mellifluousboarding

[mellifluousboarding]

Ginger

Veronica Ann Kennedy

Veronica rubbed her arms to give herself some heat, and nodded as she listened to Damian. She watched him walk away from her, and she rocked back and forth on her feet as she weighed her options. She chewed on her bottom lip, glancing at the main door behind her. “Oh, screw it. What could go wrong?” she murmured to herself as she took a deep breath and picked up as much courage as she possibly could. She followed after him, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the dark. She saw a tree root just in time for her to hop over it, catching her other foot on another root. She caught herself just in time before her face smacked the ground.

She groaned silently as she stood herself back up, and dusted her knees off. She adjusted her feet, and blew strands of her hair out of her face. She glanced up at the dock, and pulled her sleeves down to cover her hands. She took her steps carefully this time, making it to the dock. She saw Damian sitting at the end of the dock, and she took a couple steps toward him. She stopped whenever she heard the creaking within the dock. It reminded her of the barn slats at her Uncle Micheal’s farm.

She tested it once again, feeling the board bend a bit too much for her liking. She moved over to another spot, and tried it. It was able to hold her weight so she began to try the next one up. She didn’t know how Damian was able to get to the end without breaking a board, because she felt like she would break one at any minute. She continued her pattern of checking boards until she reached him, and she stared out across the lake. “It’s beautiful,” she murmured, mostly to herself. She moved to sit down, but her foot hooked on a board that she hadn’t checked yet. It snapped, and she was plunged into the dark water of the lake below.

Bailey Ray Venson

Bailey snorted as Adrian continued to press that he had a bad side, and just silently laughed to herself. She continued to shade in his features until he moved over to see what she had done. She was taken back by his sudden closeness, especially since he seemed to keep a professional distance between them. She wiggled her toes inside of her socks nervously, but her thoughts were interrupted by hearing him laugh. Her fingers stopped moving across the pages as she listened to the sound of it fill her tiny kitchen. She glanced at him, and their eyes made contact. She noted the fact that she wasn’t breathing, but his fingers against her face stopped her from inhaling to feel her empty lungs.

Finally, she inhaled and her lungs were met with a mixture of Adrian’s cologne and his breath. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she heard him apologize. As his lips grazed hers, it was like a spark hit her core. She hadn’t been kissed since her junior prom, and it was forced upon her by a drunk football player. This was nothing like that; this was like a prayer. Whether she was the one praying or if he was, she did not know. But what she did know was, as he deepened the kiss, that she never wanted it to stop. She dropped the sketchbook onto the ground so that she could bunch her fists in his shirt. The softness of the cotton compared to the roughness of the kiss was like heaven.

She took in a breath as he broke away for one of his own, but her breath cut short as his hands removed themselves from her face. Her eyes flickered open, and she stared up at him with her large, doe-like eyes. Although his words were negative, Bailey noted that he wasn’t moving back away from her. She left her hands on his shirt before she pushed him back slightly so that she could slid off of the counter top. She was pressed against him as she murmured, “I’m not complaining,” as she moved her hands from his shirt to around his neck, “But if you are, then I probably shouldn’t do this.” She stood on her toes to kiss him once again.

Martina Erie Rodriguez

Martina stared down at him as he seemed to be contemplating something. He always seemed to be thinking about something, and Martina would give anything to be able to read his mind. She knew what they were doing was wrong in the eyes of most, but there was something about Benji that made her feel like she was on top of the world. She felt like she could do and be anything she set her mind to. Martina laughed as Benji caught her finger in his mouth, and fake whined, “Ow.” She squealed as he stood, and carried her into the kitchen.

She crossed her legs, once she was perched on the stool, and smiled at him. “Why thank you,” she said as she stabbed some of the food with her fork. She took a bite, and watched him get his own food together. She jumped off of the stool, and made her way over to the microwave. “It’s a tad bit cold,” she explained as she stuck her plate in and started it up. She held onto the counter as she jumped up to sit on the counter, ignoring the thought about how Benji scolded her for doing it last time. Once the microwave went off, she opened it up and pulled out her food. She dug back into it without going back to her original seat.

Violet Wednesday Palen

As he pushed up her dress, Violet nearly rolled her eyes. The only thing that stopped her was that he kissed her before she could. She kissed him back, trying to ignore the teasing way he was kissing her. She allowed him to slid her further toward him on the riser, and once he began teasing her for real, she had to clench her teeth so that she didn’t let out a groan. She nearly saw red as she snapped, “What part of ‘shut up and fuck me’ don’t you understand?” She covered her face with her hands as she tried to think of anything but the fact that he was touching her.

Violet knew that this was a mistake, and if he wasn’t tease her like a school girl, she probably wouldn’t have thought twice about it. “Stop,” she started, “just stop.” She moved back away from his grip on the risers, and pulled her dress back over her hips. “I can’t believe I was going to get back into this again,” she murmured to herself as she hopped off the risers. She ran her hand through her hair, and huffed out a sigh. “I can’t,” she was mostly talking to herself at this point, “This isn’t happening again. This was a one time drunken mistake, and I cannot fall back down this hole again.” She rubbed her eyes, and shook her head, leaving her head in her hands.

[mellifluousboarding]

0cean

Damian Apparently he wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep. "Same." he answered her, turning his head to view the way which they came. One of the security guards appeared out of Damian's hallway and turned to walk down another. Huh. There were only two guards patrolling the hallway on this side of the school, each with a belt equipped with a can of pepper spray and a handgun. One of them seemed in shape but the other had a large belly and a jelly stain on his shirt. Despite their contrasting physical attributes, both guards seemed tired. The fit one had a slight sluggish pace while he searched and the large one barely checked the hall's he went down. Damian made a mental note of it as he turned away from the door and looked in the direction of the picnic tables. In order to get to them he would have to cut through the soccer field and then across the front lawn. Too many cameras. Then, his eyes shifted to the lake. There was a wooden bridge that stretched out a few feet onto the water and was just high enough for someone to hang their legs over the side without touching the water. It seemed fine, but there was also barely any moonlight cast over it. Still, Damian didn't want to go inside and risk another restless night. After finally deciding on visiting the lake, Damian moved his attention to Veronica. She seemed . . . tense. Despite what happened earlier, Damian still didn't want that to affect their friendship. "I'm going to the lake." he announced before starting to walk towards the bridge. "If you want to come, you can." She didn't need his permission to come to the lake but he figured things would remain awkward if he didn't say anything. Stepping over tree roots and avoiding suspicious patches of tall grass, Damian made it to the bridge and began walking down to the furthest point. There he eyed the surface of the wood as best as his eyes could before sitting down. The wood creaked a little but it was probably just old.

[mellifluousboarding]

Fallz

Adrian Carter

“No, I’m sure I do,” Adrian said, settling against the counter. While he indeed meant a bad side personally, he was content to let Bailey assume it was physical appearance he was rambling about. Seeing as he had never been sketched before, he wasn’t quite sure what to do. He ended up crossing his arms. Surely she wasn’t planning on doing his entire frame. That would take more time than either of them had that day, so he thought as long as he didn’t majorly change any part above his shoulders it would be just fine. Though as he stood, a piece of hair tickled at the edge of his ear. The sensation grew and grew until Adrian wasn’t sure he could go without moving it, but then Bailey herself shifted. She was no longer actually drawing; instead doing something with her fingers on the page. He still wasn’t sure whether she was actually done but he couldn’t stand it any longer.

Adrian pushed himself off the counter and ran his hands through his hair. It was a burst of movement after saying still so long and he felt suddenly dizzy. The energy around him began to cackle again as he moved across the small kitchen floor to her side. “Can I see it?” He asked, not daring to reach out and grab the tablet before her approval. They were entirely different subjects but he assumed they could both relate to the irritation of having someone yank important papers from your hands. Even before she titled the pad, though, he could see enough of it. Adrian squinted at the two-dimensional him. It was akin to the feeling of seeing himself in a photograph. He furrowed his brows. “My nose is quite large, isn’t it?” The words were not harsh, in fact, he laughed at the end. Adrian turned his head just slightly to look at Bailey but hadn’t realized how close it would put them. Before he could fake his movement as something else, he was looking up into her blue, blue eyes. So clear and calm. They were nothing like the dark brown ones that hid Perrie’s true self. Adrian’s lips parted just so slightly as he watched her. Seemingly without thought, one hand came up and hovered at Bailey’s cheek. He barely placed his hand upon her jaw as he drew her closer towards him, their breaths mingling as the thunder shook the panes of her apartment windows. What are you doing? His thoughts were screaming at him to stop before it was too late. Once he did it, there was no taking it back. But he had to know. He had to know what it was like to feel someone that was kind and warm, someone who had let him in without false intentions right behind the door.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. To himself, Bailey, or Perrie he didn’t know, but as their lips brushed together so softly, he decided it was an apology to all three of them. For Perrie and never being able to save her, for dragging Bailey into a past she didn’t deserve to be burdened with, and to him for simply being who he was. Adrian’s fingers pressed harder into the soft flesh behind her ear as he stood taller, her chin tilting upwards with the movement. Flooded with a desire his mind didn’t know his body had, he shifted in front of her. The sketchpad was knocked from her hands and it hit the tile with a soft scrape. He pushed it aside with his food deftly as he opened her knees with his other leg. Both of his hands now cupped the sides of her face and he pushed his body as close to hers as the counter would allow. A ragged breath escaped his lips. It was a small moment that their lips were apart but it pulled him out of his head. Adrian’s eyes flew open and he dropped his hands from her face. “Bailey- I,” he stopped. With darkened eyes, he shook his head. “I didn’t- I shouldn’t have done that.” Yet, even as the words were said, he didn’t move away from her. 

Benji Melrose

Benji chuckled and moved his arms to circle tighter around her waist. "Like brunch now, silly," he said, kissing the tip of her nose. But, even he knew that probably wouldn't happen. Their food was already cooling down and it wasn't necessarily the best heated up. He laid back against the pillows and a simple smile spread across his face. It was often he had to touch her to make sure she was even real, even his. It seems slightly on the dramatic side to think of their relationship as scandalous as it was. Then again, it was probably just because he was on the inside of it. "Hmm, nope, I can't have a hungry girl," he said, catching her finger in his mouth as it circled around his lips. Benji moved his hands so he could grip her bottom as she stood, carrying her to the kitchen. He sat her on one of the stools gently and kissed the top of her head. "Veggie breakfast for my favorite," he said, sliding her plate across the counter.

Julian Monroe 

Julian had absolutely zero worries about Violet. He was eighteen, so the most she would lose would be her job. People would clap him on the back as he walked out with his bags in hand, so it wouldn’t affect him at all. It was idiotic of him to weigh the consequences on something like this so blatantly but, truth was, he hadn’t had any in a few weeks. His manager was pushing him harder than ever on top of Julian actually attempting to be a C student. For once in his life, he had no time for girls. He wasn’t even supposed to be doing this right now. Reggie was probably ringing his cell every few minutes. It was turned off in the pocket of his shorts that were about to be around his ankles.

“Bossy,” he said at her answer, eyebrows shooting upwards. Julian pulled her arms off his face and down to her side, mouth working along her jaw. “You asked for this.” There was no way he could feign easiness or gentleness for long. It was a thing he learned well a long time ago: always let them know at the beginning. Julian was able to let go without nearly biting through his cheek trying not to. And, not like he wanted to sound cocky, but he didn’t get any complaints.

Violet was wearing a dress, so Julian slid down his own shorts before he pushed the material around her waist. But he didn’t go any further. He brought his mouth back up to hers and kissed her, slower than he had been. It wasn’t a kiss of passion by any means. While she was distracted, lured in by a slowness that promised something different. Julian kept his hands around the cotton material as he gripped her hips and slid her forward to the edge of the riser. He rubbed his finger light as air along her panties. “Do you want it?” He asked, still keeping an easy movement above and below.

[mellifluousboarding]

Ginger

Bailey Ray Venson

Bailey nodded at his comment on reading people as she focused on getting his jawline correct on her drawing of him. She bit her lip, having to smudge out a mistake. She glanced up at him as he spoke once more, and she could see the emotion in his eyes. There was something more, but Bailey wasn’t going to press it further. It seemed like he didn’t want to talk about it, which Bailey understood the feeling well. Never had she wanted to talk about her family business with anyone, especially with its illegal status across most of the country. She returned her gaze to her sketchbook as she began the outlines of the rest of his facial form. His eyes were going to be a challenge, since they held every bit of the emotion that never shown on his face. She concentrated hard on the curves of his lips, stealing small glances his direction to get them perfect.

She laughed lightly at his comment about his good side, and her words came out before she could stop them, “I don’t believe you have a bad side.” She felt her ears go pink as she began the detail of his eyes. She kept quiet until she had finished them, and leaned back to look at it, realizing that she had moved closer to her sketchbook. She blinked, and tilted her head to the side. “Hmm,” she sighed before looking up at him to see if she was missing anything in his eyes. She began the detailing on the rest of his face, and the only sound in the room was the sound of her charcoal moving across the paper. She blew off the dust that was beginning to form on the paper, and sat the piece of charcoal down so that she could smudge the shadows into existence.

Veronica Ann Kennedy

Veronica was about to continue down the corridor, but was met by someone slamming into her. She stumbled, catching herself, and turned to see who it was. Damian? she thought to herself. His hushed voice flew at her, only to be cut off. He apparently had heard something she hadn’t, because in an instant, he was dragging her along by her hand. She tried to keep up with him, as her feet slipped over one another. It was a miracle she was able to dance properly at all, with how clumsy she normally was. Veronica realized what he was running from, once they moved out one of the side doors, and she glanced back behind them to see the woman who looked over the dorms walking their direction.

Whenever the door shut behind them, Veronica caught her breath and ran a hand through her hair to push back the strands that had fallen into it. She adjusted her hoodie, and looked up at Damian as he spoke. She bit her lip to think about her answer, “I couldn’t sleep, so I was going for a walk.” She glanced over toward the lake before looking up at the night sky. She inhaled the fresh air, closing her eyes to take it all in. Her mind snapped back into motion, however, when she realized that Damian had been headed off somewhere as well. “What were you doing?” She asked him, with a raised eyebrow, curiously. The moonlight shined against his face, lighting it up perfectly so that she could see all of his features. His eyes seemed lighter somehow in this lighting, and she had to look away from him. She couldn’t allow herself to think any of him like that any further, especially after the rejection she had faced the last time. She crossed her arms over her chest as a light breeze passed by them. She could still smell the storm in the air, but it was calming more than anything.

Martina Rodriguez

Martina was taken off guard by Benji’s sudden closeness as he sat up on the bed. She contained her giggle, wrapping her legs around him to keep him that way. She draped her arms over his shoulders, and interlocked her fingers. She stared at him as he asked his question, and her eyebrows furrowed in frustration; she didn’t understand the question. She thought about it for a moment, and tilted her head to the side to show her confusion at the question, so that he didn’t think the frustration was toward him. She decided to clarify before answering, “Like brunch now, or sexy times and then brunch?” Her nose twitched and wiggle as she thought about her preference. As soon as she opened her mouth to speak, her stomach chimed in with its own.

“Son of a bitch,” Martina muttered as she let out a groan, “Apparently my stomach has a preference, but I, for one, disagree on all sides of the argument.” She wiggled herself closer to him, knowing that it will add to her own argument. She leaned her forehead against his, and stared into his eyes for a moment. “If its not already obvious which I prefer,” she let her words trail off with a shrug and the giggle she had been containing. She removed her forehead from his so that she could see his entire face. She moved one of her arms from around his neck, and began tracing his facial features with her fingertips.

Violet Wednesday Palen

Violet tried to control a subtle moan from escaping her lips as he kissed her back. Whenever he lifted her into the air, she wrapped her arms and legs around him to keep herself from falling. She began thanking herself for all the sound dampening panels that she had put on the walls of the music room, so that the instruments didn’t drown out the other classrooms on the hall. She knew that, if they pushed it any further than this, she would need her own sounds stopped from flooding the halls, just in case someone else was around working like she had been.

As he perched her on the risers, Violet bit her lip at his question. Should it go further than this impromptu make out session? Everything in her body was screaming yes, as her muscle memory of that night came flooding back into her mind, but her common sense was fighting her. He was a student, and although she didn’t know this the first time, she knew it now. She took hold of his face, and kissed him once more, clouding her judgement further. “Oh, just shut up and fuck me,” she breathed out against his lips, letting herself have some fun for the first time in a long time. Even if it was just this once, she would have the memories to add to the others.

James Malcolm Perry

James laid out on his stomach across his bed, dozing off. He was surrounded by random music sheets, cigarette butts, and various cans of energy drinks. He had officially crashed from working on converting a song to piano, and he began snoring as he fell deeper into REM. He began dreaming almost instantly, which was abnormal for him. He dreamed of sitting on the floor, across from a small brunette girl as they rolled a ball back and forth between one another. His back muscles twitched in his sleep, and he grabbed his pillow, pulling it further underneath his head. There was a knock on the door in his dream, and he looked over toward it. He was surprised to see how much of the old apartment he remembers, as he saw all the junk that laid out everywhere.

The old burgundy couch seemed to be occupied by someone that he couldn’t quite see, and the knock occurred again, this time on his dorm door. James stirred in his sleep, and groaned into his pillow. He moved to look at the time, and he let out yet another groan. Whoever the hell this may be, they better have a damn good excuse, he thought to himself as he stood up from his bed. He ran a hand through his hair, and pulled a pair of sweats over his boxers, leaving his torso exposed. He opened the door, and to his surprise, there stood Collins. He blinked at her, and rubbed his eyes. “What the hell do you want?” He scoffed at her, leaning against his door frame, as he crossed his arms.

Armonie Dominika Vasiliev

Armonie stood in her kitchen, counting out hundred dollar bills into piles on her countertop. Stacks of them laid neatly across the top; some wrapped in rubber bands and others not. As she laid out the last bill, she began rubber banding the rest of the stacks to keep the count together, nearly $300,000 all together. She was short, but she knew that her boys would fix that soon. She took the stacks, and began placing them in a large, black dufflebag. She took the bag, once it was full, and placed it into her guest bedroom closet, amongst the clutter there. She headed back into her kitchen to begin prepping a bouquet of flowers to go into a vase. She clipped off their ends, and placed the flowers one by one into the vase, arranging them how she wanted as she went. Once all the flowers were in the vase, she adjusted a few of them, and filled it with water.

She placed the vase down on her dining table, as her phone rang in her pocket. She pulled it out, and answered it quickly, "What?" Her Russian accent sliced through the air, as she listened to what they had to say. Needing clarification on if the exchange would go down properly today, Armonie had her gaggle of boys followed to the transfer spot. Apparently there was a misscommunication, because Armonie never told them to beat those who were giving them $10,000. Her teeth grinded together as she hung up the phone, and placed it back into her pocket.

Since she had also been told that Tommy was headed toward her, Armonie went and poured herself a glass of red wine. She sipped it casually, as she sat down in a chair in her living room. She crossed her legs, and waited for his arrival. She tapped her fingers against her glass as she grew impatient, but the knock on her door came sooner than she had expected. She stood from her spot, and went to open the door. There stood Tommy, covered in his own blood or someone else's.

"Oh you poor thing!" She stated, playing up that she didn't know what happened, "Get in here." She grabbed his hand, and pulled him into her apartment. "What in the hell happened to you?" She asked him as she lead him to a dining room chair. She listened to him as she went into her kitchen to grab a bag of ice and a wet cloth. Whenever her back was turned from him, she dropped her farce and the anger fumed across her face. Returning to him, she kept her facial expression concerned for his well being. She placed the ice on his head, and had him hold it there as she cleaned his face with the cloth. Once she had cleaned most of it, she placed the rag down behind him. "Hm," she hummed, as she picked up the flower vase that sat behind him and quickly hit it against his head, sending glass and flowers flying. He slumped into the floor at the impact, but she knew that he would be fine. She hadn't hit him hard enough to actually damage him, just knock him out for the time being. She went, picked up her wine glass, and sat back in her chair to wait out his unconsciousness.

[mellifluousboarding]

0cean

Sage and Rosa Mellifluous was an odd school. Most days the students at the boarding school barely acknowledged Sage and Rosa's existence, but then there would be days where the two girls caught attention from just about everyone. Thankfully, as they sat in their English class and listened to the teacher drone on about the guidelines for the writing prompt, Rosa and Sage managed to practically disappear. And by disappear - they went to sleep. Sage had already laid her head down on her stack of binders, but Rosa doubted she was actually asleep. In order to avoid her night terrors, Sage had to learn how to trick her body into thinking she was asleep, without actually falling unconscious. Rosa, on the other hand, was still awake. With her head propped up in her hand, her elbow placed on the desk, she gazed at the teacher without the slightest hint of interest. He had already went over the prompt five times, so she didn't understand why he believed he needed to repeat the information to them just one more time. Yet, the majority of the class still seemed to be paying attention to him and asking questions. Rosa felt her phone vibrating in her coat pocket. Glancing down towards it, she pulled it out of the pocket to view it and held it underneath her desk to avoid her teacher seeing her. He never liked to see students on their phones. A message from 'the boy', which was Ugga's name in her phone, flashed on her screen. She had completely forgotten that he and Tommy hadn't made it to school yet. Probably had to run an errand for Armoine. Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, Rosa leaned forward onto her desk and folded her arms over each other. She waited until her teacher paused to collect his thoughts, and then she raised her hand. "Yes, Rosa?" he said to her after noticing her hand. Rosa lowered her hand and smoothed a few strands of unruly hair out of her eyes. "I need to go to the nurse." she said simply, her tone casual. This wasn't the first time she had to lie her way out of class to do something for Ugga. A scoff came from Greg Smith, the aggravating captain of the soccer team, who wasted his breath bullying people like Sage and Rosa to boost his own reputation. Ironically, he was a devout Catholic. She didn't bother turning to look at him. Regardless, Greg continued and turned his attention to the teacher. "She's lying," he sneered, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest. "She does this in other classes too. There's nothing wrong with her." Rosa ignored him and kept her eyes on the teacher. "I feel sick." Greg laughed. "Do you now?" he looked at her. "Let me guess, a headache?" "Cramps?" "Your stomach is upset?" Rosa didn't say anything. Greg held up his hand, "See? She probably just wants to go meet up with her other gothic friends so they can share blood or something." "Nope." Rosa pressed her lips together, forcing a smile. She had been able to ignore Greg while waiting for the teacher to answer her question, but she knew that if she didn't intervene now then it would only boost his ego. She turned her head to view him, her eyes focused on his. "Really, we meet up and gather around an Ouija board. Do you know what that is?" He nodded his head. "And do you know who we contact with that board, Greg? We contact your mother. We wake her up from her eternal rest and we tell her what her piece of shit son is doing. Maybe," she leaned her upper body across the aisle to be closer to him. "Maybe we should have her possess one of us, hm?" She raised her eyebrows before narrowing her eyes. "Isn't that what gothic kids do?" "That's enough," The teacher barked. Greg's smug expression was gone. Instead, his eyebrows were pushed together and his jaw was clenched tightly. Everyone knew his mother had passed away a year ago. "Go to the nurse, Rosa." he added. Rosa stood up from her chair and grabbed her books from her desk. After stepping to the side and pushing her chair in, she glanced down at Greg. Her netural expression had returned. 'Don't fuck with me' she mouthed to him as she passed, heading to the exit and closing the door behind her. Her patience level for that boy was beginning to lower each time. Only eight minutes after his text, Rosa entered the gym and walked over to the door that led outside. Using one of her arms to clutch the books to her chest, she used her free hand to push the door open and was surprised to only find Ugga standing outside. "Where's Tommy?" she asked him as she stepped out of the way to let him in. Only then did she notice the tint of red on Ugga's lips and the layer of dirt over his light blue shirt. "What is this, Alex?" she asked him, gently, but firmly, grabbing both sides of his jaw and lowering it slightly to view his lips better. Her eyes snapped up to his as she released him. "What happened?" Damian It wasn't long after Veronica left before Damian grew restless. They weren't allowed to leave their dorms after curfew of course, but Damian didn't care too much about that rule. During the daytime the fact that he was constantly thinking about something didn't bother him, but it was another story when he was trying to fall asleep. Back home he would have been able to go outside onto the deck, the sounds of the crickets nearby and the soft rustling of leaves easing his mind and body. Now, the silence of his room bothered him. He wished that there was at least another round of storms to distract him, but the sky was quiet. Standing up from the bed, Damian walked over to his door and opened it quietly. The hallways were practically empty with the occasional students up late working on projects. Damian, watching them with his head peeking out of the doorway, waited until they entered one of the dorm rooms before stepping out into the hallway. He closed the door behind him and then began making his way down the hall and towards the exit. A sound echoed down the hall behind him, so he briefly glanced over his shoulder to check it out, but as soon as he did so he crashed directly into someone. "Jesus," Damian whispered, turning his head around to view the person. To his surprise, it was Veronica. "What are you-?" he began, but then one of the doors behind him opened. It was the door to the office. Damian, while cursing under his breath, grabbed Veronica's hand and pulled her in the direction he was originally going. The sound of his shoes inaudible as they hit the floor. In all honesty, Damian didn't know where he wanted to go. He lessened his pace once they made it outside and were sure that nobody had followed him. Letting go of her hand, he kept his posture straight as he caught his breath and looked around to see where they were. Ah, shit. He exited the wrong door. He had planned to be on the side of the school where the picnic tables were, but instead they were in the back of the school facing the lake. Deciding it was better than nothing, Damian turned to view Veronica and looked at her. "What were you doing?" he asked her, finishing his sentence from earlier after they had ran into each other.

[mellifluousboarding]

Fallz

(part two)

Alex Sullivan & Tommy Mason 

           “I don’t know, man, they don’t seem like the ones to mess with.”

           “Fuck ‘em,” Tommy balanced the cigarette between his teeth, looking at the horizon through squinted eyes. He was waiting for the black SUVs. They made the drop once a month at this exact location, exact time. Only having an hour for lunch, even though neither of them actually gave a rat’s ass about skipping school, meant it was a meeting stressed for time. When the others were late, it always put Tommy in a bad mood. Alex was nearly a thousand times more patient than his partner but when even he began to bounce on the balls of his feet, it’d been too long.

           Tommy was already itching at his side, where the gun was slid between the waistband of his boxers and hip. Usually they never brought one. If either of them were caught with it, it was automatic jail time. Alex never carried one, even when specifically ordered by Armoine. He wasn’t a pacifist in the slightest but he never trusted himself around guns. Tommy was definitely better at handling that part of things, and he was just content to do what he did best: talk.

           “How much time do we have?” Alex asked, looking over at Tommy. He had to tilt his chin upwards. While not the tallest at the school, he was only a couple of inches behind the boy who was. Alex was rather short compared to most of his friends. It was only part of the reason they’d taken to calling him “Ugga”. Not that he necessarily minded. Being so-called ‘ugly’ was just part of his thing. Everyone had it and he was just glad they didn’t call him “The Wanker”.

           Alex watched Tommy pull out his phone and tilt the screen towards him. Stupendous, they only had fifteen until lunch hour was over. “Fucking shit, that’s what this is. These bastards think they can run all over us because we’re still in high school?” Tommy stood up off the wall and let the cigarette fall from his mouth. He crunched it with the toe of his boot. “Nah, not anymore.” Having watched him during the spill, Alex didn’t actually know anyone had pulled up. He turned as Tommy began walking towards the SUV, jaw working furiously. Son of a bitch, Alex thought. As three guys piled out of the vehicle, his partner didn’t stop. Before any of them saw it coming, Tommy landed a hit square in the eldest one’s face. The man collapsed, but the other two were on Tommy as he hit the ground. Alex knew he couldn’t sit behind any longer at that point, so he took a deep breath. When he reached the three, the man who’d fallen was up and hitting the held-back Tommy anywhere he could.

           “Dear Lord, forgive me,” Alex mumbled before he tapped the guy’s shoulder. When he turned, spittle flying out of his bloodied mouth, he couldn’t help but hold back a grimace. “Hi, Gray.”

           The older man paused, slightly thrown off. Alex figured he was expecting something very different. “What do you want, piss head?”

           His eyes widened. Alex crossed his arms and balanced on one leg. “Well, I was going to try and see if we could work things out. But name calling is so very rude.” He chewed on his lip for a moment then twisted the rings on his fingers. They were his special trick to making himself even with the rest. After barking a quick “now!” at Tommy, Alex sprung forward and rammed his shoulder into Gray’s massive chest. It sent him tumbling into one of the other men, which allowed Tommy to get out of the hold.

           “Nice one, Ugga,” Tommy said, smiling. His teeth were stained red and one eye was already beginning to purple. Alex frowned. The amount of love that boy had for violence was almost unsettling. “Now, let’s beat some ass!” Tommy threw his arms out to the side and let out a sound, something between a howl and a yell. He launched himself on the guy that currently wasn’t pinned under Gray, both of them sprawled on the ground. Alex couldn’t tell who was hitting who. Every couple of seconds though, he could still see Tommy’s red grin.

           Alex had been smart enough to pull Tommy’s gun before he went full on crazy, hoping to keep anyone from actually dying that day. However, when Gray turned back on him and Alex was pointing a gun in his direction, he knew that dream was shot. No pun intended. “Oh no,” he groaned. Gray wasn’t stupid enough to charge him but Alex didn’t miss his hand slowly creeping around to his back. Of course, he’d come fully loaded as well. “Look, Gray, really, I have zero intention of shooting you today.” Alex held his hands up. He held the gun by the handle, fingers nowhere near the trigger. “All I want to do is get this trade over with and get back to math class, alright?” The bags of cocaine were in his back pocket. It didn’t seem like much to the naked eye, however it would rake in a pretty penny for Armoine. Alex set the gun down on the ground, flinching slightly when Gray’s arm flexed as he grabbed the gun. He reached into his own back pocket to get the drugs, but suddenly someone tackled him from behind. Alex’s face slammed into the ground. Crying out as his braces bit into his cheeks, he rolled to try and throw the guy off. It was no use, though. The man was at least twice his size. He ripped the bags from Alex’s hands and stood, but not before slamming his boot into the smaller boy’s shoulder. It made a loud pop and the feeling from it faded.

           “Next time, calm your dog,” Gray spat. The three of them turned and climbed back into the SUV, their money with them. Alex watched them go, his vision stained red.

           “Ugga? Hey, man, you okay?”

           Tommy went to pull him up, but he grabbed the shoulder that was kicked. Alex hissed and jerked away from him. “Son of a bitch,” he hissed, realizing that it was popped out of place. Sitting up, he tried to pop it back in himself. His mind wouldn’t let him, though. Each time he grabbed it, an almost physical force pushed his hand away. Tommy crouched down beside him and titled his head.  

           “Oh, shit. Hold still and I’ll just-“

           Except, he gave Alex no real warning as he grabbed his wrist and pushed the joint back into place. Caving in on himself, Alex bit his already damaged cheeks to keep from crying out again. For a few moments, he sat and waited for his stomach to stop rolling. Tommy lit a cigarette and waited silently. Of course he wouldn’t apologize for getting them into this mess in the first place. “Let’s just get back to school,” Alex said, standing and dusting the gravel from his hands. He spit blood out of his mouth and began walking back to their car, Tommy trailing just behind him.

           When they reached the school, it was almost thirty minutes passed lunch. Alex had already sent a text to Rosa saying they’d come in through the back doors by the gym, so he hoped she’d been able to sneak out of class. Although he wondered if it was really a good thing. He wouldn’t be able to clean himself off beforehand. She’d immediately go into question mode, which meant he’d have to tell her what happened. Tommy seemed preoccupied and for the first time since they’d left, Alex realized why. He was the one who would have to tell Armoine they lost almost ten thousand dollars. When they got out of the car, Tommy was on his fourth cigarette. “Hey, I’m sure it’ll be fine. This isn’t the first time a deal’s gone bad.” Alex shrugged and watched as Tommy’s face hardened. “Okay, so it won’t be alright. But she obviously likes you best so, she may go easy.”

           Tommy laughed, but it was not joyful. “Yeah, whatever. I’m gonna go tell her before she finds out from someone else.” He turned back towards the highway. Armoine’s apartments weren’t far from the school so he didn’t bother taking the car. The walk would clear his head anyway, allow him to think of what he wanted to say instead of just blurting it out. Still, as he snuck past the call gate, Tommy had no idea how he was going to say it. He hoped that Armoine just knew, like she somehow always did. Ignoring the looks from people as he passed them, Tommy wiped the blood off his mouth with his jacket sleeve and kept his head down. Her apartment was right in front of him, all he had to do was knock. When he did, he stepped back a little ways from the door.  

[mellifluousboarding]

Fallz

Adrian Carter

Adrian let out a soft sigh through his nose, lips pushed together in a frown. He sat down his cup and watched her for a second. It was a simple question. Nothing about Perrie had to be said, at least not in full detail. “I’m a psychologist, reading people is just what I do.” Lifting one shoulder in a shrug, he stepped back to lean against a counter. Adrian crossed his legs at the ankles and placed his palms against the edge of the granite. Before he answered her question, however, he let her finish talking. He waited until she had picked up her pencil and began to draw. Mostly because he was trying to think of what he would say. It would be easy to push her question off by using her own words. Too personal, but then again she had told him something about herself. It was vague but still something he hadn’t known before.

“Part of it is the kids,” he said, cocking his head to one side. “But I had a friend in school, too. She was schizo and no one was there to help her.” Adrian finished his sentence with a finality that he hoped made it clear the subject was over for talking about. One day, perhaps, he might tell her about some of it. Bailey seemed understanding, however even the best of people- no, especially the best of people left at any mention of ‘murderer’. “Just don’t get my bad side,” he said, hoping to lighten his tone. Adrian shifted slightly to the left, just a random choice. He hadn’t ever studied himself enough to know what side was his bad one, if there even was.

Maeve Harwood

“Um,” Maeve said, stepping back to allow the girl he’d called Kristi slip past. Their eyes connected for a brief moment and she saw in them a glisten. It took her a moment but after seeing Valentino’s pants slightly off-center, it came together. Bringing her hand up to her face to hide a smile, she dropped her eyes from the girl’s. Of course she’d heard plenty of rumors about the blonde-haired boy and his affinity with the female population of Mellifluous. Anyone with ears had. Once upon a time, she’d even been one of the masses in his following. Who wouldn’t be, honestly? It was only when she realized exactly how much of a man whore he was that her opinion on him changed. For the most part. 

She waited until the girl’s footsteps had faded down the hall before following Valentino inside his room. Crossing her arms across her chest, she watched him flip open the binder. “Our project,” Maeve began, taking a small peek around his room. She didn’t want to seem like she was being nosy about his business. “I have the picture- well, two, actually. I can’t decide so I’ll just let you do it.” After a second, she pulled the photos from the pocket of her sweatshirt and dropped them onto the open page of his binder. Maeve reached up to twist the piercing in her ear. “We can go for easy or hard, but that’s up to you.” With a shrug, she leaned back against his door, pointing to each picture as she explained which one was which.

Benji Melrose

Benji let his arms cross loosely over Martina’s bare back and let his head rest against the pillows behind him. He couldn’t fathom living his life without these moments with her. Before Mellifluous, he had never once thought he would fall in love with a student. It was just a cliché, a thing for the stories. If anything, Benji figured he would meet a fellow teacher, maybe one of the office assistants. As he looked up and watched Martina’s face crease into a smile, he was thankful to every God ever that she was so opposed to authority. “Someone is hungry,” Benji said with a small chuckle. He lifted his head and placed his chin on her head as she laid against his chest. Eyes closed softly, he shifted his hands as she sat up. Suppressing a smile as her hips circled over him. Benji had to bite the insides of his cheeks. He pushed his elbows behind him to sit up, chest meeting hers. “Listen here, little girl,” he said against her mouth. Pushing his lips against hers, Benji lifted one of his arms and wrapped it around her waist. After pulling her to him further, he sat up further. “You have a knack for starting things.” Benji titled his head back slightly and looked up at her. He tucked her hair behind her ears. “How about having brunch later instead?” He asked, raising one eyebrow.

Kaden Nett

Kaden stood at the door, holding the goldfish against his chest. He began to wonder for a second if maybe Summer was asleep. That was always his favorite thing to do when he was sick. She hadn’t been in the office that morning, he knew that much. Having to dance around Benji’s questions about Kaden’s scholarship, which is what he’d told the secretary he had to talk to Summer about, was quite awkward. In the end, he figured Benji probably guessed there was something else he’d wanted to discuss. There was no way he guessed there was something up, though. Kaden made sure he rarely frequented Summer’s office, he had just wanted to make sure she was okay after coming down with the cold.

When he finally heard her voice, though just barely, from inside, he pushed open the door and ducked inside. He kicked off his shoes and pulled his hoodie over his head. The maroon shirt underneath was dry, surprisingly. “Hey,” he said, spotting her on the couch. She looked awful. “I brought you a snack.” Kaden placed a package of the crackers in her lap and kissed her forehead as he stepped between the couch and the coffee table. Sitting down, he laid his head against the back of the couch and turned to look at her. His eyes flicked down her shirt and he smiled. “You spilled tea on me? How rude,” Kaden said with a pout. He could tell she truly didn’t feel good, which made him wish he was the one sick instead. Hell, his wish may have not been so far away after being drenched. His hair was still wet, small trickles of water running down his neck. Kaden picked up one of Summer’s blankets and draped it over his legs. “Is it getting any better?” He asked, pointing in the general direction of her face. “You don’t sound so hot.”

Collins Apa

Collins picked through her contacts, trying to think of anyone else. There had to be another piano player at Mellifluous who wasn’t already in a spot in the show. Had to be. Yet, as Collins continued to run around, asking everyone, she always got the same answer. “Have you tried the Perry boy yet?” Oh, she had, and she didn’t want to again. With a groan, she dropped her phone on the library table. A few people around her jolted from the noise and shot her irritated looks. She looked at the piece of sheet music in front of her.

“Might as well get it over with,” she mumbled to herself, standing. At least if it had to be James, she wanted to give him plenty of time to learn the piece. She already had the dance, so he just needed to do his part. It wasn’t really something that required they practice together, though it may have been at least helpful. As she walked through the halls, pulling her hair up in a knot on her head, she watched the storm outside through each window she passed. Since the morning, it had calmed slightly but lightning still struck and thunder shook the panes. Collins rather liked storms. She was so wrapped up in watching it that she almost missed her turn for the boy’s hallway. Only the sounds of gunshots and gaming warfare made her realize. Doubling back, she counted the doors until she reached almost the very last one. Ah, her destination. Taking in a deep breath, she raised her fist and knocked on the door several times.

Julian Monroe 

If things went south, he already had a plan. Which is why Julian had no second thoughts when he had originally pulled Violet to him, although she obviously did. He cocked an eyebrow when she said "they couldn't do this", like hooking up was so against the law. Julian was in his last year and Mellifluous, he wouldnt have another class with her. One more time, just to clear his mind, and he could handle seeing her in the hallways without the same warm rush he had that night at the bar. Of course, then he'd also been high on oxy. Everything felt like an out of this world experience on that stuff. Part of him also wondered if this music teacher was anywhere near as good as the drugs had led him to believe. If she was- well, he already knew. A senior.

When she repeated almost his exact mantra of the moment, and just life in general, Julian knew they weren't stopping again. And, God forbid if she pulled away one more time, he was walking out of that room like nothing ever happened to begin with. The silly games high school girls played irritated him beyond comprehension. He didnt understand shying away from whatever you felt for the sake of some old piece of advice that might have worked in the 60s. Julian didn't chase anyone, period.

Picking Violet up, he supported her weight by gripping the soft area right below her ass. Although there wasn't much weight there at all. Still light as a feather, so easy to throw around. He moved his lips away from hers and down her neck, nipping at the skin. They were surrounded by instruments so Julian stepped over a fallen violin, which tugged at his OCD, but he ignored it for the time being. Carrying her to a set of risers, he moved his hands so she would fall to the tallest row. It was about the same height as when he was carrying her, though. "Tell me now if you don't want to finish this," he said to Violet, standing back but not removing his hands from her hips.

[mellifluousboarding]

Ginger

Bailey Ray Venson

Bailey clapped with excitement whenever he agreed to letting her draw him, and jumped off of the counter. She went over to a pile of sketchbooks that she had on her bar that gave a peek into the living room, and picked one up. She flicked through it to find an empty page, and picked up a piece of charcoal that sat next to the sketchbooks. She made her way back over to the counter where she was sitting, and stopped in her tracks as he asked a question of his own. She swallowed hard, and placed the sketchbook and charcoal down onto the counter in front of her.

“How..how did you know I had another question?” She asked softly before turned to face him. His facial expression was harder than usual, and her eyebrows furrowed at the sight of it. “It was sort of personal, I guess; and I didn’t want to pry,” she explained to him, looking down at her hands. She ran her thumb over the bandaid on her hand, and then flickered her eyes back up to him. “I was going to ask why you do what you do. I teach art, because my brother introduced me to it and I love working with the kids.” She ran her unhurt hand through her hair, and shook it out. “Like I said, you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to.” She gathered it all together, and twisted it up into a bun, sticking a random pencil in it to keep it in place. She jumped back up onto the counter, and crossed her legs, picking up the sketchbook. She propped it up on her leg, and began the sketch of his face.

Veronica Ann Kennedy

Veronica nodded with a soft, “Night Damien,” as she left his room, and made her way back to her own. She laid back on her bed, and put her hands over her face. “Oh you are such an idiot, Veronica Ann,” she told herself with a huff, “Never should have gone to him in the first place. You are always such a nuisance to people, and now you’ve probably ruined the one friendship you did have.” She pushed herself up off of her bed, and began changing into her pajamas. She peeled off her cardigan, and looked down at the scars on her forearms. To the untrained eye, people would have thought they were done by self harm, but Veronica knew the truth. It was her brother and a razor blade, and his own twisted way of waking her up in the morning.

She pushed the memory out of her head, and slipped a oversized hoodie on over her leggings. She laid down on her bed, and curled up underneath her comforter. She stared up at the ceiling, and felt wide awake. She thought about reading or doings some homework, but neither of those things seemed interesting to her enough to do them. She wiggled around and laid in a different position, thinking that it would help but it didn’t. She sat up, and huffed out another frustrated breath. “Fuck this,” she muttered to herself as she stood up from her bed, and slipped on a pair of sandals. It was too late for students to be roaming around the grounds, but she wasn’t going to sit around and be bored for hours until she fell asleep. She left her room, tucking her phone into her waist band, and headed down the hallway. She stubbed her toes on the corner as she rounded it, and she let out a stream of hushed curses.

Martina Erie Rodriguez

Martina let out a squeak as Benji fell back onto the bed, bringing her along with him. She laid sprawled out on his chest, and sat up slightly so that she could see his face. It was short lived, however, due to the fact that he soon buried his face into her neck. She giggled as his morning scruff tickled her collar bone, and she pulled away from his kisses to be able to place one on his mouth. She reached up, and cupped his face with both of her hands as she deepened the kiss. She was perfectly content to skip breakfast to stay in bed with him, but her stomach apparently had other plans as it grumbled at her. Martina ignored it as she began to distract him from it, knowing that he would put her physical needs above anything else and stop their little game to feed her.

She wrapped her arms around his middle, and clung onto him, burying her face into his chest. She took a deep, satisfied breath, and inhaled his scent so that it could linger in her mind. Being with Benji was forbidden, but Martina would shout it from the rooftops if it meant she could spend everyday like this. It wasn't like she wasn't of legal age, but the school would have a connipsion fit if it even got the hint that its vice principal was in a relationship with a student. "My Benji," she muttered into his chest, mimicking his own statement to her. She sat up, and straddled his lap, staring down at him. She wiggled slightly to catch him off guard, and repressed her giggle from the facial expression that appeared on his face. "I like your face," she told him matter-of-factly before reaching out to poke the tip of his nose.

[mellifluousboarding]

0cean

Damian During her story, I absentmindedly changed my position on the wall to leaning against it with my shoulder. When she mentioned her father, the faint image of the men standing in her dorm on the first day of school flashed into my mind. Her father has to be the one with the thickest beard. All of the men look fairly good for their age, but only the man with the beard seemed to be suitable to be the father. Lowering my eyes to the floor after she finished, I kept my gaze on the ground until she stepped near me to say her goodbye. My eyes flickered from the floor, to her cardigan sleeve, and then finally to her eyes as I nodded my head. "Goodnight, Veronica." I said to her, placing my hand on the knob and opening the door for her. The sound of the remaining drizzle of rain occasionally hitting the window, indicating the storm passing over. After she left, I closed the door behind me and walked back over to my bed. I sat down slowly, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, and placing my other hand on the bed beside me. The smell of her still lingering in the room. Valentino The sound of someone knocking on the door caused for me to lift my head and open my eyes. Using my elbows to prop myself up, I looked down at the girl and sucked air between my teeth. The girl lifted her head as I did so and wiped the corners of her mouth with her thumb, her facial expression clearly startled. "Should I-" she began, removing her grip from around me and beginning to stand up. I shook my head, smoothing my hair back as I bit down on my bottom lip. "No, no. I'm almost there." I responded to her. She seemed hesitant at first but she lowered her head down again and resumed her previous action. I could feel the pressure returning in my lower abdomen and then the pleasant feeling of release shortly after. The girl stood up now, walking over to the edge of the bed to grab her books and fix herself. I stood up from the bed and pulled my sweatpants up. "So," she looked at me over her shoulder to try and get in a word. "You'll call me?" she asked as I placed my hand on the door knob and opened the door. "Good luck on your test, Kristie." I said to her as I opened the door. She looked at me, then at Maeve, before slinking past her and heading down the hallway. Turning my attention to Maeve, I stepped back into my room to allow her to come in and closed the door behind her. "What's up?" I asked her, walking over to my desk. I sat down in my chair and grabbed my planner. Inside I have all of my classmates who I tutor listed and the times of their appointments as well.

[mellifluousboarding]

Fallz

Adrian Carter

Arching an eyebrow, he listened to her question. He could tell by the way her jaw worked that her original question didn’t start with the word “may”. For whatever reason, she changed it. Adrian looked at her for a moment longer and shrugged. “If you want to,” he said, picking up his cup once more. He took a small sip out of it. Despite the fact that he was annoyed she swapped questions, part of him was relieved as well. That was hardly a tough thing to answer. Since he’d arrived at Mellifluous, his constant worry was that a student or fellow staff member would know somehow. Know that he was responsible for it, know that he was a murderer. He was afraid the superintendent would call him, say that he found out and didn’t think Adrian was a suitable fit anymore. There would come a day when he wouldn’t care about it anymore but that was not so soon. His phone had lit up that morning with the notification that it was Perrie’s birthday. Of course he didn’t need reminding about it but even after five years, he hadn’t removed it. Adrian looked up from his tea and to Bailey. 

“Why did you not ask me what you originally wanted to?” He said, voice coming out sharper than he intended. There had to be a reason. It could have been an entirely innocent question she just suddenly felt uncomfortable asking but if she knew about Perrie, Adrian didn’t want to snake around each other with the secret. He couldn’t handle the weight of it anymore. Five years of carrying her fate on his shoulders, Adrian could feel himself slowly losing his grip on the noose he’d kept that secret in. 

Benji Melrose

He chuckled at her comment and sat back, tucking one of his legs underneath him. Truth be told, all Benji wished was to be able to stay with Martina all day. Out of hiding, no worries about anyone finding out about them. To be able to be with her and not fear any type of consequences would be a miracle. Even after she graduated they wouldn’t be entirely out of the clear. People would still wonder how they just happened to be so close so soon and, even though nothing legal could happen then, everyone would know. Benji wanted to savor every moment they had together. He wanted to make good memories for her, not ones of hiding out and rushed time. 

“Nothing you didn’t enjoy,” Benji said, watching her face. Last night had been wildly different for them. It was the first time they’d been together in a real bed, not pushed against a bathroom counter or improvising in his office. They were able to be together like a real couple and Benji had taken every advantage he could. He wasn’t surprised she was sore. When she crawled into his lap, he wrapped his arms around her waist and cocked his head to the side. “My Martina,” he murmured when she stuck her lip out at him. Benji kissed her softly and laid back on the bed, pulling her down with him. “I guess breakfast can wait,” he said with a smirk. Benji slid his hands down to the round of her bottom and gave a light squeeze, working his mouth along her neck and jawline. He knew there was no way she could handle what had happened last night again, but that didn’t mean it was a complete no go. Besides, he’d learned that even the most vanilla moments could work beyond the hard stuff if done right. 

[mellifluousboarding]

Ginger

Bailey Ray Venson

Bailey sipped her tea lightly, since it was still hot, and stared at Adrian’s stone-like face as she tried to form her question. She blew on her tea, trying to cool it down, before just setting it down on the counter and mimicked his body language. She cleared her throat and decided to switch questions, “May I draw you? Your bone structure is magnificent, and I’ve kind of wanted to do it since we met.” She took hold of the counter, and jumped so that she could sit on it. She picked her tea back up again, and blew on it once more.

She sipped it again, testing the heat, and took a bigger drink. She crossed her ankles, and swung them slightly as she looked over to study Adrian’s face. Her original question was why he had become a counselor, but she didn’t want to pry into it, in case it was a touchy subject. She had pursued art only after her brother encouraged her to do so. He never wanted her to be a part of the family business, but with his condition, it seemed that she was going to be handed it whenever her father died. She pushed that thought far back in her head, and focused on the present, which was Adrian standing in her kitchen with wet hair and sweat pants.

Martina Erie Rodriguez

Martina felt Benji’s weight leave the bed, so she rolled over toward his side. She grabbed onto his pillow, and brought it down to her face. She went back to her sleep quickly; her body still exhausted from the night before. It wasn’t long until Benji was shaking her awake, and Martina groaned, shaking her head. She buried her face into his pillow, and pouted, “Nooooo.” She knew that she would have to get up sooner than later, but she wanted to extend being in his bed as much as possible. She let out a deep sigh when she realized that he wasn’t going away, so she rolled over to be able to look up at his face.

“You could always join me,” she stated, groggy and her voice full of sleep. She lifted her arm to touch his cheek, but her body felt like it was made of rubber. Her hand dropped out of the air, and she groaned again, “What did you do to me last night? I feel like I am made out of cement.” She propped herself up by her elbows as her head rolled back to stare up at the ceiling. She heard the storm continuing outside, and looked over toward the window. “Mmm, yay. I don’t have to rush out like normal,” she grumbled to herself, pushing herself up to sit up completely on the bed. The blanket fell to expose her bare chest, but she didn’t bother covering herself back up.

She tossed her legs over the side of the bed, and paused from a head rush. She rubbed her eyes with her hands, and yawned, stretching her arms up into the air. Martina glanced behind her toward Benji on the other side of the bed, and crawled across the bed toward him and into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and placed her head onto his shoulder, “Good morning, sir.” She pecked his jawbone with a sly smile, and closed her eyes involuntarily, due to her body still wanting more sleep. She let out a soft whine as she realized that she was falling back asleep, and moved her head off of his shoulder. “Do we really have to get up?” she asked him with her bottom lip stuck out in a pout.

Violet Wednesday Palen

Violet chewed on her lip as she listened to his retort back to her about sneaking out. She was going to speak once again, but his suggestion threw her off. She stood there for a moment with her mouth open before she snapped it shut, and glanced over at the violins. It would help me figure out what to do,she thought to herself before nodding at him, "Sure. Wouldn't hurt, I guess." She was going to move toward the piano bench, but she was caught off guard by Julian grabbing hold of her waist. She was going to protest, but her mind raced back to the night they had first met.

Violet had left campus to go get something to drink from a bar, having had a rough day. Having always been a lightweight, she got something simple and sipped it casually until she got ready to head back to campus. She ran into Julian on the walk back, and in a flurry of a one night hook up, she hadn't realized that he was a student. It wasn't until she had him in a class that next semester that she realized that she had made a terrible mistake. However, now, with his lips pressed against her own, Violet couldn't help but melt in his arms. She kissed him back passionately before she came to her senses, and pulled back away from him. "Julian," she breathed out, "We can't do this." Although she was speaking the words, she knew that she didn't want to truly pull back from him. She ran her hand through his hair on the back of his head and muttered, "Oh to hell with it," as she kissed him once again.

Veronica Ann Kennedy

Veronica bit her bottom lip, and nodded at his explanation of the drawing. She glanced toward the window for just a moment; contemplating walking out his dorm room door. There was something in the pit of her stomach that kept her there. Her gaze left the window, and returned to him. She reached up to play with her bottom lip nervously, and began to start walking out. She stopped whenever he finally spoke, and blinked at his request. “Um, okay, sure,” she took a deep breath, and sat back down on his bed. She peered down at her hands as she thought about what to talk about first.

“Where I am from is mostly farmland with the occasional dust filled town,” she began, playing with a strand of her hair, “My family raises cattle and grows cotton, so as you can imagine life can be quite boring.” She swallowed the lump growing in her throat as she thought about her home and her family. “We’d wake up every morning at four in the morning, and wouldn’t go to sleep until midnight some nights. When I was younger, my dad would have me go through the field and pull grubs off of the cotton, if he couldn’t afford the pesticides necessary to keep them off.” Her eyes glazed over as the memories flooded back into her head. “My favorite thing about being in the fields all day was the sunsets. You can see all the beautiful colors for miles.”

She smiled at the thought of them, and glanced up to see if Damien was paying attention to her rambling. She cleared her throat before continuing, “We lived down this long dirt driveway, and I would have to run down in every morning to catch the school bus. I was always late for one reason or another.” She scratched her nose absentmindedly, and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You could walk a couple miles down the road from my house, and reach this tiny creek, where you could sit on the bank and watch the tadpoles dance with one another.” She giggled at the memory before she remembered her father coming to get her one day, and her facial expression dropped.

She pulled at her cardigan, and looked away from Damien completely. “It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine, but it was home,” her voice came out in almost a whisper. She rubbed her forehead, tilting her head to the side. “Well, it was a house. If home is where the heart is, it has never been there,” she sighed, and picked at a stitch in her jeans. “Like I said before, my father wasn’t the greatest guy in the world,” she explained, feeling like she should tell him more, “He is very abusive, and has a loud temper. Living with him was hell on Earth. Actually, I bet the devil got tips from him.” She snorted at the idea, and shook her head, “Coming here was a miracle for me; probably saved my life to be honest.”

Veronica got quiet after her last few words as the revelation hit her as she said it. She instinctively tugged at her cardigan sleeves, making sure her scars were hidden. “Anyway, I’ve probably rambled way too much,” she stated, standing up from the bed. She made her way over to him and the door, and paused in front of him, “Thank you for sitting with me through the storm.“ She rocked back and forth on her heels for just a moment, and reached out to brush her fingers against his, “I appreciate it; you are very sweet.” She glanced up to his eyes, and smiled softly at him. 

[mellifluousboarding]

0cean

Damian When she decided to leave, I nodded my head and leaned my shoulder onto the wall. I turned my attention to the storm outside, the severe phase of it passing over us now, but the sound of a notebook sliding across the floor caught my attention. I didn't think much of it until I saw Veronica gazing at the one picture in the sketchbook that I didn't want her to see. For a second I wanted to scold her for looking at something so personal for so long, but there's no reason for me to. It wasn't her fault. "Ms. Venson wanted us to sketch a portrait of our friends, so," I explained, brushing off her questions as well as her compliment. Folding the cover of the sketchbook over and closing it, I caught a glimpse of a scar on her arm but moved my focus away from it as I placed the sketchbook on the nightstand. How that happened is none of your business, Damian. She needs to stay away from you, and you need to keep your distance away from her. 'Only ask people what you could use against them one day', or so Father says. My gaze fixed on the spirals binding the papers in my sketchbook together, I ran my finger along each spiral until I felt a subtle urge to fill the silence. "Tell me about Oklahoma." I asked her finally, turning to face her and pressing my back against the wall. Summer The phone pressed against my ear with my shoulder, I moved from the couch to my home office in search of the manilla folder with all of the financial information and notes about the upcoming dance recital. "Yes, Ms. Jones," I reassured the financial advisor for the school, although my stuffy nose and sore throat interfered with my speech. As a result of being unable to raise my voice over a whisper, I had to repeat my words until Ms. Jones was able to understand. Every part of me regretting even getting up from the couch and answering the phone in the first place. "No, I have it listed here that," I started, but Ms. Jones cut me off with yet another 'Huh?' and 'I can't hear you'. Leaning over my desk, I placed my free hand onto the surface and closed my eyes. I wanted to sigh, but thought it would be best not to. Ms. Jones continued to talk endlessly about everything that needs to be in order for the recital. Once she finished, I straightened up and inhaled slowly through my mouth. With a volume as high as my throat would allow, I said to her, "We have six thousand dollars set aside for the recital. The board has already approved it and the paperwork for the vendors has already been filed." Ms. Jones started, "I just-" But I interrupted her by saying, "Good-bye, Ms. Jones." and hung up the phone. A jolt of pain travelled down my throat and returned each time I inhaled, so I held my palm against my throat to try and massage the pain away. Or at least ease the pain of inhaling through my mouth to breathe since both of my nostrils are stuffed. Wading over to the kitchen in a pair of oversized navy blue plaid pajama pants and my favorite extra large black hoodie, I grabbed a clean mug from the cabinet and filled it with water. Then, I placed the cup into the microwave and pressed the option for beverages. Normally I boil the water in a pot on the stove but I don't have the patience for that today. Once the microwave beeped to signal it was done, I took out the mug while grabbing a chamomile teabag from my collection of tea's on the counter. I dropped the bag into the water to allow for its contents to dissolve, and then I wrapped three of my fingers through the handle of the mug and walked over to my spot on the couch. Pushing back my layers of blankets, I sat down slowly on the couch and slid my legs underneath the blankets. The tea had already finished dissolving, so I stirred it around in the liquid a few times before taking the first sip. Just as I did so, though, I felt a pressure building behind my nose. I sat there for a second, unable to inhale, before my eyes closed shut and I sneezed. Nothing came out due to my nose being stuffed, but some of the tea spilled onto my hoodie. I glanced down and saw tea running down Kaden's picture. Ever since I bought hoodie's for both of us, mine having my favorite picture of Kaden's and his having his favorite picture of me, I've made an effort to keep it clean and stain free. I never wear it out of the house for obvious reasons, so for the most part it stays pretty clean. Too lazy to grab a tissue from the closest box, I lifted my hoodie and licked up the excess tea. Then, someone knocked on the door. "The door's-" I started, but I doubt my voice was loud enough to reach the door. Picking up the TV remote to lower the sounds of the Spongebob episode on the TV, I called out to the person at the door once more. "It's open!"

[mellifluousboarding]

Fallz

part two

Julian Monroe 

He felt himself smile a little when Miss. Palen jumped but Julian kept it hidden. Pulling the black gloves off his hands, he set them by the door so he wouldn’t forget to grab them on his way out. Not sure entirely why he decided to offer what he was about to, Julian stepped further into the room, towards the violins. Usually he only played when he was required to, even practicing alone in his room was a rare occasion. He had a very love-hate relationship with the instrument. A small piece of resentment still sat with him that the violin was what his father chose, but at the same time Julian knew that he would have chosen the same one eventually. He liked the way it took a special kind of control for it to sound just right, whether he wanted the tune to be soft or fast-paced.

Julian was eyeing on of them when Violet spoke again. He felt the ‘teacher’s voice’ almost before she even started speaking. With a roll of his eyes, he faced her. “Listen, Miss. Palen. I’ve snuck out this way before and hawk eyes hasn’t caught me once. I know what I’m doing,” he said, placing his hands on his hips like she was. Even though he knew he’d just admitted to breaking the rules many times, Julian didn’t really care. He doubted she’d even try to do anything about it. “Now, you said you needed to hear what it sounded like on a string and I still remember it. I can play it for you if you need me to.” He reached to grab a violin, not realizing exactly how close it was to her. They hadn’t been this close in a very long time and then his hands weren’t anywhere near a violin. Julian paused for a brief second, his mind whirring over whether he was really about to make the stupidest decision of his life. “Fuck it,” he grumbled, at the last moment directing himself towards Violet. He crashed his lips against hers and grabbed her waist, suctioning him towards her. All the times he had sat in class, watching her and knowing what hid under her clothes, the knowledge that she had almost been his. Even Julian knew eventually it’d boil over. 

Maeve Harwood

Maeve reached for a Polaroid across her bed. It was a simple shot of some random man in town, but the light was shadowing half his face. She didn’t know exactly how easy it would be for her partner to create a short film in such a short amount of time, considering they’d waited so long to do the project in the first place. Pulling her legs to her body, she put the picture back and scanned the others. About fifty were scattered across her comforter. Most were people, her favorite subjects, but she had some stills strewn throughout. While her heart told her to go with something complex, something that had meaning, her brain said to make the project as easy for them as possible. The shot of a lily pad in the pond behind the track, for instance, would have been the latter. She’d snapped the camera just as a small frog was leaping onto it, it’s back legs still in the water. Maeve picked it up and set it beside her. That was one she would show Valentino, but she couldn’t get the shot of the man out of her head. Chewing on her lip, she finally pushed away her concerns and snatched it up in her fingers again. Looking towards her roommate, Maeve pushed all the pictures she wasn’t using into a pile on the center of her bed and stood up. “I’m going to get this project knocked out,” she said, grabbing the two photos, her phone, and keys. The girl nodded and wrote down another section of notes. Maeve was eternally grateful she had managed to score mostly art classes this semester. Her homework was rarely from a book.

As she left her room, Maeve paused in the mirror. God, she thought to herself, brushing the long strands of hair that had escaped from her bun behind her hear. She hadn’t even really crawled out of bed since she’d woken up that day. Her over-sized shirt and faded gray joggers weren’t exactly new for her to venture out it, but she usually always had a bit of makeup on and her hair fixed. Oh well, she thought. Now wasn’t the time to be worrying what she looked like anyway. Maeve popped a piece of gum in her mouth before she left. She hadn’t eaten anything and she was attempting to trick her stomach into quieting its growls. By the time she reached Valentino’s dorm, after several wrong turns and some seriously grumpy boys, Maeve finally found the right door. She knocked on it several times and stepped back.

[mellifluousboarding]

Fallz

Adrian Carter

Adrian watched and waited until Bailey was out of sight before letting his shoulders slump. He pushed his hair back with his hands. She couldn’t get to him like that again, especially not when they were alone like that. There hadn’t been a single person since Perrie that awoke that side of him but something about Bailey, her huge eyes that seemed to catch everything made him realize he was a guy- a guy who hadn’t allowed himself any sort of release since that night. Maybe it was just because he was entirely different from her. Nothing about Bailey reminded him of Perrie’s harshness, her darkness. She was a small light in his life he hadn’t expected to find in Mellifluous. Adrian leaned against the counter and let out a long sigh. He spun one of the cups around and squinted his eyes. When he heard Bailey’s footsteps coming back out of the room, he turned his head towards her. His eyes flicked down to her tights and the corner of his mouth flipped up just slightly. Hiding the movement by looking back to the cups, Adrian pushed himself off the counter. He took the cup from her and wrapped his hands around it then hissed out a tiny breath. “Hot,” he explained, pulling the sleeve of his sweater down and using it to cushion between the warm ceramic and his palm. Adrian sipped it slowly as she put a bandage on her cut. He was glad she was taking care of herself instead of trying to be tough about it, something that he would do. “A question?” He asked, looking over the rim of his cup. Adrian set it down on the counter and crossed his arms. “Well, go ahead and ask me.” He didn’t have a clue what kind of question she could have asked him. There were a million and one possibilities, but at least he didn’t have to worry about it being about Perrie. No one here knew what had happened, except maybe the superintendent who had hired him.

Benji Melrose 

He slid out from under the covers. With the storm booming outside, Benji wasn’t able to sleep. It wasn’t really a surprise to him but he wished he could push it away as easily as the girl beside him. Benji pulled the blankets back up around her shoulders and brushed her hair away from her face. He watched her for a couple of seconds before standing. His stomach was taunt with morning hunger so he walked into the kitchen. For a grown man, he still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of buying his own groceries. The cabinets were almost completely of anything suitable for breakfast. He shut them with a sign and went towards the freezer, hoping he at least had some toaster waffles. After digging out in boxes of Hot Pockets, some of them actually empty, Benji gave up. Per usual, he was just going to have to order something. A few places around actually did deliver brunch type foods so he went back into the bedroom briefly to grab his phone from the nightstand.

After calling a place he knew well, Benji sunk down on his couch and switched on the television. He watched the news with bland distaste until the weather came on, then flipped it over to a movie he and Martina had been watching the night before. Keeping the volume low, Benji sat back in the couch. The delivery service never took long and he only watched about five of the minutes of the movie. He jumped when the doorbell rang, quickly pausing the scene in front of them. Ana’s body was on full display, Christian going at it from behind. Benji cleared his throat and felt his face heat up as though the delivery person actually had x-ray vision. He shut off the television and straightened out his shirt before opening the door.

“Hey, Greg,” he said, smiling. Benji traded him a crisp fifty-dollar bill for the bag of food. “Keep the change, okay? You came all the way out here in this weather.” It was nearly a thirty-dollar tip but the boy was soaking wet. He saluted towards Benji and backed away, hollering out a thank you as he ran back to his car.

Benji shut the door behind him and walked into his kitchen, taking out the boxes and setting them up on the counter. He put all the pancakes on one plate and then the bacon and eggs. At least he did have some fruits stocked up, so Benji began cutting them and putting them in two separate bowls. He left the bacon off Martina’s plate and set them up on the bar, grabbing two glasses of orange juice at the last minute. She was a vegetarian, which he could never manage, but didn’t mind. It only left him more bacon in the morning.

Walking back into the bedroom, Benji crawled onto his king-sized bed over to Martina. “Sleepy head,” he whispered in her ear, shaking her hip to wake her up. “It’s time to get up.”

Kaden Nett

Kaden stood in the line of the cafeteria, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He didn’t realize how many people actually came to the place when classes weren’t in session. Of course, none of them were actually getting food from the standard lunch line. Everyone was targeting the shops that actually sold good stuff. Kaden was waiting for the snack stand. It was pretty much a small convenience shop, filled with every kind of unhealthy junk one could imagine. Especially goldfish crackers. He knew Summer was sick and even though he couldn’t actually go get her medicine, her favorite food and a massage would help. The line was steadily going down, thank God. As he stepped forward, a girl slid up beside him. Kaden looked down briefly, thinking that she was just passing him, but did a double-take when he saw the familiar blonde locks. He suppressed his groan and tried as long as he could to simply act like he never knew she was there. Lori was annoyingly persistent- and the first person to test him so badly. In his years at Mellifluous, he’d successfully kept his temper under wrap. He tried to be polite with her but it was almost like she sensed he was with someone, her jealousy making her even more of a clingy pain. Even though not a soul at the school could ever know he was shacked up with the principal.

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked straight ahead. Lori rubbed her shoulder against his arm. “Hey, Kaden,” she purred. Biting the inside of his cheek, he smiled tautly.

“Lori,” he greeted, nodding his head. The line moved forward again and he stepped up. She kept up with him, her body even closer. Kaden felt uncomfortable but he didn’t have the heart to push her away with the seriousness someone like her needed. Every day, though, he felt more and more like he couldn’t care less what it did to her.

She grabbed his forearm and ran it up to his shoulder. “What are you doing today?” She asked, blinking through her eyelashes at him.

“Studying,” he answered quickly. “Uh, I have a few tests this week. So, I’m studying. Hard.” With a nod, he cleared his throat and kept his eyes ahead. Lori sighed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. Kaden looked down at her and narrowed his eyes. “What?” She shook her head. “Oh, nothing. I just happen to know we share a lot of classes together and none of them have tests soon.” Lori smiled, her eyes twinkling with a look that almost said ‘I know what you’re hiding’. She was probably just trying to trick him though, get him to cave and admit to her that he had plenty of time to entertain her. Kaden didn’t even go all the way with Lori their sophomore year, only got his fingers wet before she backed out. Her attitude had severely changed in the two years since then but so had his. Kaden was no longer interested in the rushed hookups of high school. He didn’t like his business everywhere, the looks that followed him and whoever he was with in the hall. With Summer, he had privacy. He had intimacy. There was no one else he could have that with here- no one else he wanted to.

The line finally moved up and Kaden was now in front. “Two bags of the goldfish please, and a blue Powerade.” He slipped a ten-dollar bill over. Instead of waiting on the boy to give him change, he grabbed the things he bought and immediately darted away. Someone moved up, which blocked Lori’s path to him. Kaden nearly let out an audible laugh of relief but he had places to go. He hurried across the campus, his clothes getting soaked in the rain. While he knew it was raining, he hadn’t actually looked at the weather close enough to realize it would be a downright storm. When he reached Summer’s door, he raped his knuckles against the door several times. At least with the overhang of the roof, he wasn’t getting rained on anymore.

[mellifluousboarding]

Ginger

Bailey Ray Venson

“Don’t be ridiculo-” Bailey started as he pulled her away from the cabinet, but her voice failed her from continuing once she saw the look in his eyes. When he got the cups down, she stood there defiantly and sighed, “Thank you.” She was going to begin to make his tea, since the water was done boiling, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. Their close proximity made her head spin, and she watched his face through her eyelashes as he placed the rag onto the cut. “It’s just a scratch; I’ll be fine,” she murmured as he made eye contact with her. She wasn’t expecting what came out of his mouth next, but it caused her to go pink.

She held onto the rag, pressing it into her palm. She looked down at her feet, and nodded. She moved around him carefully, and went into her small bedroom off of the living room. She used one hand to open her dresser drawer, and humphed as she used one of her feet to hold it in place. Finally, after a good tug, it opened and she dug around inside of it to find a pair of leggings. The only ones she could find were white with giant black polka dots on them, but it was the best she could find under the circumstances. She struggled to pull them on, jumping up and down a couple times so that they got to where they sat perfectly.

She headed out of her bedroom, and went back into the kitchen to the cups, placing the rag down onto the counter. She placed a teabag into each of them, and filled them with water. “Here ya go,” she stated as she handed one to him. She inspected the cut on her hand, and went to run it underneath the cool water from the tap. It stung lightly, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. She bent her knees so that she could open the cabinet underneath her sink, and find her first aid kit. She popped it open, and found a bandage for her hand.

She sat cross legged on the ground as she opened the bandage, and placed it onto her palm, making sure it would stay. She packed back up her kit, placed it back where it was, and stood up to lean against the counter. She picked up her cup, and moved her bag around inside of its water, watching the tea get darker the more she moved it. “So,” she began, taking the bag out to throw it into her garbage can, “I have an odd question, and feel free to refuse to answer all you want.” She stared down at her tea, before glancing nervously through her eyelashes at him, and took a sip from her cup.

Violet Wednesday Palen

Violet didn’t hear the doors open; so whenever someone spoke, she jumped and turned to see who it was. It was Julian, one of her music students. She tried not to stare at his face for too long before turning back to the music, looking down at the ground covered in music. She sighed, and glanced over at the piece of music he was speaking about, “I’m trying to come up with something for my orchestra class to learn for the big recital.” She picked up the piece, and looked it over, “This is a good one, but it sounded a bit off on just the piano. Its meant for a string orchestra.” Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and she hummed to herself for just a second. “Maybe I should try it on the cello before I decide,” she murmured to herself, and shook her head, throwing the piece behind her, “Whatever.”

She stood up, and dusted off her dress from the ground. She remembered Julian being there, so she looked back over at him. Was he always that tall? she thought to herself, and took him what he was wearing. He definitely looked like he was planning on going somewhere, and she placed her hands on her hips. “Where are you headed, mister?” she asked him, raising an eyebrow, “Have you not looked outside all day? Its raining cats and dogs out there, and you’d catch a cold.” She folded her arms across her chest, “Especially if you are planning on sneaking out. By the music room is the worst way to go too, numbskull. Dr. Rouber’s office is like right there. The old man might need hearing aids, but he has eyes like a hawk.”

Veronica Ann Kennedy

Whenever Damien stood from the bed, Veronica’s stomach flipped, and she knew automatically that she had done something bad. She kept her gaze from him, and withdrew into herself emotionally, readying herself for what was going to come next. Once she had done so, she looked from her hands to his face. As their eyes made eye contact, it took everything for her not to look away from him. The booming sound of thunder and lightening caused her to jump, but she ignored the fear as she zoned in on his words and tone of voice. She was used to this tone, but not from him.

She cleared her throat, and smoothed out her cardigan, nodding her head, “Right, I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m sorry.” She moved to let her legs hang over the side of the bed, and looked down toward the floor. Veronica ran a hand over her face, and shook out her hair, moving it over to one side. It hung around her face, framing it and blocking the view of it from Damien. She sighed, “Thank you for allowing me to stay, but I should…I should probably leave.” She bit her lip as she mulled it over, and stood from his bed. Her foot knocked into something underneath the bed when she stood, and she looked down to see what it was. It was a sketchbook.

“Whoops, my bad,” she murmured, bending down to pick it up. “I hope I didn’t step on it,” she went to hand it to him, but it slipped out of her hands wrong and fell, coming open. “Dammit,” she groaned, going to pick it up. She took in the drawing for the first time, and she gripped onto the sketchbook as she stared at it in her hands. She blinked several times, and looked up at Damien, “Is this…is this me?” Her gaze went back to the drawing, and she took in every single detail. “This is amazing, Damien,” she told him quietly as she closed it, realizing that it was hidden under his bed for a reason. As she handed it to him, her cardigan sleeve pulled up, making the scars on her arm visible. Once he had taken the sketchbook, she quickly pulled at her sleeve and crossed her arms across her chest.

[mellifluousboarding]

0cean

Damian I tripped over a few lines of the song while I sang, but it's been so long since I heard the song I'm surprised I managed to even remember the melody. Accidentally combining two verses together, I cleared my throat to cover the mistake and then skipped to the third verse. In the midst of it, however, I stopped when I sensed Veronica move closer to me and then the feel of a brief kiss on my cheek. Her action froze me. I kept my eyes on the ground for a second before I stood up from the bed. "I'm not," I shook my head as I moved a few steps away from her. The amount of bad things that could result from her liking me flashed in my mind. Shaking my head once more, I clenched my jaw and finally turned to her. The sign of worry wiped from my face as my expression returned to its usual, but more stern. "I'm not into you like that, Veronica." I said to her, looking at her directly into her eyes. A flash of lightning followed by thunder occurred and I turned my attention from her and to the storm. "You can stay here if you want," I said, and then turned to view her. "But don't do that again." My tone was cold.

[mellifluousboarding]

Fallz

Julian Calix Monroe 

Storms were good and bad. Julian wasn’t particularly fond of all the noise, but at Mellifluous they gave him the chance to get out. He’d been holed up in his room all day with a fake cold, so escaping was easier than usual. Skipping wasn’t exactly the norm for him, surprisingly, but every now and then he just needed a break. Julian planned on leaving before his roommate returned from classes. He checked the clock on his wall for the fifth time in an hour. It was close enough, he reasoned, to sneak out the back door by the music room. Hefting himself off the bed, he grabbed his plain black mitts off the wall and slipped them over his hands. Unlike the bulky red things people usually associated with boxing, he never covered his hands much. It was easier to win that way even if it caused a little more pain on his end.

Julian only grabbed the key card he would need to get back in the building as he left. He slipped it into the band of his sweatpants and slipped the hood of his jacket over his head. As expected, very few people crossed his path as he strode towards the back end of the school. Only one person he even knew saw him but the redhead was smart enough not to say anything about it. He nodded to her and she did the same, which was about as much interaction as they ever got after their one-night stand a few weeks ago.

The music hall finally came to view and he turned right underneath the sign. Julian only got a few steps down before he heard music. A few of the pieces he recognized as ones his father had made him play in old recitals. He wondered if someone was prepping for one, considering none of the ones he knew were exactly joyous to sweat over learning. There was still time before he absolutely had to go, so he paused in front of the room it was coming from. Inside, he was surprised to see Miss. Palen in the floor surrounded by music. He wondered who in their right mind would stress so much over a dumb class. Julian pushed his hood off his head and walked through the doors. He had a few classes with her over the years but none now, so he thought for a moment she may not even remember him. “If your aim is to win,” he said, touching one of the pieces he knew with the toe of his shoe. “This will impress judges but it’s easy to learn.”