If you think that you’re just going to get everything handed to you, you have another thing coming.” She continued to fiddle with the necklace hanging around her neck.
”Yeah, it’s pretty important to me too,”
“I can see that.” There was a bit of awkward silence that filled the air. “Did you even get to know anyone yet?” She asked.
Calen hoped- he was pretty sure- that the eyebrow raising was Tala realising who he was. It was a reaction he recognised, it was one given to him multiple times when he disclosed his name. It was a look that said: Woah, this guy is important. And it was true, he was. He appreciated the head bow towards him - rightfully being treated like royalty. If that wasn’t enough, Tala also complimented him as a party host, which convinced Calen even more - to befriend her as an ego booster.
“Yeah, I know,” He replied, nonchalantly. Then he decided to add on, shrugging, to make his efforts appear effortless. “It was something completely last minute that I kind of threw together.”
A smile grew on his face as Tala brought the subject back to his surname, which Calen was always glad to revert a conversation to. He was the son of Warren Hunter. Though soon he hoped that, with the help of Blue Royalty, he would have a more independent title - rather than just be associated with his father, Calen was certainly glad to show his current one off. “Yeah, he’s my father,” He replied, not caring that he may come across as bragging. That was what he was going for, anyway.
The surname of her’s was finally revealed - Garzon. Calen hid his surprise as the family tree instantly appeared in his mind. Starris and Carlyn Garzon - two people very much in the public eye and household names, and Tala fit right in the middle of them, presumably being their daughter. Of course, her parents were nowhere near as his, but it was still impressive enough for him.
Seeing that Tala’s eyes looked down at his hand, Calen held it out. “Nice to meet you,” He said with a smile. Tala Garzon, you just got yourself a new best friend.
It was always a guarantee that Maverick would agree to leave the party with Candice, so she hardly even had to ask. It wasn’t the first time, and it was far from the last time they would ditch a party early together. “Nah, I trust you. I trust you a lot more than I trust a lot of people. I just wondered where we’re off to.” Maverick followed right along with Candice to the car with her driver all ready. He still had no idea where they were going since she had whispered to the driver while Maverick had gotten in the car, but it was up to Candice if she was going to say. He was fine with anything with her, so it didn’t even matter much. Just as soon as Maverick was in the car seated, they were rolling and Candice had laid down with her head on Maverick’s lap. Just as she began to speak Maverick looked down at her with a slight smile. Though it quickly faded into a sigh at her mention of school. “Not at all, winter break is never long enough, but it’s better than sticking around home. You ready for it?”
Discomfort seemed to appear in Kara’s face and body language. Did she really dislike Sadie that much? She certainly hoped not. Sadie continued to worry as she listened to Kara telling her how hard the game was to her - and how she had high expectations about how it was going to go. “I’m sorry it’s going like that for you,” Sadie responded, hoping that it would make her feel better about Sadie being in her presence and trying to be as nice as possible, hating the thought of someone not liking her.
Sadie looked around for a moment, checking again if there was someone familiar around to intervene. But there wasn’t, and instead, the only thing that did intervene was silence. She began to worry that her efforts to reconcile with Kara were failing and she was going to continue to dislike her - but she was running out of things to say to help her case.
Finally, a question to continue the discussion came from Kara and Sadie sighed with relief. “Yeah!” She answered immediately, glad to have the conversation flowing again. “I got to know a few people online, yeah. Obviously I already knew you, then I met Dorian, Mikel and Lyonrad in my first few days,” She said, hoping that Kara was friends with at least one of them - as mutual friends were always the perfect way to create a friendship. “Who are your friends at school?” She asked.
A genuine grin reached Candice’s lips when Maverick revealed that he trusted her. In all honesty, she felt the same way. There weren’t many people that Candice trusted with her life - but Maverick would be one of if she had to choose. However, her smile was soon replaced with a slight frown that she attempted to hide. Trust was one thing… but Candice had promised herself not to let herself get too close to anyone… not with what she had planned for a few months from now. A plan that she had in mind for years… something that was too far gone to change now.
“Yeah…” Candice started before snapping out of her slump. “Right… anyways…” she muttered as the car begin driving to the currently undisclosed location. As CC laid on the man’s lap, she attempted to use the darkness of the car due to hide the emotions going through her when he questioned her if she was ‘ready for school,’ However, in her usual ‘perky’ voice CC responded with an “Of course, I can’t wait,”
She hated lying to her friends, especially one as close to her as Maverick was - but that moment inside the party reminded her that she had to keep her distance. After a few more minutes of driving, CC heard the driver utter “We’re here Miss. Clarke,” and shot Maverick a soft smile as they arrived at an arcade in the middle of town. “Remember that time you told me you’d teach me how to play pool?” Candice questioned - “Well, then, teach away - I bet you 10 dollars I’ll still win,”
Candice was one of a very few people that Maverick did fully trust. He knew he could count on his teammates, but the trust didn’t necessarily extend past the soccer field. Other than family, which had it’s ups and downs, Maverick was closest to Candice by far. So her grin when he said he trusted her brought a smile to his face, even if his head wasn’t clear enough to fully comprehend when her smile faltered into a slight frown. Had he not been drinking that night, he would have questioned it for certain. The car was just dark enough inside to where he couldn’t see her face clearly aside from when passing a streetlight, so he truly couldn’t tell what was going through her head. “Of course, Miss perfect can’t wait to go back to school.” He teased. “Boring school where everyone watches what you do, unlike tonight where we can still do whatever the hell we want without anybody watching our every move.” Maverick knew Candice well enough to know she wasn’t perfect by any means, but he still had to say it. A lot of people saw her as this image of perfection, even if he didn’t. He saw her more as her than just the perfect image, whether he knew everything or not, he always looked for more than just what everyone saw. He knew just as much as anyone that what people see is never the entire story. It was a few minutes more before they finally arrived that the mystery location. Maverick nodded with a slight smile. “Yeah, I remember that.” As he spoke, the smile turned into a cocky smirk. “Oh, you’re on.” Despite Maverick’s confidence, it was definitely not as surefire of a win for him as he would have liked to think. If he wasn’t more than just a little drunk, it might have been a different story, but it was closer to an even playing field or him losing than anything.
As the game was slowly coming to an end she was glad no one dared her to do anything, or asked her something she probably didn’t want to open up about. There were times when she would be up for anything, literally anything but today was not that day. Not wanting to be at this place, with so many people, some she tried to avoid at all cost, made her low mood even worse.
Going back home did cross her mind, multiple times, so as others started walking away from the circle and enjoying the party even more, she got up and put her phone back in her purse looking around for Dorian. It was a habit of hers, to always tell him if she wanted to go back home. Being a good brother, he would offer to drive her home every time but she would always refuse. This time it seemed like he was too busy with a girl she didn’t quite recognize so instead of going up to him she decided to simply leave, until she turned around and was face to face with Daniel.
He was probably the only person she wanted to see here. There was a thing they needed to… fix, or he did because she had no idea how to do it. “Don’t… say that here.” Grabbing a glass from him, she quickly took a sip looking around them nervously. What he said next made her shift her full attention back to him again, not looking so pleased and not laughing at his joke. “What do you mean in case you can’t?” She whispered, furrowing her brows and almost pouting. There was no way he couldn’t do anything about it. From the very begging she didn’t panic as much as someone else would just because of his well known skills, but that was about to change. Gently grabbing his hand, she dragged him somewhere to the side, without so many people around them, but it was probably not the best idea because it could look sketchy to others and she didn’t want anyone to find out.
“That could be one good party, huh?” She sarcastically added and nervously chuckled, dropping his hand as soon as she found a quieter spot. “There will be no party because you will fix it. How can it be so difficult?” Tapping the glass she was holding with her fingernails, she desperately asked.
“Of course, Miss perfect can’t wait to go back to school,”
Rolling her eyes, CC playfully nudged Maverick at the statement. If anyone knew about her total and utter lack-of-perfection, it was Maverick Weston. Well… technically Maverick and, once upon a time, Dominic. Though neither knew the true extent of it. Rather; they knew bits and pieces she had allowed them to see. Nevertheless, Candice knew he was right. In less than 24 hours, everyone would, indeed, be watching their every move. After all, highschool had a way of putting someone on a pedestal just to watch them fall.
However, choosing not to respond for the rest of the ride - Candice was rather lost in her own thoughts until they made it to the arcade. Laughter met her lips as she exited the car, hearing Mavericks competitive nature peek out - which was usually a sure thing with athletes. “Oh really? Well then maybe we should raise the stakes then? How about - whoever loses has to do whatever the winner says for 24 hours?” She offered with a mischievous grin. Perhaps she hasn’t been totally honest when she told Maverick she didn’t know how to play pool - in actually, her father had taught her at a young age and it was a skill she had used against many of her guy friends.
Leading the man inside, Candice walked him towards the pool table feigning confusion “So - How does this all work? I use this stick to get the balls in the holes or…?”
Meeting someone who had the same status as Tala was pleasant to her, but the next lines she heard from Calen turned her off. For some reason, her guts were telling her that he wasn’t as good as she hoped, immediately her smile turning into a straight line for a second enough for the man to notice it.
Tala nodded, “That’s impressive.” she said with her smile put back on, not quite agreeing to the fact that he only managed to do such a thing in the “last minute.” She looked around again, raising a brow as she was reminded about how much effort she could see from each aspect of the party… or maybe she was just taking it literally—the “last minute” part.
When Calen finally held his hand to her, she took it for a short shake. “Me too,” she replied, slightly bowing her head as she did out of habit yet again. “It’s really nice to meet someone who can actually relate to me.” She lit up a smile, though she was actually hesitant about what she had just said. Tala, surely, was the type of person who likes to meet new people, but in this situation, she was more nervous than excited. Considering that their fathers were in the same industry, it wasn’t going to be a wonder if her family learns about where she truly is anytime soon… if Calen was going to tell his parent about her.
Taking a slow drink of the alcohol in his hand, he raised his eyebrow at the girl. “Say what?” he questioned, a slight chuckle escaping his lips as he said so. Should Daniel Parker be joking about this matter? Probably not - however, at this point, it was out of his control so being upset would truly do nothing for him. And if it was a contest between laugh it off or be upset, well, In this case, Daniel rather choose laugh it off - even if Elodie had decided to do the opposite.
“What do you mean in case you can’t?”
“Well… I mean in case I can’t. I’m not all knowing, you know. I can’t do everything especially with…” however, before he could continue his statement, Daniel found himself being dragged off towards the side of the party. “Oh… road trip? You remember what happened the last time we went off together all alone right? I believe it’s what caused this mess,” he continued in a light hearted tone, almost expecting to be smacked at this point. He smiled as she added it would be ‘one good party,’ which, with Daniel, it always was. But doubling a Parker and DeLoughrey party… well, that would indeed be epic. However, the man rolled his eyes once again when she continued with “There will be no party because you will fix it,”
“Right… well. You see, here’s the problem. We signed a certificate. We got a copy of the certificate and the original copy is currently in a pile waiting to be uploaded on the internet… which,” he started, looking at his watch for dramatic effect, “… well apparently, the office said that it could take a few years because they’re backlogged…” he revealed - grabbing a drink from a waiter walking by and handing it to the girl standing across from him. “Do you need another drink?”
“In retrospect… I don’t really think it’ll be that much of an issue. How about we just deal with it in four to five years?”
Though Tala said she was impressed with his claim of the party being last minute, Calen still had somewhat disbelief from that as moments before she was looking relatively un-impressed. But maybe he was reading too far in, of course, it was something impressive, Calen knew that with great confidence.
“Yeah, me too, there aren’t many people like us,” Calen replied, despite being convinced that even Tala wasn’t as famous as he were. In fact, the last time he checked, he remembered Tala to have one of the lowest numbers of followers on social media in the whole senior class. Obviously he had checked before he arrived, to see which classmates had the highest and therefore were the perfect people to befriend to up the Cerulean High social ladder. He now remembered that was why Tala and Calen hadn’t met before - she had a low followers count.
But, as long as Tala’s father was Starris Garzon, Calen was more than happy to be friends with her. “So what do you think about this whole Blue Royalty game?” Calen asked, recycling the conversation started that had been effective on many people in prior conversations and effective in finding out more about the person - whether or not they are competition. “Is it important to you?”
The girl was prettier in real life, from what he could see in that light, and had a really cute style. Not something he usually pays attention to unless he is meeting someone for the first time. “Do you usually start a conversation with an insult?” Saying it in a joking manner while keeping a cheeky smile on, since she had a smile on her face too, he shoved his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. “I’m not but I could be a good welcoming committee, right?” Quickly adding with a chuckle, not wanting to seem like he was serious about what he previously said, he shrugged his shoulders lightly. “It’s just nice to see a new face around here.” Taking a second to look around the place and everyone he knew, he sighed quietly. And he was honest about that. He loved meeting new people but this was not the perfect time for it, when they were all each others competition. That was not the way he wanted to look at her but it was the only thing on his mind.
“Do you know anyone around here?” Avoiding asking her about the game, just for now, he looked back at her with curiosity in his eyes and a soft smile on. He did want to know if she was interested in the whole Blue Royalty competition but he was also interested in what kind of people she knew or liked being around. Of course, he did follow her and he saw they had mutual friends but no one came to his mind. “The people you were with…” Taking a quick glance at the group of people she was with when he approached her, he couldn’t quite tell if she knew them or if they just attempted to talk to her, like he was doing now. “Don’t seem like a good company.” Quickly adding as he looked back at her, he playfully raised his brow, suggesting he was the right person to be with.
When the truth or dare game died down, Safiya took a short detour to the spiked punch bowl, where a couple of familiar faces chattered in groups. She took the ladle and brought the watery liquid up and over her cup, pouring it in efficiently.
Saf gulped it down and served herself again, and again, and again until she was adequately charged with fun juice. Ah, yes. She disposed of her cup and then shook her shoulders. She strode through the crowd with ease. And then Safiya beheld the dance floor in front of her. It was vivacious, music was the language that their young souls understood. They spread the message througout their bodies like electricity. Though they did not know all of themselves yet, this felt like all they needed to know.
In the corner of the room, Delilah Hawthorne was standing back against the wall. Safiya pouted to herself when she saw her. She looked sad. Her arms were crossed, and the sides of her lips drooped. And even though they weren’t on the best terms, Safiya decided to approach her. Be the bigger person, Safiya. She held her head high stalking through the crowd.
The girl stopped at a friendly distance. “Hey” She said to her sweetly. “Are you good?” She checked up on her. It wasn’t a polite thing, she really did care.
Tala was nodding, but her brow slightly rose in confusion of Calen’s statement. She wasn’t sure what he exactly meant, but what he said was as if celebrity children were rare—something that she didn’t really entirely agree on. She’s met quite a number of people “like them,” thanks to her parents, and she could confirm otherwise from what she thinks Calen believed. “What do you mean?” she asked.
Tala’s lips curved into a smile, excitement obvious upon the mention of Blue Royalty. She had always been excited about discussing about the Blue Royalty, thinking that it was one of those discussions that would make her closer to people. “I think it’s fun,” she answered, and her mind immediately traced back to her first tasks. “And challenging. How about you?”
Calen’s last question made her pause for a bit. The importance of Blue Royalty to her had never been discussed, but it wasn’t that serious, really. A lot of words can be used to describe the game, but “important” didn’t really come to Tala even once. She sees it as only a game that could benefit her should she win, and aiming for the win has always been what Tala would aim to do. Is it important, then? “Yeah,” she nodded, “of course, it is… but not really in a ‘very’ way. How is it important to you?”
A delighted smile appeared on Delilah’s face, almost as if Candice’s remark was a genuine compliment when she was told she sounded degrading. “Thank you, that is what I usually go for,” She replied, noting that Candice didn’t argue with her claim of being honest - and she was glad to know that she must have succeeded in that minor debate. “And it’s always the truth.” Delilah added, to completely shut down Candice’s claims that she is two-faced and dishonest. And to prevent there from being any chance of Candice thinking Delilah thought otherwise of her.
As soon as she left the bathroom, Delilah realised what message she had potentially sent to Candice. Though Delilah knew for a fact that she didn’t know the truth - nor would she any time soon, if ever - she was still concerned about leaving as it made it look like Candice had won that round of their ongoing battle (that was mainly one-sided) which she could not stand.
When Candice left the bathroom moments later, Delilah turned away, giving her no chance of continuing their conversation with any further questions. She took a champagne flute from a carried tray to distract herself. However, moments after she was out of sight, someone new appeared in her view. Delilah looked up and down condescendingly at the poorly dressed and unfamiliar girl stood before her that she had never seen before.
Only after her eyes reached the girl’s face again did Delilah process what she had asked. The upset emotion she may have accidentally perceived was now completely out of sight. Delilah scowled and rolled her eyes as the girl’s ‘concern’. “Yes?” She replied, with her eyebrows raised, confused as to why this girl thought she could talk to the Delilah Rose Hawthorne. “What are you, like a freshman? Or are you just a fan who… snuck into this party?”