Touching Infinity;, Lilli/Keira/Neil/Aspen: open to crash!

[Catherine Lee]

Touching Infinity
Catherine Lee's birthday thread:
Lilli/Keira/Neil/Aspen/Aist/Trent
Open for others to crash!

You only turned eighteen once. Or once every cycle Catherine thought laying in her huge very comfortable bed. She had lost count how many times she had turned eighteen in her long existence. Although she knew for a fact she could count on her hand how many times her mum had helped plan her birthdays. It had been no surprise she was made to plan it herself. Her parents had written her two blank checks. One for her party, and the other for her present from them. Her mother had given her a a quick hug, and her father had kissed her head before they had left for their business trip to Greece.

Catherine sighed, heaving her blankets to the end of her bed and tossing her feet over the side. She slid down the sheets until her socked feet touched the soft white carpet of her floor. Although it was her birthday, Catherine would still rather be sleeping. Even as she stepped away from her bed, her blankets seemed to call out to her, begging her to invade their softness and drift back into dreamland.

Yawing she shook her head, she had over-slept anyway. Grabbing her phone her thoughts were confirmed. Not by the time the clock showed, but by the twenty new messages and two missed calls. She wasn't late, but after reading the first few she could tell a few of her friends were annoyed with her. Many of them had sent her birthday wishes, although a few had messaged her about her party later that night. Including her best friend, Lilli. Sighing seemed to be a favourite past time of hers as she sent Lilli a quick message explaining herself. Catherine sat her phone down on her table next to her sketch book.

She had known she would be getting herself into something big, when Lilli had offered to help with her party planning. She had offered late one night, when Catherine called in tears, completely stressed out. So her friend had been in charge of the finical end of things, as well as everything else. She had written the invitations, including writing a guest list. She had picked the spot for the party, called the cater. She had done it all, Catherine would let her get a bit pissy because she had over-slept.

Catherine was grateful for her best friend, in more ways than Lilli would ever know. Yet, she found herself dreading the party. She didn't like being the center of attention. Ever. Catherine wasn't exactly sure all she had planned, and she was nervous. Knowing she had no chance to back out know, Catherine pushed all thoughts of nervousness from her mind and set about getting ready.

Her party was being hosted at Breeze Point, a private beach in Brooklyn. She didn't want to know how Lilli had secured that spot. She followed the 'don't ask' policy. Catherine walked over to her closet and pulled out the brilliant yellow sundress she would wear over her rainbow coloured bikini'. Looking in the mirror Catherine knew she would have to take a flat iron to her waves. She may not have wanted to be there, but she still wanted to look attractive for her guests.

Taking out all the supplies she would need to look pretty for her friends, Catherine sat her ipod in the stereo and hit 'shuffle'. Dancing around to her favourite songs, she made her hair look pretty for once. It was quite lovely straight, her jet black hair was as dark as a ravens. Her hair was the type of colour that seemed endless. As if you could stare at it long enough you would fall into some black hole, dropped into some other universe. She applied a little eye shadow, and mascara. She had natural beauty about her, she would still impress her guests without having to weigh her face down.

Catherine picked up her phone once more and was taken aback by the time. Lilli had told her she had to be at the beach early to see the surprise she had gotten. She wanted Catherine to be the first to see it. Catherine was, without a doubt curious, so she slipped out of her over large t-shirt she had slept in, removed her socks and put on her bikini'. Catherine stepped into her sundress carefully as not ruin her makeup.

Touching her own face softly Catherine sent Lilli another message telling her she was leaving the house. Smiling to herself she made her way downstairs, sticking her phone in her bag next to her ipod and her slipping on a pair of yellow flip-flops, Catherine got into the backside of her town car and gave her driver directions. Pressing her head on the cool glass of the tinted window she closed her eyes and waited until she arrived at her destination.

The sudden stop of the purring engine told her she was where she needed to be. Nodding to her driver, she told him she would call him when she needed to be picked up. She quickly stepped out of the black vehicle and onto the soft sand. Ignoring the sound of a car door behind her, Catherine looked around, sure she would have to squint to see the surprise her friend had gotten her. But the sight that met her eyes took her breath away. Sure she was seeing things, she steeped farther into the sand, walking closer to her surprise. On the sand stood a large tent where the food was Catherine assumed. Next to the tent however, was a small private ferris wheel. It towered a few feet over the tent, beautiful and looming over everything.

Catherine had always loved ferris wheels. Ever since she was a little girl in England.
They offered some kind of magic for her. Perhaps she loved them so because they seemed to offer her up to the sky, a gift to the sun and moon. Catherine had always liked reach her arms out of the cage, almost as if she were touching infinity.

[Lilliana Kensington]

Image error & too wide for the forum. Edited to a link -- Staff

She had been busy all morning, making the last minute preparations for the party, checking that everything was on time… She had texted Catherine several times that morning, and in her stress had been a bit snappy, knowing she would apologize later on. And maybe the fabulous party would be her apology. After a stressed out Catherine had called her a few weeks ago about the party plans, Lilli had taken over everything, not telling Catherine very much about what was going on. Lilli had made sure everything would be perfect for that evening, and that Catherine would have a good time. It was her goal to make this the best birthday she’d had so far.

Feeling her phone buzz in the pocket of her jeans, Lilli whipped it out and checked the message, grinning. Catherine was on her way to the beach. Lilli jumped up and down, then calmed herself, looking around. She went to the tent to make sure all the food was ready, asked the mechanic if the Ferris Wheel was ready for operation, then went to the door of the tent to wait for her friend. Some of the guests weren’t there just yet, but Lilli had gone through Catherine’s address book and invited the majority of those in there. She had included Neil as well, the whim of match making too strong to resist.

She was barefoot, of course, loving the feel of sand on her feet and toes. As she was waiting for Catherine’s car to pull up, she bounced slightly. She wanted to see her reaction to everything; the tent, the ferris wheel, even the food, once she had a chance to come inside the tent to see it. There was even a gigantic cake, which Lilli had made and decorated herself the night before, letting it stay in the fridge overnight. There were roses and tulips with leaves and vines, as well as the words “Happy 18th Birthday, Catherine Lee!” scrawled on the top in fancy letters, yellow of course. It was a piece of art all on its own, and Lilli knew her bestie would appreciate it.

The time felt like it was dragging on, so Lilli made her rounds one last time, making sure everything and everyone was in the right place. She had invited Keegan to the party as well, wanting him to meet the guest of honor, her best friend. He had agreed to come, and had helped some with setting up, which Lilli appreciated a lot. She sighed, then resumed her post at the opening of the tent, and just in time as well. She squealed some, practically running towards the road.

The car had pulled up to the scene of the party, and Catherine had got out, seeing her surprise, the ferris wheel. Lilli knew how much her friend loved them, and had searched for a whole week for a place that could bring one out the beach for the night. She had even made sure it was going to be a safe ride, not one of those cheap ones at carnivals that could break down at any second. Seeing Catherine’s face made all the stress worth it. She was truly surprised, and Lilli practically tackled her to the ground. She hugged her friend tight, then pulled away, straightening out her hair, which had gotten in her face.

“Do you love it? I mean really? Almost everyone is here, and the foods set out ready to eat, but we’re all waiting on the guest of honor. We can start with whatever you want though, mingling and seeing everyone, or the ferris wheel…” She grinned widely, laughing a bit. “I’ve been working on this day and night, making sure it was all perfect. Happy Birthday, Catherine!” She gave her friend another hug, then grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the tent.

Once inside, Lilli pointed out the food, which was spread across several tables, buffet style. The rest of the tent was split into two different sections, one with quite a few tables for everyone to sit and eat at, the other side a cleared out space with a hardwood floor for dancing and walking on, the DJ table tucked neatly into one corner, speakers spread out around the area. Music was blasting through the speakers, and there were several people talking and having a good time already, though she knew they were eagerly waiting for the birthday girl. Lilli knew Catherine would be overwhelmed with birthday wishes soon, and Lilli wasn't going to leave her side for a while. "Well?" she asked, having to yell slightly over the speakers. "Alright, so ferris wheel first, then food, right?"

{{787! XD}}

[Landon Reece]

“Hey Landonnnn.” Landon groaned and rolled over from underneath his warm comforter, completely ignoring everything around him as his brat of a step-sister, Deandra, simpered his name. Hearing her voice on a daily basis was already horrifying enough, listening to her, while he was trying to sleep no less, was pushing it. So he decided that if he simply pretended that he hadn’t heard her wretched excuse for a voice, she would eventually give up her attempts at bothering him more than she already did and walk off to go make-out with a guy or something. Deandra didn’t leave, though; she actually moved across the floor, her heels making a tapping noise against the wood as she did so. “Landon, wake up! I have something to tell you that you might want to hear! It involves a party, hot girls in bikinis and food. I know you love all three of those things, so wake up you lazy ass!”

Landon peeled the his cover and pillow away from his face to begrudgingly look at his sister. She stood in the middle of his room dressed in a pink cocktail dress that barely covered her butt, black heels that added two inches to her small height of five food two and a pink studded tiara. He shook his head again, wondering if he was still misty-eyed from sleep, and when she didn’t vanish or mutate into something less risqué, he fell back against his headboard fully confused once again by his step-sister‘s atypical nature. Although, another side of him was more interested in what she was talking about; she had mentioned that there was a party with three of his more prominent likes: a party, girls practically naked and food to last him a good week or so. However, by the look on her face and the way she was dressed, Deandra was up to something -- the wheels were definitely rolling and he knew fully well that a scheme had already wound its way into the catacombs of her mind.

“Who’s party is it? Anyone I might know from school, or is it all your annoying friends?” Landon asked, rubbing the sleep out of his oddly colored eyes. While he would rather to be sleeping, the thought of a good party definitely heightened his senses dramatically. “And why are you dressed like that? Are you going to some strip club or something? Finally realizing where your future truly lies, eh?” Landon teased, a playful smirk lining his thin, supple lips. Deandra rolled her eyes, annoyed by his choice of words and drew her lips back into a smirk all her own. Of course, Deandra looked ten times more antagonizing than he had, which gave her the upper hand in a plethora of situations time and time again. It actually was beginning to feel redundant, as well as painstakingly dull as far as their bantering went. Both of them needed new material -- they were running out of insults and crass remarks.

“It’s a party for Catherine Lee. She’s your age and by the looks of her, pretty hot…and before you say something, yes, I can say that she’s hot. I heard from Angelina who heard from Blake who heard from Roy that getting in should be pretty easy, which means I need a ride from you. That’s the only reason I’m dressed like this: you’re just taking me there. Just think of yourself as a chauffer,” Deandra told him, sneering all the while. The sixteen year old strutted across the room until she reached the mirror hanging on Landon’s wall, fixed her curls and laughed to herself. Just when Landon couldn’t think of any other way Deandra could add more hell to his life, she just reared her ugly head once again and came up with this “grand escapade.”

He paused for a moment, thinking to himself. Catherine Lee: she had said that hadn’t she? The name didn’t sound all that familiar, save for the first name, which was pretty common in itself. At school alone there had been numerous Catherine’s, all carrying different appearances. This Catherine could be any of them. Still, something Deandra had said piqued an interest -- a small one, yet an interest -- deep within the pit of his stomach. Being a chauffer wouldn’t be all that bothersome if he could take part in crashing the party as well. Plus, it wouldn’t really be crashing if he more than likely had attended the same school she had -- wouldn’t it? It was decided: Landon would go to the party, acting the part of Deandra’s chauffer until she took her first step out of the car. He would then party to his hearts desire, maybe pick up some girls along the way.

“If I say yes to being your chauffer, will you promise to do my laundry for the rest of the week? That’s the only way I’ll get my ass out of bed and go out of my way for you, just so you and your annoying little friends can crash a party that is going to be filled with people years older than yourself,” he asked. Deandra pivoted on the heel and connected her gaze with Landon’s. He could tell that her lips were pursed in a firm, almost tense line, forming a pucker. At a first glance she looked as though she had licked a lemon, to him she just looked as she usually did: spoiled. Cleaning wasn’t part of her daily routine. In fact, her daily routine consisted of shopping, hanging around with boys, shopping, texting away on her cellphone and, well…shopping. There was nothing else to it, Deandra was stupidity and uselessness in a nutshell.

“Okay,” Deandra grumbled. “Just hurry up and get ready, I’ll be sitting in your car outside. Oh, and I’ll probably be getting a ride home, so you can do whatever you want while I’m gone. Toodles, Landon!” At that, the skinny brunette made her way out of Landon’s room, hobbled her way down the staircase -- unfortunately managing not to spill -- and exited the house with a resounding bang of the door. With her out of the way, Landon finally had time to get ready and did just that.

There really wasn’t much to be done, being that he was already pretty handsome as is. All he managed to do to enhance his sex appeal furthermore was shroud his odd hues away from foreign gazes by wearing a pair of his favorite aviator sunglasses, adorned a black shirt with a large yellow surfboard pattern stamped across the from and pulled on a matching black swimsuit. Landon then smirked in the mirror, grabbed his cellphone from off his night table and exited his room, heading in the same direction his sister had. Once a burst of fresh summer air caressed his face Landon knew that his day would be interesting.

The thoughts were interrupted when Deandra rolled down the passenger’s window and shouted, “Hurry up! I want to get there before all the unattractive people start rolling in!” Once again the male rolled his eyes, walked around his black Range Rover and climbed in. He didn’t even bother to look Deandra’s way as he started up the car, and smiled as he heard the humming of the ignition and pulled out of the driveway.

Once he had arrived and parked in the beach’s parking lot, sneaking into Catherine’s party hadn’t been as hard as Landon expected it to be. All he did was find a group of people entering together, hid behind them and wormed his way inside. As for Deandra and her friends, they made the mistake of forming their own group and attempting to seduce the guys in the front of the beach’s entrance in order to gain entry. Her and her minions attempts went with no avail, obviously, and were forced to return to wherever they’d come from. Landon didn’t even bother picking up his phone as Deandra profusely dialed and hung up over and over again -- he even turned it off after her seventh time trying.

He finally found it in himself to take in the sights all around him. There were people mingling over drinks held in red cups -- the usual for any great party -- teenagers dancing with other teenagers in such odd maneuvers it seemed as if they were playing a game of human Tetris, others basking in the sun on the beach, people eating under a tent and a Ferris wheel to top it all off. The Ferris wheel out of everything else had held his attention the most. Never before at any of the parties he had attended -- and he attended many -- was there ever a Ferris wheel. It was clearly something meaningful, if the meaning behind it wasn’t all too clear. Maybe it was a child’s wish, or a childhood love? He wasn’t sure and didn’t explore any further.

Instead, he found himself captivated by something -- someone. She had raven colored hair and eyes that rivaled the hue of an emerald. As she moved in her party dress she carried a mysterious and graceful air. Another girl stood beside her, hugging her after speaking -- he noticed her lips were moving -- and continued once again, this time probably about something else. He had found his interest for the night, even if she didn’t know it. Someone so alluring deserved to be given attention, even if he wasn’t sure how he would attract her to himself. His eyes trailed away from her figure until they paused on a container of punch. He devised a foolproof plan in which he would play the role of a punch boy -- if they even existed -- and slowly walked over towards the girl.

Each step was short and precise, as well as careful enough to not drop the contents of the bowl that would surely stain right through the young woman’s beautiful party dress. And just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, a dark haired teenager accidentally rammed into his side sending Landon and the punch hurtling towards the unsuspecting girl. “Well isn’t this reminiscent of my eighteenth birthday? At least there’s no…cake? Uh, oh crap! I’m so sorry!” Landon clambered to his feet, eyes widened in alarm. So maybe coming to a party he hadn’t been invited to wasn’t the greatest of his “wonderful” schemes.

{{1746 words. I'm sorry for the length, it was my first post with Landon and I got really carried away. }}

[Aspen Rain Bianchi]

Aspen got the text, the invite to her dear friend Catherine. If Catherine hadn't known it yet, Aspen was going to go all out for her birthday present, she actually spent a week in milan, ignoring the sites and giving her undivided attention to the boutiques, and went on a shopping excursion. Her father had given Aspen the go ahead to tell Catherine that he would love to meet her, and so that is another one of the gifts Aspen comes baring to Catherine's party. The aroma that filtered through Aspen's car was that of mint leaves, her favorite.

Aspen had on her new cutsey dress with her bikini underneath, she thought the beach was a perfect location, especially a private beach, its called Beach Point, and Aspen is currently almost there. Aspen won't reveal her gift until after the party, it consists of a goodie bag, art supplies from only the best places, and a really funky looking journal that she had embroidered with the name 'Solas' right smack dab in the middle of it, Aspen sort of splurged on the gift. She never paid attention to the price tags before, but she didn't know how expensive art supplies could really be. Aspen was still proud though, because she also ordered a custom made lay of daises, Catherine's favorite flower. Aspen sighed and looked down with pride at the box containing the lay of daisies. She smiled at herself as she looked into the rearview mirror.

She sighed as the traffic was continuously getting worse and more aggravating for Aspen. She did not want to have a bitch-fit in the middle of traffic, she didn't want to be labled as a crazy person. She revved her engine as she waited in traffic. Her air conditioning was being a life saver, calming her mood a lot. She looked up when she heard the annoying honking of car horns, to her relief the traffic dispersed. With a smile in her eyes stomped her barefoot against the pedal, you know you're not supposed drive with sandals even if they are dior. She laughed as the acceleration felt invigorating to her, she always loved going fast.

She pulled into valet, grabbed the box with the daisy lay inside and stepped out in her white sandals. She sighed and tossed the boy with the tacky surf-shirt her keys, "Scratch her, I'll kill you," She tells him with a daring smile. Yes, Aspen did say she, her car has a name too. She waves her manicured hand at him, brushing him off, as if saying, 'Run along now.' Aspen quickened her pace, she hated being late, unless it was fashionably late, but she was thirty minutes late and that was unacceptable in her book. She passed the long line of crashers trying to get in, including a girl who looked as though she belonged at chuckie cheese', she ignored all the "Hey, get to back!'s and gave her name at the rope. She was let in with no other hassles. She spotted Catherine along with a girl she only remembered vaguely, she smiled and danced over. GASP!, was a what a few people did when Aspen plummetted into a boy, "You clumsy twit, watch where you-" She stopped talking as she realzed the boy had just spilled red punch all over Catherine. "Oh boy," was all she could say.

[Catherine Lee]

Catherine was beyond awed, the scene before her seemed like an illustration from some fairy tale. Catherine herself seemed to have stepped out of some children's book. Her raven coloured hair glowed brightly in contrast to the setting sun. Her eyes tried in vain to capture everything around her. The ferris wheel so tall and so stunning. The tent where amazing scents drifted over to her. The people dancing around her, moving their bodies, all in some unique fashion she didn't quite understand. Somehow she knew she never would understand either.

"Lilli, I don't know what to say." Catherine hugged her best friend tightly, for the words she spoke were true. "I love you, thank you, so much. It's beautiful." Nothing would compare, nothing could compare to the beauty before her. The scene was breathtaking in itself, but the reason behind it brought tears to the young blue blood's eyes. Friendship and love, she hugged Lilli even tighter, if that were at all possible. "You didn't have to, and you did." She was getting emotional, and she wasn't ashamed of it. Love always made her emotional, and she wasn't given such over-whelming love very often.

As Lilli pulled her into the tent, Catherine heard some of her favourite music blasting through the speakers, very loudly she might add. "Steal my music collection?!" Catherine laughed next to her friend, grateful she had someone who thought about her taste in music. Even she would admit it wasn't very contemporary, her guests seemed to enjoy the music, and the over-all feel of the party. She hoped they liked the food, and the cake Catherine noticed. It didn't look professionally done, and she loved that fact. The yellow letters stood out and made her smile wider than she had in a long, long, time.

Looking closer at the guests Catherine noticed she didn't recognize many of them, she wasn't bothered however, they were most likely invited by Lilli, or crashing, but she didn't mind. She loved it when others were happy. If crashing her party made them happy, so be it, nothing would ruin her mood tonight, but she thought she should ask, just in case. "Um, Lilli, do I know all of these people and I've simply forgotten them, or is my party being crashed?" She smiled to show her friend she didn't mind.

Catherine leaned in closely to more accurately hear the words her best friend attempted to shout over the music. "Ferris wheel first, then food?!" Were the words Catherine had heard over the music. She smiled at her friend and started to shake her head when she felt a strange sensation spreading along the front of her yellow sundress. Catherine looked down and tilted her head sideways. A dark red stain was forming along the front of her chest and leaking down to her torso. Her first thought was why hadn't she heard the gun go off? For she thought she had been shot.

Soon her senses came back to her, and she looked up to see a very, very, very, attractive red blood male standing in front of her with an empty punch glass. She looked over and saw her friend Aspen standing near the handsome boy, who looked about her age. She didn't recognize him, just as she didn't recognize many of her guests. Catherine sighed heavily, ignoring the string of apologizes coming from his mouth she held up her head, and stepped out of her dress.

A crowd had gathered around by now, eager to see Catherine without clothing no doubt. She smiled up at the boy, "No use in crying over, er, spilled punch?" She offered a laugh to the human in front of her. She whispered to a nearby guest if they would please go fetch her some napkins, and many of them. She did like her dress after all, she wanted to make sure the stain didn't spread at least, if it did, oh well, she could splatter paint it if she wanted.

As her loyal guest -- also nameless at best -- moved to grab her some napkins, she turned to the handsome gentleman in front of her. "Well, now that you've seen me step out of my dress, something I save for people I really like, you should know my name." She was flirting with the unknown human in front of her. He was quite for lack of a better word, yummy looking. Realizing she hadn't said her name yet she blushed and held out her hand.

"I'm Catherine Lee, I don't believe I know you. " Although it was quite possible she did know him, she just didn't know him. She really should start focusing on the present instead of always being immersed in her past. She already wanted to make this boy her present, which was in fact odd of her. She never flirted, and she normally didn't feel such a strong attraction to anyone so quickly. Although she didn't normally have punch spilled on her favourite dress either.

Remembering Lilli and Aspen were there she turned from the boy for a moment. Hoping beyond hope that he would still be there when she turned around. The look of awe, imprinted on his handsome face. He could have been an angel, she mused silently. He had the face of one anyway. "Aspen!" She gushed moving to hug her new friend. "Thank you so much for coming. Ride with me on the ferris wheel later?!" She bounced up and down and moved to Lilli. She hugged her friend once more, thanking her and kissing her forehead in a friendly way. "Thank you Lilli-la." Adding 'la' to the end of a name was an old family custom, it meant 'loved one' and 'friend.' "I want to ride with you too, and go for a dip." She said smiling, and nudging hips.

She turned back to the red blood who had ruined her dress. She smiled up at him, he was at least six feet tall, she felt incredibly short. If she wanted to kiss him, she'd need a step stole. She blushed at her thought, thankful he hadn't a clue of what she was talking about. She leaned in close, all shyness disappearing from her as her inner Cat took over. "But, I want to ride the ferris wheel with you first." She smiled and offered her hand for him to take.

[Neil Verere]

"Charity invite. . . Charity invite. . ." Neil rolled his eyes as Callie listed off the mail one by one, throwing them either into the garbage or the counter depending on whether it seemed 'fashionable' to her. "Sara!" she yelled, holding up the Cosmo and throwing it on the couch. Julietta, lounging on it as she had been for the past twenty minutes while Will & Grace droned on the television, picked it up and began to flip through.

Julietta had been a common presence in the house since . . . Well, last night. Neil had come to a coffee shop near the college only to get a text from her saying that she was back from India a few days early and wondered if he wanted to hang. He said yeah and told her where he was and thirty minutes later, the two were chattering like old friends. She had so many stories about her time helping the hungry and sick, writing papers to New York NOW! while doing it.

Neil acted like he knew about her papers because, well, it was assumed that he read the paper he contributed to so much. The truth? He hadn't cracked open a copy since he'd needed something to wrap a donut in at a cafe a few months back. But he was interested in hearing what she had to say. Julietta wasn't Solas exactly what Neil found attractive, but she was smart and since Anne Marie had left. . . Well, to put it bluntly: He was of age.

He hadn't quite begun to regret it yet. He had been a bit troubled by her having an extreme crush on her for the past six or seven months "and does this mean we're dating?" Apparently, it did to her. He liked her well enough, but she just. . . . Something about her and what he saw in her mind last night irked him. Jules was, according to her own mind: adopted; infatuated with Neil; fond of cats to an extreme; liked licorice, iced coffee, and N*SYNC. Maybe it was that. . .. Yeah, that. She was worse than Anne Marie had been in her love affair with pop culture.

Calista paused in her cattle call of mail and looked at Neil, who was sitting on a stool by the bar. "Neil . . This is for you. It's from the upstairs." She opened the envelope and began to read it, taking seconds before saying: "Just a birthday invite for some girl. You're late for it anyway. It's today."

"What girl?" Neil said. His sudden interest seemed to egg Callie on and worry Jul.

Callie smiled at him. "Ohh, no one," she said, playing it nonchalant. "Just something about felines. . ."

He leaped from his stool and, in a moment of adrenaline-fueled hurry, lept over the bar and grabbed the invite. "Brooklyn? How the frick am I supposed to make it there in time?" He began to look around as if the answer was in the room with him. The only response was Cal's 'No-duh' look that she gave to just about everyone and Julietta's self-righteous look of disgust that obviously stated that she did not wish for him to go to another girl's birthday party.

"I'll catch a cab," he said at last, going to the door and throwing on a windbreaker. Neil was about to leave, but Julietta caught up with him, whispering that he 'shouldn't go' and that 'if he did, she wanted to go to.' He really did not need this right now. "Jules, I've gotta go. Okay? I'll be back later." He kissed her on the cheek and proceeded to leave.

Naturally, it was when he had called a cab and sat down securely inside that he realized several things:

1. The invite stated that this was a beach party of sorts.
2. He had no bathing suit on.
3. He was wearing two hundred dollars worth of watch. Non-water-resistant watch.
4. He knew what he would be shopping for tomorrow. Watches!
5. There was no way in Heaven or Hell he'd be missing this party.

It wasn't that infernal whispering that got him to do it, for it sounded a bit like Smeagle, from the Lord of the Rings movies. That scared the shit out of him. no, it was because he needed to apologize and then possibly talk to her or then just leave and be a dumb person for not bringing a gift of any sort.

A gift! He needed a gift! Something .. A T-shirt, a ring, a watch. He didn't know. Something. He needed to stop the cab and find some . . . Jolted by a sudden stop, Neil looked up and out the window only to see that the address on the invite was right there. There it was. The beach. Was it .. like .. some sort of park or something? Neil felt oddly dressed for such a thing, in his gray windbreaker and blue jeans.

The taxi driver stated a price and, though he felt it had only been minutes since getting in the car, the ringer stated forty-five. Neil groaned, handing over a roll of bills and getting out, suddenly feeling awkward and completely unsure why he was doing this. He didn't have a gift, he had only an invite and he wasn't exactly sure Cat had sent it since it was a' party and people didn't generally throw parties for themselves. . . Well, except his birthday party last year. But Sara had been busy and so had Callie, but they still wanted him to have one.

"Okay Neil, here's the deal," he muttered to himself, standing on a sidewalk just by the private beach's 'entrance' persay. "You're at a crossroads here, bucko. Go in there and look like an idiot or find a gift and then go in there and look like an idiot. Either way you lose." What did girls like. . . . Candy? No where near. Maybe bagels? . . . Wait, she was a vampire. She wouldn't want food. Flowers? There were random blooms of them sticking out all over along the edges of the beach; lily-white tufts trying to breath in an environment not suited for them. They were struggling just to survive and it didn't seem like a winning battle. They were beautiful, but doomed. It would be a mercy-plucking. . . Yes! He would give her hand-picked flowers and it would seem . . Damn it, Neil. It'd seem sweet. What about Julietta. Huuuuuummman! Not Soooollas! the Smeagle voice whistled in a somewhat taunting manner.

"Oh shut up," Neil told him, running past the 'No Trespassing' signs as fast as he could and pulling a bouquet of flowers up before running right back to the entrance. It would seem like he walked in with these. Score one for Neil A. Verere. Score zero for circumstance.

It looked like a circus or a faire was traveling through. . . Wonderful. Though not his most fond of images to think about, a ferris wheel was a beautiful image to invoke in a paragraph. The gently setting sun, the romantic young man hunting through the different sights and sounds until he reached it and saw. . . .

His eyes widened. His heart thundered. His mind shut his eyes off for about three seconds because, honestly, he could not comprehend what he was seeing. Neil Anniba Verere was unforgettable. He was irreplaceable. You fell for him and you fell for no one else. The big V-Man's ego, he noted, was trying to pump itself up again. Didn't think that'd happen, did you, buddy-boy? Smeagle asked tauntingly.

Solas. . . Umm. . Cat was holding her hand out to someone else. A mortal someone else, as he could see from the fact that it wasn't him and her doing it to one of them would've been sickening and wrong and cliche and horrible and oh my God why did he care? Penemuel liked Solas. Neil didn't like Catherine. Not .. Well, not that way anyway. She was nice enough. . . . He guessed. . But why was he still standing there frozen and with a right eye that was, with luck, not twitching as much as he thought it was.

This was, needless to say, disturbing. The bouquet of flowers decided that they didn't love him either and, when his grip (from shock and/or horror) loosened, they fell to the sand with an unsatisfying plunk. Honestly, if they had made a sickening snap to alert everyone that something had gone on in Neil's head that really didn't need to go down, then maybe the dramatic side of N. A. Verere would've been satisfied, but it didn't and that irritated Neil. He needed dramatics. He needed her to either be extreme about her new love affair or ice cold. She needed to grip her new human hubby in a long and warm embrace that would've made Romeo and Julietta look tame. . . . Why was that not happening . . . ?

{1525}

[Aist Noir]

"I don't want to fight, every single night.." William wailed into the microphone, spitting out the lyrics to Tarantula by The Smashing Pumpkins as Aist threw out every right note on her Gold Tops Les Paul. Lately Aist and her father had reserved a time to rock out, away from Keller's tyranny. William (meaning not Aist) may have loved her, but the two knew she could be very domineering. In the beginning, they would usually do it in his study, pushing the leather (to Aist's dismay) couches to the wall and plugging in his old Karaoke machine. Aist would bring her practice amp in and together they would hum and sing along with the lyrics of their favorite songs. Sometimes Aist would teach him new songs like W.A.M.S (Fall Out Boy) and he would sing them to the best of his ability, usually fudging a line or two. But Keller put her foot down whenever she saw what the couches did the wooden floor (the only wooden floor in the house).

So William and Aist had to improvise. They finally unlocked the unused third floor and installed a real microphone, sound system, and bought a new amp just for Aist. Now Aist kept five of her favorite guitars permanently upstairs just for days like this. Of course this space didn't come easily. Keller whined and fussed about how she was planning a dinner party that took place on the third floor. Apparently she had ordered a beautifully carved wooden table from Belize just for the stupid party.But her whining was simmered by William who had asked her to host the party on the first floor instead. Obviously she agreed or they'd be reading a book in their separate rooms right now. The party turned out lovely and Aist and William got their very own space that wasn't chosen for them by Keller.

As the song ended Aist smiled up her dad. It was truly a father daughter moment. Where was the Kodak camera when they needed one? "What song do you want play next?" Aist inquired setting her guitar on its stand and plopping her butt down on a bean bag chair. She took a sip of water from her conveniently placed water bottle. "I don't know.." William said thoughtfully as she took a seat on the bean bag chair next to Aist's. "You know," He said, admiring his daughter's guitar. "You've gotten pretty good on that thing!" Aist smiled and opened her mouth to thank him but her phone stopped her from making any further comments. Aist's smiled dropped as she dug into her pocket for her green phone. It was a text from Lilliana Kensington, a fellow blue blood who was friends with Rae Leann Vouture. Aist rolled her eyes. What could she want? She almost ignored it if it hadn't been for the name Catherine Lee appearing on the screen. Aist smiled a little as she read on, remembering how Trent specifically said she was pretty much that best person in the world. Though, he exaggerates a lot(And should Luca, his bff, be the best person in the world to him?). "Oh shit!" Aist blurted as she read the time at the end of the text. "Aist!" William admonished. "Sorry dad, I gotta go. I just got a party invite and I should probably be there right now..." She frowned but William smiled. "It's alright, your mother made dinner reservations so I should start primping." He said with a chuckle. Aist smirked and waved as she raced out of the room without another word.

In a matter of seconds Aist found herself in the her closet throwing clothes around. She only had one bathing suit and had never used it before in her life and she misplaced it. Out of all of the clothes that Aist had in her closet why was it that this one item was the one that had been misplaced! What were the odds? "Son of a Nikon couch monkey!" Aist screamed in the recesses of her giant closet. She breathed a few heavy breaths and then plopped down on the floor. As if on cue her phone rang to the tune of Natural Disaster (Fischerspooner NOT Plain White T's) and Aist smiled knowing exactly who it was. "Hey dude!" She greeted her best friend, Marvadora Leison. "Hey whats up?" Marvie replied. "Ugh dude I just got an invite to a beach party and I can't find my bathing suit." Marvie laughed into the phone. "Dude you're in you're closet right now aren't you?" Aist shook with slightly with shock. "Yeah," "You never put it away," Marvie laughed. "You left it in the bag, it's should be at the end of your bed." Aist turned her head to the left to check and sure enough, there was a brown paper bag with the designer's name labeled across the middle. Aist scrambled to her feet anxious to see if her best friend was right. Aist peered into the brown bag and took a glimpse at the "missing" bathing suit, a two piece yogurt colored bandeau bikini with plum banding. She laughed and put her phone back next to her ear. "Thanks Marv, hey I gotta go get dressed and get going but I'll call you later. Tell T-dogg I said hi." Marvie giggled again into the phone. "Sure I'll tell him. Later dude." Aist smiled as she slid her phone shut and plucked the two piece from the floor of the bag. "Now," She mumbled to herself. "Just to find something to wear on top of it.

After changing, Aist found Keller in the kitchen where she was putting away her things. She was always doing some kind of work whether it was filing or looking through photos. She made being a photographer look so boring. "Aist," Keller greeted coolly without even looking up. "Hey mom," Aist said. The M word just slipped out without warning. It was foreign and tasted weird on the tip of her tongue. Like a new dish that she was trying but instead it was a word and it tasted awful. A smiled tugged and Keller's full lips. "What-" Keller dropped her words in mid sentence with one glimpse at Aist' outfit. Her daughter was wearing a pair of terrible (Well Keller thinks so) skinny cargo pants a bandeau bikini top, a ten times larger than her body hoody and a pair of flip flops. To top it all off she wore a pair of dark purple square sunglasses. "Aist" Keller lamented as she clenched her eyes shut and placed her forefinger and thumb on the bridge of her nose. "What in the hell are you wearing?" "I'm going to a party." Aist replied as if that explained everything. "Where? In Los Angeles? We don't live in California anymore Aist. You can't just dress like a beach bum all of the time!" Aist rolled her eyes. "Alright alright, what do you want?" Aist sighed. "I need 'the Card' back." Keller's eyes hardened the minute she said that. "Why do you think you deserve it?" She said. Her stare piercing through Aist's soul. The reason Keller took Aist's card away in the first place was because she made a bunch of charges on it that Keller didn't approve of (I.E. alcoholic drinks) "I need to buy a present for my friend." Keller's eyes softened a little. "Who? Because I'll tell you right now, I'm only giving you fifty bucks if it's that Mavrick girl." Aist glared. "Her name is Marvie, Keller and she's my best friend. What do you even have against her? It's not like she's just a red blood, she's a conduit." Keller rolled her eyes. "Yes, but she's not your conduit." Aist sighed once more. "Whatever, the gift ISN'T for Marvie. Her birthday isn't for two more months. It's for Catherine Lee." At just hearing her name Keller's eyes lost their hard stare and turned into a soft almost delight glaze. She slid Aist's personal card out of her wallet without another word.

Aist checked her pockets for her essential needs:

lip gloss
Cell Phone
Credit Card

Once the essentials were secure Aist hopped into her blue Fetish. She took a minute to check her mirrors, adjust her sunglasses, and pull her hair up into a pony tail. She was riding with the top down and she wasn't thinking about getting whiplash...not this time. After all of the preparation she finally turned the key to the ignition and backed out of the driveway. She sighed as the first song of her new mix rose to action. Where in the hell was she going to find a last minute present for Catherine? The last time she went present shopping it was for Keller's friend's son. They ended up buying a 7,000 dollar pair of Jeans from Saks. He loved them. If only everyone was that easy. Aist rolled her eyes and decided stop one was Saks. If anything she knew that Catherine loved yellow and dresses. How hard could finding a present be?

The answer to the question would be quite hard. Rack by rack Aist examined each dress individually but all she found was a load of crap. Most of the dresses were black and skin tight. Didn't Catherine like flowing dresses? Aist flicked another hanger across the rack. Something yellow, bright yellow came into view. Aist clutched her sunglasses and looked away. What an atrocity! Aist sighed and floated away from the rack to find a sales associate. As if on cue a girl with a chic ponytail and Marc Jacob framed glasses appeared by her side. "Cute bikini!" She greeted with a smile. Aist rolled her eyes behind her frames. "Can I help you with anything today?" Aist sighed with relief and with a smile replied, "Yes, do you have anything...not black?" The girl smiled wryly. "What color exactly were you looking for?" "Yellow?" Aist replied with a nervous purse of her lips. She looked thoughtful for a moment then motioned for Aist to follow. She led her to an oddly lone rack and started flicking through the hangers until she found the same atrocity Aist has stepped away from. "Is this what you were looking for?" Aist shook her head fiercely not wanting to look at the dress any longer. The girl nodded and put the dress back. "Something a little less neon?" Aist smiled and nodded a reply. "I think I have just the one." This time the girl didn't motion for Aist to follow so Aist didn't. She just stood around hoping she was coming back soon. The girl came back with a yellow something draped over her arm. "Is this it?" Aist grinned and jumped up and down. "Yes!" She exclaimed, all too happy that her search was over. "Great," The girl said with a laugh. "If you'll just follow me we'll get this bagged for you." Aist walked with the girl to the check out counter still gleaming with joy. "Alright your total comes to $150.67 how will you be paying for this?" Aist smirked and handed her newly re-acquired card. "Oh," Aist said reminding herself it was a gift. "Can I get that gift wrapped?"

When Aist arrived the party seemed to already be in full swing. She could already see Trent jumping up and down in the sand talking to some girl who seemed to think he was the bees knees. She smirked, took a sip of her bubble tea, tugged out her pony tail and made her to where everyone was. She slipped out of a few potential conversations with a wave and found Lilli instead. "I'm sorry I'm a bit late." Aist said with a smile. "Here's my gift, I hope she likes it."

{1982 HA! almost two thousand. damn what a long read. sry guys!}
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Catherine's Dress

[Keira Darcy]

Keira sighed. She was at Catherine Lee's eighteenth birthday party, but the guest of honour hadn't shown up yet. Which meant Keira was bored. The party was overrun with way more people than had been invited, she would guess. Honestly, she couldn't see the happy-go-lucky Catherine Lee hanging out with most of these people, like the girls in black, ripped dresses and combat boots. Or the drugged out skater kids in the corner. Or -- was that a drag queen?! Keira did a double take, surprised. Yes, that was a drag queen. She really didn't want to know how he'd gotten here.

She forced herself to pay attention to the conversation going on between herself and the Fifth Avenue Princesses. Which were better: highlights or low lights, and of course, the reverse French manicure. Keira could feel herself losing brain cells the more she stood there and acted like she actually cared about what was going on. Keira hadn't dressed up too much, just a turquoise blue dress over a black bikini. Her goal was not to outshine the birthday girl, the center of attention, Catherine Lee.

As she noticed the birthday girl walk in, she politely excused herself and went to go say hello. But before she got there, Lilli did. Keira stopped, shrugged, and went to talk to a few of the people there she knew and actually liked. She chatted, then slipped off to go talk to the birthday girl. But before she got there, a boy was bumped into by Aspen and he spilled punch all over Catherine's lovely yellow dress. Keira gasped, a little horrified. But after that, Cath took off the dress, stunning Keira all the more, and making her wish that her shiny gold-wrapped box contained a dress instead of a pair of sunshine yellow Louboutins and matching purse and, of course, a sketchbook.

She then saw Cath hold out a hand to the boy, smiling. Aaw, she thought, then saw Neil Verere standing in the entryway of the tent. He had an expression on his face like he couldn't possibly begin to believe what he was seeing, like he'd just been punched in the guts. Hard. His pretty white flowers were lying on the ground, collecting dust as he stared. Keira bit her lip. Catherine looked like she was handling herself, but Neil...

Keira made up her mind quickly, then walked over to the dumbstruck young man. She bent and scooped the flowers up with her free hand, then turned to him and said, "Hey. You like her, hmm? So take your flowers," She handed them to him, smiling, then said, "and go sweep her off her feet better than Mr. Let-me-spill-punch-on-you. Good luck." She simply turned and walked away, not letting him get a word in edgewise.

She simply slipped over to the crowd surrounding the nearly naked Cath and said, "Hey birthday girl. Who's almost wearing her birthday suit." She laughed, feeling perfectly at ease. "I wish I'd gotten you a dress. Did anyone get this girl clothing in some form? If so, tell us so she can put it on!" Keira joked.

[Rae LeAnn Voture]

Trent had texted Rae and asked her to meet up with him at Cathrine's party. Her and Rae were friends so she didn't think it would be a big deal for her to show up, and partially wondered why she wasn't invited herself. He told her that it was on the beach and to wear something beach like. Hoping that he meant a swimsuit and sundress, along with some flip flops, Rae headed into her closet. After searching and digging for about a half hour she finally found her beach clothes. It had been a while since she had worn a regular bikini anywhere, which made it a pain to find.

Rae let out a long sigh and headed into her bathroom. Running her fingers through her wavy mess of hair she added a little sprunch spray and decided to let it go, it would just end up blown out by the wind on the beach anyways. With her black Billabong bikini tied tightly in place, and everything else in place she was almost ready to head out the door. Rae knew she would have to get Cathrine a present on the way to the party, and had an idea of exactly what she wanted to get her.

With a smirk on her face, her lip gloss, ipod, cell phone, and credit card tucked tightly in a safe place Rae headed out the door. It was nice that her father had finally bought Rae her own car, a lime green Porsche Carrera GT to be exact, and she hopped in it to drive off to the party. On her way she stopped in down town Manhattan to buy Cat the perfect birthday gift, a yellow dress by Scala, and a necklace from Tiffany's to go along with it. After jumping back into her car, Rae sped off towards the beach.

The top went up, followed by the windows, and then she emerged from her car sandled feet first, and intricately wrapped present next. A smile was on Rae's face as she saw Trent and sent him a little wave and held up a finger to show him to give her a minute. After locking up her car, she went and placed her box on the gift table next to the others and then walked over to Trent. The smile on her face grew even larger and a slight blush crept up Rae's face as she walked over to him. He started jumping up and down and gave her a hug. Figuring he was excited to see her she returned the hug, but had to excuse herself to go say hello to the birthday girl.

Rae sauntered over towards the birthday girl and she heard a commotion as she did so. When she got close enough she could see and hear what was going on her mouth nearly hit the ground. "Uh hey, Cat I came to wish you happy birthday and well if you need something else to wear I can get you my gift." Rae felt akward admitting what she had gotten Cat, but also moving into her friends closer circle of friends. Letting her fingers brush together in front of her she smiled and attempted to keep on her best behavior.

[Trent Bourne]

"Okay what do you think?" Marvie inquired as she stepped from the closet. She was wearing ripped back skinny jeans, a ripped Rancid tee adorned with safety pins (which was odd because she hates that band) and a duct taped pair of classic black converse. Trent flicked his eyes up from his book on existentialism and took in the site of his best friend in an un-likely get up. "You look like a poser." He said bluntly as he bowed his head to read on. "Trip! You're not helping!" She whined as hooked an oversized safety pin in place. Trent huffed & closed his book on a book mark, for later. It was apparent that his friend needed his full attention so he left his window perch and bounded to his friends fluffy purple bed to asess the situation. "Alright what do you want me to say?" Trent breathed with a quick roll of his chocolate eyes. "I don't know." Marvie said nervously picking at the holes in her jeans. "Maybe something along the line of, 'Oh Marv, you're so punk rock!'" Trent scoffed. "Marvie, you're not punk rock, you're adorable." He shurgged. Marvie rolled her eyes. “Why are you even dressed like that anyways?” Trent asked with a raise of his brow. Marvie pursed her lips. She wanted to tell him but what would he think? “I’m going to a concert.” She said vaguely, but she hoped it explained everything. “Oh yeah?” Trent squinted his eyes suspiciously. “Who’s playing?” “Oh you know,” Marive replied nerviously. “Trenchcoat Hangers, Dawning Daven, You and the Ballroom, and uhm…ClockworkTyranny.” Trent widened his eyes in horror. Marvie was, yet again, smitten. “Marv are you trying to impress a guy?” Marvie just looked down and kicked some imaginary dirt on the floor. Trent let a wry smile pass. He was trying to be the ‘protective’ brother type but it was too cute not to smile. “Maybe…” She finally said and averted her eyes from the floor but still wouldn’t meet Trent’s. “It’s Cole isn’t it?” Her silence was enough to answer his question. So letting on a big smile, Trent resumed ‘best friend mode’ and began to bounce up and down like a 14 year old girl at a Jonas Brother’s concert. “That’s so cute!” He exploded. “ Shut up!” Marvie laughed, her cheeks flushing red. “Can we just get back to the matter at hand?” She whined with a stamp of dainty foot. “What is there to talk about?” Trent asked giving into her demands. He would text her later to find out all about her crush. Marvie sighed. "If Aist were here," Marvie started but Trent cut her off with a rueful laugh. "If Aist were here? If Aist were here she would say the same thing. In fact, she would say you're crazy for not being yourself! But she's not here so I'll say it! Marvie you rule; just wear a mini skirt or something!" Marvie giggled a little and sauntered back in the recesses of her closet. Meanwhile, Trent slipped back to his unnoccupied window seat and returned to the page he was currently reading.

"So what are you going to do tonight without me? Finishing that book for the third time?" Marvie inquired from behind her closet door. Trent smiled a little but didn't look up from his book. "I'm going to some kind of beach party." He replied. Though he couldn't see her, he knew Marvie was wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Ew," She stated. "Does that mean you have to dress like a surfer douch bag and sing songs around a campfire?" Trent gleamed into his book and turned a page. "Yeah. I don't know about singing but the dress code is definately surfer douch bag for the boys." "So what kind of party is it?" Marvie asked as she stepped from the closet. She emerged in a creme courdoroy mini skirt, a turquoise short sleeved v-neck with an orange sheer lace shirt underneath, and teal converse. She pulled her chocolate locks up with a har clip and waited for a response. "I don't know," Trent said as he flipped yet another page. "A birthday party?" "Mmm," Marvie mumbled as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Don't those require some sort of present?" Trent looked up for the first time in the conversation. "Oh god!" He exclaimed. "I forgot her present!" Marvie just giggled and flipped out her, identical to Aist's, lime green sidekick. "Later!" She said into her phone as he rushed past her and out her bedroom door.

After a quick run(Trent and Marvie’s houses are a block apart), Trent arrived at his castle like penthouse. He slowly but swiftly unlocked the door to his home and slid inside. Much like a spy, Trent tip toed his way around his parents’ bedroom door. Today was his parents’ day off and the last thing they wanted was Trent stumbling in and making a ruccus. Though they didn’t work those long hour shifts anymore they did love their beauty sleep and were quite the tyrants when interrupted. After passing the enormous door to the master bedroom he skipped lightly down the hallway to his red painted door, the last door in the hall. Trent slipped swiftly into his oversized room and clicked his door shut behind him. Of all the words in the dictioanry there were only three that Trent liked to use to describe his room:

Chic
Spacious
& Odd, Just like him.

Sure there were other words to use to describe it, some more elaborate then others. But when it came to describing it he like the simplest words best. Trent's room was certainly odd. It was asymetrically shaped, much like a polygon and the grey walls were lined with book shelves that held his most precious books. In the corner to the right of the entrance sat a dark brown desk with a dell laptop on top of it and a black bamboo pad to the right of it. On the left side of the entrance, the larger side of the room, sat Trent's bed. It's sheets were forever grey with a red comforter to top them and adorned with a fluffy red pillow. Across from his bed was a door to a small (compared to his parent's) balcony where Trent read on nice days. To the left of his door was the closet that opened with two dark grey shutter doors. The closet was enormous as most of his friend's were but Trip only used about half of the space. Trent made his way over to his closet where the doors were already wide open. He stepped inside and flicked his eyes across the many drawers. To diminish hassle Trent took a sharpie to his drawers and labeled them accordingly. In seconds he found the drawer, closer to the floor, labeled swim apparel. It was the most tiny drawer in all of Trent's closet. It was almost as if it was meant to have swimwear in it. Trent quickly fished his swim trunks from the drawer, closed it, then proceeded to the back of the closet where a gold and black decorated box lay on the ground. "Thank God for Marvie." He mumbled under his breath as picked up the box under his right arm.

After pulling on his swim trunks, texting Rae (He wanted her to be there), and grabbing his key Trent had finally made his way out the door and into his car. He had gained his liscence in the past few months and upon hearing the big news his parents went out and bought him a brand new car of his choice. Of course he had to get his dream car a Maserati Quattoporte fully equipped and in a customized fiery red that lit up the night sky. He was so happy to have it that he even invited Luca to just drive around with him for no reason. But Luca was always down with what Trent was and they even found a way to pull pranks from the car. Trent grinned at the memory of the two pretending to hit Marvie and scaring the crap out of Aist. It was so funny that he just exploded into laughter which might have made him look like an idiot but if they had seen Aist's face they would be laughing too!
Before he knew it, Trent was parking his car opposite a blue sports car to rival Aist's Venturi Fetish. When parked, Trent slipped from the driver's seat with the gold box under his right arm and made his way to the tent with a gigantic line spilling out of it. "Shit," Trent mumbled as he slid his key into his jacket pocket. He didn't feel like waiting so with a quick act of defiance and courage he made his way to the front and, with luck, slipped past the guard and everyone who was waiting. He almost couldn't beleive he hadn't been stopped; almost. When entering the obnoxiously large tent Trip noticed the crowd was much like the line out side; enormous. Everyone was chatting and having a good time. They were slipping from hushed murmers to excited squeals and going through drinks as if they were nothing. Trent couldn't find the birthday girl right away, much to his dismay. So he opted for setting the gold box on a table and heading outside. The crowd was getting to him all too much. Though once he was outside he wished (subconsciously) that he had stayed inside. He watched as Rae appeared from her car and in the next few moment he did the worst thing he could've possibly ever thought of. He called her name.

After he got her attention he stood in the sand and waved her over like hyper ten year old. What was going on with him, he was never this geeky. Sure Trent had his goofball moments but seriously, waving? What happened to nodding and playing it cool? Trent was losing his shit! She finally made her way over to him after locking her car and gave him a quick hug. Even though she soon left, Trent was sucked into a the sweet embrace of a memory. It was of a time not far from this one, possibly the last cycle. On a bench in the park sat Trent and Rae whispering intimately to one another. Then Trent said the unthinkable "Azazel" and he snapped back to reality, the warm feeling of remembrance embracing him.

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{1762 words}

[Catherine Lee]

Catherine looked over the boy's shoulder and gasped at the sight she saw. He was there, standing silently on the sand, looking directly at her. She saw the beautiful bouquet of flowers fall from his hands as if in slow motion. The daisy's bouncing on the sand roughly. A few petals falling loose. Catherine also saw, Keira Darcy walk over to to him, brush the flowers off and hand them to back to her. Catherine felt as if she were watching the scene from above, or she wished she was. Anything would be better than standing almost naked so close to him.

Catherine put her face on however, as Keira made her way to her. She smiled politely. "Why thank you." Removing her hand from the air in front of the still unnamed boy she chuckled and took the box from Keira, offering the pretty red blood a hug in exchange. "Thank you for being so thoughtful." Her voice came out high, as usual. "I'm sure I'll love it when I open it later."

Smiling she turned from Keira, and Catherine offered a small squeal of delight as she saw her good friend Rae Voture coming bouncing to her. She hugged her friend tightly, inhaling her perfume. "Thanks lovely, I don't mind standing here. It's fine really. I'm going for a dip soon, but thank you. So much." She didn't care about her half naked appearance as much as she should have, even if he was still there, watching them intently. She gave her another quick hug as she stepped away from the red blood, Lilli Aspen, Keira and Rae. She quickly grabbed Landon's hand, giving it a tight squeeze, such a daring move for her. She gestured to her friends to stay by holding up one finger. "I'll be back soon, I have to go take care of something." She was certain they knew whom she was taking care of. Catherine looked over her shoulder quickly, and took a step towards Neil Verere.

A sudden gust of wind blew her hair in her face, and kicked up sand around her bare feet. Her hair must have now reflected her thoughts; wild and everywhere. Why had he come? Had Lilli invited him? Or was he just another party crasher? What reasons did he have being at her party anyway? Did he care about her now? Or did his true self care about what happened to hers? Neil didn't have to care about Catherine, but Penemuel had to love Solas. They shared an unbreakable immortal bond. Catherine had never asked for it herself, well she had, considering she was Solas, but if Penemuel was anything like Neil, Catherine wished her heart didn't require her to love him. Her thoughts were a whirlwind of insanity. As soon as her mind offered up a question, she offered another, not bothering to receive an answer for the last question asked. Maybe, he had just come to party, maybe he had no other reasons. Maybe he still didn't care, and maybe he would never care.

Her small feet stopped a few feet away from the handsome man who had broken her heart. The same heart that urged her to run to him and hug him, yet in the same frail scream of emotion begged her to back away, and never look back. Tears came to her eyes as she looked in the face of her past lover. A face that hadn't changed since the start of time. So many names that face had been called. So many sights the brown eyes had seen. All the cycles they had lived, all the lives they had shared. The one constant in her memories was of that face. A face that her memories remembered better than the smell of rain. A face that had always belonged to her. She tried to brush the emotion from her own face with her hand. Catherine looked Neil directly in the eyes, knowing he would be able to hear her perfectly, she spoke in her soft quiet, if not musical, voice.

"Why are you here?" Skipping all hellos and any politeness, she felt she had a right to jump to the point. She was being daring tonight, perhaps because Lilli had spiked the punch, or maybe, just maybe, she was changing herself, once more, as she did in every cycle. Although she was being daring, Catherine felt rude, and she hated being rude. She softened her tone and began again. "It's just, I haven't heard from you, since, well, I last met you." She looked down, the fire being sucked out of her voice slowly. "Why?" She was having a difficult time looking him in the eyes anymore. The emotion she was doing her best to repress was catching up to her. Bringing back memories of other times staring him in the face; asking him why.

Two lovers standing close by the waters edge, the air smelled faintly of rain. "But why Penemuel, why us? Why now?" Her bright green eyes looked into his dark brown eyes. Staring into them was like being lost in a deep dark sea, and she could see the endless ocean of his love. The lovely girl by the water, wanted to know why she and her lover were destined to separate. However he was breaking her poor heart. "Solas..." He whispered into the cool night, as dark as her raven coloured hair. His words trailed off into the night, she heard none of what he spoke, she simply cried as the man embraced the small young woman in his arms. Resting his head on hers, he held her tightly for sometime, until her soft tears had drenched he shirt. Kissing the top of her dark head, he squeezed her once more and disappeared into the night. Leaving the young woman alone, tears forming once more in her eyes, and her arms wrapped around the cool air in front of her; as if she had been embracing a ghost.

"Ha." Catherine gave a dry laugh when she had been brought back to reality. So, he had left her before, she wasn't sure why, or even when, but he had left her. She shook her head, as if that would dispel the memory from her mind. She knew that the memory would haunt her each time she closed her eyes know. "Well, I guess this is my birthday surprise, eh?" The wall she had built around her emotions came crumbling down. "Neil." She looked up from her feet and attempted to look him in the face. "You hurt me quite badly." This time she didn't even make an attempt to wipe the tears away. They rolled down her face, onto her chest and a few even fell into the sand, as if they were begging to fall onto his shirt, as they had so long ago.

This time the memory that was projected in her mind, wasn't over centuries old. In fact it was quite recent, quite recent indeed. "I've replayed our last meeting, from this cycle, again and again in my mind. I understand your reasons now. I honestly do." Her voice cracked now and she had to look away. "I just want you to know, that you didn't hurt just me. Your hurt Solas too." Speaking of the two as if they were two separate people. and in a way, they were. They felt different things, and yet they saw with the same eyes. Two people, living in one mind, for the time being. The hurt she was speaking of didn't just apply to the last time they had seen one another. She was also speaking of her recently discovered memory, but he didn't know that, and if she had anything to do with it, he never would. She hoped Penemuel had heard her words. She hoped beyond hope that he knew and understood how badly his soulmate had been maimed and broken. Although if her were anything like Neil, which she prayed her wasn't, she feared he wouldn't care.

Looking back at Neil, she found she had calmed herself. Her face was devoid of all emotion now. "Anyway, moving on." She offered him a smile. "I hope you have an epic time at the party. Ride the ferris wheel with me later?" Her smile grew brighter as something inside her snapped. She shut her heart down for the moment, emotionally speaking, she locked her pain away and hid the key deep within her mind. At least until she was alone, were she could cry to herself until she fell asleep, where in her dreams her pain faded. "I'd ask you to ride with me now, but I already asked that cute red blood over there." She turned her body just enough to gesture to her three friends standing just inside the tent, watching her intently. Catherine noticed Aist Noir arrive and pull Lilli aside gently. She looked beautiful as always. She would make it a point of talking to her later on. She had to thank her for coming, even if she hadn't spoken more than two words to the girl. Just as the thought passed through her mind, she caught a glimpse of her good buddy Trent Bourne. As much as she wanted to tear away from Neil that instant and run for a hug to the boy who could always calm her down, she resisted, looking at Neil she decided her fate.

In that moment she knew she knew that if he didn't acknowledge who she was to him soon, she would lock her heart fully, from everyone, not just him. Not for a moment either, she would lock her heart forever. Living, and yet not living, was not one of her options. After all how long could you live with your heart frozen? Even if you were a vampire, your ever beating heart could only be kept frozen for so long. She would cycle out early. She would forget her life in this cycle, her family and her friends. She would never have a family of her own, she wouldn't see England one last time, nor would she reach her nineteenth birthday of this cycle. She refused to live without him, your heart, as she had thought only moments earlier, can only take so much pain, so much heartache. She had to draw the line at some point, before she exploded from the anguish. She would leave this life behind, along with everything in it. She would not allow him to deny their bond, she would wait in hibernation until the next cycle.

She looked away for a moment, towards her friends, she smiled at the sight of them. For the first time during her conversation with Neil she was sure of herself. Catherine was the type of her person who agonized over decisions, until the choice had been made. The fact that she had just decided if she wanted to legally kill herself, seemed to bring peace to her, rather than unsettling thoughts as it would to normal sane beings. A calm had been settled over her very being. The part of her soul that fully belonged to Solas felt a pang for Penemuel. The man in front of her had no idea that she had just sealed their fate for this cycle. Catherine however, could not feel any sorrow for Neil. They would both make choices, both of their actions would lead to what action she ended up taking. Catherine closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Opening them once more she turned back to Neil. The smile still firm in place, as bright as the brightest stars.

Catherine took a step towards Neil, stepping so close she could smell the intoxicating scent of his person, that of which seemed to be rolling off him in waves. She let her lips brush his cheek softly, knowing it would be the last time she allowed herself such a treat. At least the last time until he agreed that they were best, if he ever did. At least until he came to his senses and accepted their bond. "Care to join us?" Pointing to her friends she beckoned Neil with her finger, asking him to follow her in more ways than one.


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[Neil Verere]

The flowers were back in his hand, not that he noticed. He thought of Morpheus and all the other angels who had been his children in the past and how, out of all of them, none of those children were never Solas because Solas . . Did not fit into that piece. Solas had a piece and it fit and somehow, someway, it fit in perfectly with Penemuel's. Thier's was not like the others. . The ones who seemed to be made for one another. They had found one another. . The Older was whispering the stories to him. Death and Destruction were fitted, Love and Loss were fitted. It was the only explanation for corruption being together with her, let's face it, somewhat awkward role. They hadn't been made that way . . And yes, that was why they weren't fitting well now! That must be it. . .

As the Older mused, Neil found it idiotic. He found it useless because that look in her eyes wasn't what either of the mindsets and he could just feel it. Something was afoot. Something wasn't right. Something was going to happen and neither of them were going to walk out entirely happy with themselves.

Neil dug around in his jeans and found the invitation, holding it up. "I was invited," he told her, adjusting his fingers in a flash so that the flowers were upright once more rather than drooping and holding the invite with the other hand. "Am I to assume that Cat was named Catherine?" His voice was . . Why did it sound the tiniest bit angry. "Or, you know, that her last name was Lee." Each word was a stab inward that he knew wouldn't be felt until later, when the shock wore.

He . . Didn't know how to respond. He didn't think he even could without her turning it against him. So he merely listened. Listened as she took the hilt from him and had a few whacks herself. Girl had aim, who knew? But it wasn't true. She didn't understand. Couldn't. It wasn't hers to understand . . Not even Penemuel's. It was Neil's. Every fallen he had remembered had their struggle: Morpheus and his loneliness; Mespho and her clever wit, not strong enough to save her from unrequited love; Penemuel and his split mindset, forever both the Fallen and the victim, the curse of the writer and the eternal dual mindset. Solas and . . If he knew her as he thought he did, Solas and him. Her problem had always been him and the damned thing called love that kept them together. He suddenly hated himself. Both of himselves, if not for their insolence than for the crime of standing here taking this.

The final blow was certainly meant. The cute redblood. His eyes narrowed just a bit and he couldn't help but share some of the Older's want for some royal whoop-ass. But . . Well, could he really resist following her like some dumb, mute pup? The answer, to be honest, was no and when she turned to him, he followed like the silly little idiot he was. . Yes. That was it. An idiot.

[Keira Darcy]

Keira returned the hug with a joking, "You better love it," before the girl moved on to Rae. And then things got messy as Catherine made her way over to Neil. Keira tried not to stare and attempted not to show that she was wondering exactly what the hell was going on between those two, but that wasn't working out so well. "So, um, how 'bout those Mets?" she asked with a laugh, British accent making it sound even weirder coming out of her mouth. Her goal was simply enough to draw the focus off of Cath and Neil for a moment, trying to give them a bit of privacy in this huge crowd.

She glanced around at the faces, trying to see who she knew out of everyone here. Aspen, Rae, Neil, Catherine, Lilli, Trent, and....was that Aist? She blinked, a little surprised. "Aist! Lilli!" she exclaimed, and headed over to talk to the other girl and Lilli. "How are you? Oh, my God, I haven't seen you guys in forever!" It had been a few weeks since they'd all gone clubbing. She gave Lilli a quick hug, then gave Aist one of their usual hugs and the look that said, I am soooooo glad to see you. "Lilli, you look lovely." She decided not to comment on her bestie's choice of attire. Aist always wore whatever she wanted, not caring about the right time or place.

"Great party. Can I assume that you're the one who put it all together, Lilli?" Keira asked, well knowing the best friends status that Lilli and Catherine had.going on. "Although I have no idea where the hell you found a Ferris wheel that you could rent," she admitted. Making conversation was hard, especially when everyone's attention was truly on two someones who seemed to be having a 'fun' conversation. Also, Keira would have the joy of avoiding Trent for the rest of the day and most of the night. When they'd all gone out, he'd spent part of the night hitting on her and making her very annoyed. She'd also wished that her boyfriend would show up so he'd cut it out, but no luck with that one.

Keira pushed a lock of hair behind her left ear, then looked at her best friend. "Aist, you're such a silly. That outfit is outrageous," she admitted finally. Of course, she hadn't expected much else from the girl. Aist was Aist, and there was nothing anyone could do about that. "Hey, let's go get some punch!"She said to Aist, then stared as she watched a guy come up and dump an entire bottle of grey goose in each of the bowls and said, "Or something that hasn't had enough vodka dumped in it to make you take a sip and pass out." Keira wasn't much of a drinker, unlike some. She could tell that this party was going to get out of hand soon enough, especially with so many members of their little group, the Takeover, in attendance and ready to party.

[Aspen Rain Bianchi]

Aspen foud herself wishing she hadn't come to the part after all. Sure Catherine was her friend, but she had all of her other friends, her older friends. Aspen didn't feel like she fit in much and watched as everyone greeted each other like they were long lost relatives. Aspen felt out of place and out of her element, but she decided she would stay and endure it, after all this wasn't about Aspen, it was about Catherine.

Catherine was really talkative today, Aspen enjoyed seeing her new friend smiling and happy on her birthday. However, Aspen still felt as out of place as ever. She sighed and smiled as people passed her. Some girl she's heard of only twice, Aist, showed up and some red blood greeted her, and hugged her. Aspen shuddered.

There were a lot of people here. She grunted, and tossed her daisy lay on top of all the other presents not caring if they got ruined or not. Aspen just needed to be out of this huge crowd of people. So she decided to just walk away and stick to the outskirts of the party. She wouldn't mingle, she would only watch, unless someone came up to her.

She was being a bit prudey, but Aspen never felt like this before. She continued smiling and waved down Catherine, "Im going over there!" She shouted over the volumous voices that seemed to get louder. She pointed in a general direction, but Catherine had been preoccupied with speaking to a fellow blue blood. She did not recall his name, but somehow Aspen knew it was this "Neil" character Catherine had mentioned at the coffee shop that one day.

She sighed, 'What is that girl getting herself into this time?' she asked herself. She didn't want her friend to get hurt, but it looked like Catherine had herself and Neil undercontrol. She laughed as she knew she and Catherine would be great friends.She sighed and felt a little better. She just needed to get out of the commotion that was Catherine's perimeter.

She looked over to her right and heard the red blood again. She would walk over to her, but she has no idea who the girl is. If she is anything like Miss Alcott, Aspen would enjoy being a bitch to her, but somehow Aspen knew that the girl was nothing like the Alcott girl, she even sounded nice. Aspen turned, feeling a sudden need to talk to someone, even if it was a redblood.

She danced her way over to the girl, 'Oh, this is Keira,' she thought, remembering people greeting her by that name. "Hello, I'm Aspen," She told her, holding out her hand. Aspen felt awkward talking to a redblood, but she continued on anyway.


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[Catherine Lee]

Catherine looked behind her and quickly turned around again. Neil was following her? She wanted more than nothing to look behind her once more, just to see if she were hallucinating. She really would have to talk to Lilli about what exactly was in the punch, and possibly a therapist. She refrained herself from looking however. She had just made an earth shattering choice, and frankly so had he.

The words she had spoken to Neil, and the lack of them she had gotten in return, replayed in her mind. Something about their conversation told her that she would never, ever, be the same again. She had been changed, and the mere fact that he was following her, made her think that maybe possibly he had felt the change himself. Maybe possibly, he knew what she might do. Or maybe possibly he had a simple feeling of doubt. Maybe possibly, some intuition. Something screaming at the back of his mind, telling him to take step after step, following her footprints in the sand.


Catherine moved her feet slowly through the soft sand back to her friends. She noticed Aspen had pulled Keira aside and those two were talking in soft tones. She also had the pleasure of seeing a party crasher dump bottles of vodka into the blasted punch. Which still didn't answer her question as to why she felt funny before the punch had been spiked. She had no time to be angry though, nor to stop them, hell, it might make this party turn wild, which in all honesty she didn't want, but she did. She was completely torn, just as she was torn between Neil and the yummy looking boy she had stopped in front of.

'Yummy?' Cat spoke to her mind softly. 'Really now, I mean honestly. I know about your blood status, but hell, aren't you a little young to want to eat him?' Catherine screamed internally, kicking herself and wishing anyone else could be her conscious. Even Hitler would have been better than listening to her other personality speak to her. Or perhaps she should tone down the evil a bit more, Brutus or Judas would do for her. Anything other than herself speaking to her.

Even if she would rather have anyone else in her mind, Cat had a valid point. She didn't even know this red bloods name. She had no right to feel such a strong connection to him. Even if he did smell strangely delicious. A bit like Neil, but of course Catherine had no intention of feeding from Neil, or any other blue blood. Ever. Smiling she shook Cat from her mind as she looked at each of her friends in the face, ready to make a fool of herself introducing her unwilling soulmate and the man she had the the urge to bite.

"Well, Neil this is, uh," She paused, crap. She didn't know his name! "Well this boy here is the reason I'm standing here in my swim-wear. You see he dumped punch all over my dress, and I'm still not quite sure of his name." She tilted her head back and laughed. "Nameless guy who spilled punch on my dress, this is Neil." She looked at her friends once more. "I take it everyone else knows everyone?"

[Rae LeAnn Voture]

"Lilli!,Aist, and Keira, how have you all been?" She hadn't talked to the girls for about a while since she had been bogged down with things pertaining to Julliard auditions. "It seems like forever." Rae laughed lightly and hoped that they were on friendly terms right now, and that they didn't know something she hadn't heard about yet. "Lilli this party, I'm guessing you put it all together, is stunning." She smiled at her friends and waited for responses.

When Rae had said her hellos and happy birthdays she politely excused herself and made her way back over towards Trent. Her gift was sitting on the table, and she headed towards the punch but then saw it being spiked. Not that it would affect her, but she just didn't feel like drinking any of it. A slight blush crept up her cheeks as she walked back to him. She didn't understand what was going on with her and hell she didn't even know this guy she shouldn't be acting like that. Letting out an exhasperated sigh her feet sunk into the sand below her and she took of the flip flops before continuing walking towards Trent. It was a lot easier to have the sand squishing between her toes than digging the shoes out of the sand covering them every time she took a step.

As she neared towards him her lips took on a mind of their own, "Alfazon" The words came out before she herself even knew what she was saying. Her hands immediately went up and covered her mouth and the shock on her face grew more and more. The voice she had spoken in did not even begin to sound like her own. Rae had hoped no one else heard her and scrambled over towards Trent quickly. "I'm sorry that so was not me. Do you have any idea what's going on I keep seeing bits and pieces of things in my mind but none of them make sense to me." The memory flashes weren't clicking into her mind just yet but they eventually would, and then she would be stunned.

[Luca Blithe]

Luca woke up to his phone going off like crazy. It was three in the afternoon. He had been up most of the night out at a party with Trip and had decided to sleep in. Texts had been flowing in all morning long. Since he finally had decided to see what the ruccus was all about, he found a text inviting him to a beach side birthday party for Cathrine. She was part of the takeover and he knew who she was. The text had come from Trent and invited him along. He had a couple hours till the party and decided to get up and get ready, since he would have to go and buy a gift.

Luca slid into his large and messy walk in closet. Things weren't as organized as Trip's, but he did have a method to his madness. Easily and quickly he grabbed out his boardshorts and tshirt. His surfboard was in the garage and he knew that he would have to bring it along. An hour later he was ready and headed down to his car, a read Audi R8. Luca strapped the board inside his car, which fit since it was a shortboard instead of the usual longboard, and drove off.

With the wind blowing in his hair, the sunglasses on, music blasting loud, and Luca knowing he looked fine as hell, he arrived down town to pick out a gift for the birthday girl. Cat had been seen wearing yellow a lot, and he wasn't so good with gifts but decided he would try his best. Just getting someone a gift card was more his style, but Luca knew how bad it sucked to just get a gift card. Luca wasn't stupid about girls and knew that they loved purses and bags. So he parked and headed inside the Coach store. Once inside he headed over to the purse counter and bought Cat the perfect yellow purse for her birthday. After having it gift wrapped he got back in his car.

Finally he was on his way to the beach. When he arrived, Luca parked next to Trip's car, grabbed up the gift, his board, and headed into the tent. The line wasn't that long, and Luca placed his gift on the gift table. Looking around he didn't see the birthday girl, but he did see his best friend, and was that, no it couldn't be, Rae Voture, talking with him. It looked more like flirting to Luca and he headed over to be his brotha's wingman if he needed him. But on his way a pretty blond girl caught his eye and he waved to her sweetly with a sexy girl on his face. "Hey bro, what's up?" Luca spoke with the confidence in his voice that was normally there, and smiled. This was his atmosphere.

[Trent Bourne]

Trent was in a slight daze. He hadn't left the soft cocoon of rememberance quite yet. He was ever so confused and wanted nothing more than to drop to the sand and meditate. If only that were up to him. Right now, he was wrapped up in the aftermath of a memory. His subconscious just took him from the present to the past and then back to the present in a matter of seconds. All the while, telling him that Rae was his one and only true love. Way to drop the bomb subconcious. Trent looked down nervously. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so confused and he wondered if it was always like this. His hyper happy mode had ended and now he was shook to the core.

How was he supposed to look Rae in the eye? What if he was the only one who lived in that moment? What if she didn't know? He couldn't possibly tell her what was going on could he? How could he? What if she didn't want to beleive it or what if... Trent swallowed hard. "What if she rejects me?" He whispered to himself. His heart dropped into his stomach and he furrowed his eyebrows in worry. It was his worst fear in the world, to have Azazel reject him. But maybe, if she didn't listen, that just meant he was wrong. Maybe he didn't see Rae maybe he saw someone else but Rae just reminded him of her. Trent tried to convice himself he was overreacting but it wasn't working. This was a big deal. He knew all too well that Rae felt too familiar to be anyone else. the heart wrenching part was the fact that she didn't know. She didn't know, right?

Trent watched the party from the sand like an outsider. The happy smiling faces. He wished he could feel giddy. He wished he could feel oblivious. But he was too smart for oblivious, and his thoughts were too shrowded to be giddy. Trent couldn't get a grip and it sucked hard core. Of course, he just had to have a relationship breakdown right in the middle of Catherine's party. He probably looked like such a douche bag standing there alone and frowning at the sand. He shook himself slightly. "Get it together, T." He whispered himself and dug into his pockets to fish out his pack of peppermint stride. He popped a strip into his mouth and jumped in the sand a little to get some kind of adrenaline flowing. In the nick of time had cheered himself to standards that barely reached okay. Rae was making her way back over. "Oh hey Rae," He mumbled when she finally reached him. He said it as though he hadn't seen her exit the tent, as though he hadn't watched her every move like a Hawk watching its prey. Of course he hadn't watched her glide along the sand. He hadn't noted the fact that she looked like godess even in that weird rainbow dress. Even as she stood here now he noted how pretty she was and how he felt so close, even though he barely knew her. "Alphazon." She said. Trent blinked. 'She just said my name' He thought.

He watned to grin. He wanted to bounce up and down and hug her. He wanted to express his love. He watned to shout it from the mountains. But it just didn't seem right. Expecially after she apologized. She said she was sorry. She said she was confused. He could understand. He was sorry too. Sorry that he let himself beleive that Rae knew. Then she asked him what was going on. He had to suffice all urge to scream "I just had a flashback and I know who you are!" and "We belong together!" and "We're eternal twins and I love you! Wanna go ride the ferris wheel?" Instead he just balled his fist vowing to ask her to ride the ferris wheel later on in the night. Trent took a sip of air, looked Rae in the eye and confessed. "I don't know." He felt so bad for being so vague. He wanted to tell her everything but he didn't know for sure. So he looked to the parking lot and caught the eye of Luca, his bff. "Oh my god." Trent murmured to himself. His eyes bright and he couldn't help but place a thin smirk on his face. Pushing his depressing thoughts aside, Trent waved him over and howled a reply across the sand. "Dude!" He exploded with laughter. "You're so late, man!"
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[Catherine Lee]

Catherine was for lack of a better word, depressed. Her party was starting to fail epically. It had taken a turn for the worse as the flowers Neil had gotten her had fallen to the ground. Sure, the party was quite lively for everyone else, but she suddenly had lost all of her nerve and didn't feel the least bit comfortable anymore. Everyone else talked and joked as if they were epic old friends, She also felt so cold, she was after old standing in a crowd of her friends in her swimming suit.

Not only was she depressed for that reason, but perhaps because had discovered on her day, the day she should have felt so unique, that in fact she was anything but. Well of course she was, to many people, but wasn't in the least bit for the one person who mattered most. The person she had just sworn to herself that she would die for. The person who had followed her back to the very spot she stood now, but the person whom she was sure didn't really care to follow her anywhere else.

Catherine felt as if she were dying on the inside, as she came upon a new realization.
Sometimes there were stories of more woe, than that of Juliet and her Romeo. Sometimes you weren't even given the chance of being with your other half. Let alone dying for them, to die together. Sometimes, you had to make the worst and possibly the best choice of your life. You had to choose to go on, or to simply stop. Catherine had gone on so many times in her life, she wanted to stop. She wanted it all to end and everything to fade away into the night.

As she looked towards the setting sun, the bright colours that would soon fade to black, Taking a step away from her friends, she wished upon every star she had ever seen. She moved ever farther away from her friends, wishing on every star she had ever looked upon and lost her breath gazing at. She was certain they wouldn't miss her as she stepped into the water. Wading deeper and deeper she wished that she could simply fade away. She waded very far out indeed, perhaps to see how far she could go, or how far she could go before someone caught her before she really did fade away.

[Keira Darcy]

Keira smiled politely at Aspen, and introduced herself, saying simply, "I'm Keira. Nice to meet you." She shook the other girl's hand, trying not to feel weird. She'd never been one for the formal introduction, the same old song and dance and the name-dropping. She hadn't been raised to it like some people, the searching for something, anything to talk about. "So, where do you go to school at?" she asked the other girl, and that got them started off on a conversation. Rae came up and said hi, and she gave her friend a warm smile, simply saying that she was okay, and she introduced Aspen to Rae, saying, "Oh, Rae, this is Aspen. Aspen, Rae." Her hands gestured back and forth between the two of them, showing her ease here. This was just a party, nothing too extravagant, and she felt perfectly normal as opposed to her occasional nerves when things were awkward.

She let herself be drawn into a conversation with Aspen, who seemed nice, if a little stuck up. Of course, that was how she came off half of the time as well. The crowd partied and danced, and she felt herself start to lose her inhibitions. And she hadn't even drank anything yet. Well, there was that one glass of punch, but…yeah, she totally didn't know how much vodka had gotten poured in those bowls. After a little bit of talking to Aspen, some crazy dancing, she found herself tired and standing at the edge of the tent, watching the Ferris wheel run and the lights on it blink as she caught her breath. The sun was setting, and a truly spectacular array of colours had taken their places in the evening sky. She had no idea where her boyfriend was, but at this point she could safely say it wasn't her biggest concern. Adds was a big boy, and he could take care of himself. Keira had become accustomed to the rumours that he was cheating on her…he did get seen out and about with a large number of girls. He had to, what with the vampire thing. She loved him, but she'd rather not be dinner and a date.

And then her mind was shaken off its track by the sight of a single figure walking into the ocean. Now, normally this wouldn't have worried her, but she could've sworn that it was Catherine, the birthday girl. What the hell was she doing?! The water was above her waist, and she showed no signs of stopping. Which was a little worrying…and Keira wondered how she'd even managed to slip away from her adoring friends. Catherine just kept going, and Keira frowned gently. She wasn't suicidal, was she? Oh, but what if she was? Maybe the other girl just needed some time to think.

After a few moments hesitation, she headed towards the beach, shimmying out of the blue cover-up at the ocean's edge to reveal a black bikini. She started walking out to where the other girl was, and as soon as she had enough water to justify swimming, she did just that, ending up at the other girl's side. "Catherine?" She asked gently, and stood, touching her friend's shoulder. She got a look at her face, and asked softly, "Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" She wrapped the other girl in a hug, almost instinctively. She didn't push her to talk about it, but left it as it was. If Catherine wanted to talk about it, she would, and if she just needed someone to be there…Keira was good for that, as well.

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