Welcome Back Harriman! [Open, Open, Open!]

It was a beautiful September day (the 10th, to be exact) as Isabelle trekked down to the Lake. She and Isaac had arrived that morning, her motorcycle was registered and sitting sad and lonely in the school parking lot, and she'd managed to unpack in her comparatively humongous SOPHOMORE room just in time to catch the beginning of the Welcome Back festivities!

Even with her dark hair tied up with an elastic, Izz could feel the heat of the sun beating down on her, and she prayed it wouldn't get too bad once the hours turned past noon. Shakespeare in the Sun was set to be performing Much Ado About Nothing later in the afternoon, a perfect play for lazing about in the afternoon September sun! In the large Indian print bag strewn around her shoulders she had thrown half a dozen scripts, excited for the upperclassmen to be able to show off, especially since she was president this year.

The sun shone brilliantly off of her large, loose-cut white shorts, and the worn Dockers on her feet, a christmas gift from her mothers that she really wore only when she needed shoes to trek about in because they were just so DAMN comfy!, made a soft padding sound on the grass as far-off music began to tickle her ears.

As much as she'd wanted to wear a tank top and soak in the sun's rays while the weather was still nice in constantly dreary Maine, she knew there'd be, like, a million teachers there, and didn't want to risk getting busted for dress code on the FIRST day of classes. Instead she opted for one of her favorite mauve tunics, her blue eyes standing out nicely against the color. Long, muscular legs moved steadily across the lawns as she grew closer to the party, a massive blue striped blanket in her arms.

Isabelle glanced around to see if Isaac had beat her to the party after all, but was pleased to see that she was the victor. She'd waited a while for him outside of his dorm, but eventually grown tired of it and grabbed her stuff, shouting a bit at him before heading down to the lawns by herself. Waving to a few of her classmates and the upperclassmen, she eyed the lake with mild interest, the bathing suit underneath her clothes smooth and inviting. She decided that a group of her friends would be wrangled and dragged to swimming before the day was out. Setting out her blanket in a choice spot near a massive tree, Isabelle made sure there were no bubbles before she set her bag down on top of her striped blanket and sat down, kicking her shoes off and wrinkling her blue-polka dotted toes in the grass. A massive pair of 80s style sunglasses rested on her nose, with thick turqouise stems attached to wide black frames; her favorite pair. A huge well of warmth not entirely related to the sun came up in her chest and she couldn't help but smile that dazzling smile of hers as she turned her face to the sun and closed her eyes; today was going to be a good day.

It had been a good day thus far. Isaac woke up inconceivably earlier than he had been all summer and had some time to himself to write before the rest of the Cauldine family had moved out of their beds. The last morning at his house for a while seemed pretty normal. Toast and orange juice for breakfast then back upstairs to sit on the end of Isabelle’s bed and bother her about an assortment of things as only he could do. Then, after making sure everything was packed into his bags, he loaded his and his sister’s belongings into his car and went to bid farewell to his parents for the next unit of time they would be absent.

Saying goodbye was almost a ritual by now, and one that seemed to be getting rather one-sided as the years went on. It had begun hinting at that same awkwardness that you feel in your gut when some old family relative you met when you were three greets you by name and somehow knows who you are even after the majority of your life has passed. It’s just creepy. And when the weirdness started creeping in Isaac took that as his sign to leave. With yet another hug for is mother –oh God. She had the handkerchief out- and a stiff embrace from his father with a few man-claps on the back, Isaac slid into the leather interior of his car allowed time for Isabelle to follow his lead, climbing into the passenger's seat, before driving off nicely, punching the gas as soon as they were out of sight of the house.

There weren’t many cars on the roads and so they arrived in record time, Isaac’s right foot feeling heavier on the pedal the whole way there. God he loved his car. Upon their arrival, he, like the loving brother he is took Isabelle’s bags up to her room for her followed by his own in his corresponding room, and she, like the loving sister she is, pestered him about not being ready to go to the picnic when she was. He shrugged it off and let her walk off without him. Chances are she would have forgotten by the time they met back up anyways. He tugged on a plain black tee that fit just barely loosely to his torso and pulled on some comfy denims. Once all clothes were unpacked and in their designated spots, laptop was charging near an outlet and the bottom bed closest to the window was thoroughly claimed, he grabbed a pack of cancer-sticks and his old silver zippo as well as his phone and keys before exiting his dorm and joining the growing group of kids outside.

Isabelle wasn’t too hard to find at all. She would be the one making the most of the sun on that blue and white blanket she liked. Then again, by now, he should pretty much have her personality and tendencies down pat. And there she was. That twin link thing was useful sometimes. She sat down next to her silently tapping out a cig and lighting it then taking a nice drag of it and exhaling upwards before turning to her. He glanced her over a moment taking note of the sunglasses which were especially her style before tipping his torso towards her, shoving her ever so gently before sitting back up, his mouth turning into a line of a smile, one of his dimples showing on the right side of his face. ”Hey Bells. You look like you are enjoying yourself.. It’s kinda nice being back here again.” Blue eyes darted to the bag with a slight squint in them, ”What do you have planned?” Knowing her, there was no way she would just let today be a sit-in-the-grass picnic. His hand made another trip to his lips, the smoke making it’s way into his lungs once more, relaxing his whole body and in the same way making him feel like he was more aware.

Despite the fact that Jay had been in the state for far fewer than twenty four hours, she was absolutely determined not to let the looming prospect of jet lag mar such beautiful late-summer day. She'd barely had time to unpack into the humongous space she had been granted as an (ohemgee) incoming senior, and had almost suffered a near-fatal panic attack at the idea that she may have left her favorite bathing suit all the way back on the other side of the country. After scouring through her drawers and suitcases, she had finally located the thing. She hadn't been completely happy, however, until the suit was snugly tied around her body. She slipped a knit white peasant style cover up over her modestly teeny-weeny yellow polka dot bikini (she sang this in her head as she rummaged for the red gingham blanket she planned on toting to the picnic) and nodded her approval to her reflection. She glanced out of the dormitory window and felt a sudden pang of sadness at the idea that her lovely truck wouldn't arrive for a few more days, but shook the gloom severely from her mind. Today would be a day of laughing, relaxing, swimming, hugging, and enjoying sun on her skin as The Bard's words floated deliciously in the air.

Jay affixed a pair of white-rimmed aviator sunglasses, ones that she'd picked up at a swap meet over the summer, to her nose and pulled her blond hair back into a playfully curly ponytail. She had yet to see any of the familiar Felicity faces and was eager enough to begin that she completely forsook even a small spattering of makeup. She would probably be swimming anyway, so it didn't much matter in her opinion. Jay marched outside and began scouting the lawn for familiar faces. She raised a hand to her brow to shield the sun from her eyes as she looked, completely oblivious to the fact that it wasn't doing much that her sunglasses hadn't already done. She floundered for a moment as the sunlit faces swam dazzlingly in her vision, but soon enough she had spotted the Cauldine twins about a hundred meters in front of her. Her bright smile, her nearly constant companion in life, lit up her face and she began to skip-run to the pair of brunettes, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of her mind that was insisting that she looked utterly silly prancing about so.

She took only seconds to maneuver herself besides the two of them and she immediately spread her arms across both of their waists. "Hmm, where's the food?" she asked querulously, eyes resting on each of them in turn. She noticed the cigarette clutched in Issac's hand and shook her head. "You're disgusting, you know that?" she said, then let forth a soft laugh.

The day was so hot that you could see the heat coming from the ground, possibly have an egg tonight? The sun was beaming down on the school and the picnic party, but there was also a very slight gentle breeze coming from the east. The grounds of the school was a vibrant green color and there were trees scattered randomly over the lawn, providing a little bit of shade.

It was yesterday night when Silver first arrived in the states, about a 6 hour flight. She stayed at the Hampton hotel in Maine by herself that night and would take the taxi to school in the morning. She was slightly heart broken as she reached the school noticing all the families saying goodbye to their children, but she still managed to keep a smile on.

"Merci" she said politely to the taxi driver as he helped her bring her things to the curb. He tipped his hat at her and drove off, "oi ve" she said under her breath and looked up at the wondrous school. The truth is she really didn't know where to go from there, left or right? Looking to her left she saw the opening picnic, which was mentioned in her acceptance letter. Not really sure what to do with her bags she headed towards the party carrying her large suit case and a few small bags.

By the time she got to the party sweat was dripping from her face and possibly every part of her body. She dropped off her stuff next to one of the tables and walked around the school checking out the kind of people there. Silver was wearing a cute flouncy lavender skirt and a white tank top, what used to look attractive was now razzled from the hard labor. She put her frizzed curly hair in a messy bun and managed to cool down slightly.

"Erm... pardon me Mademoiselle" she saw two people talking and was to shy to talk to the boy, "is zis thee picneek" her french accent was strong.

Jay cocked her head a strange mousy girl, looking like something of a beast of burden with all the stuff she was lugging around, approached their small group. There was a drop of sweat balanced precariously on the strange girl's nose, and her outfit seemed to have fallen into an acute state of disarray, but neither of these things meant much to Jay. What did make an impression on the seventeen-year-old blond was the fact that there was a new student at school who was not a meager eleven years of age. Jay's laugh trickled away into an inquisitive grin and she let her arms fall away from the Cauldines' waists and back to her side to play with the thigh-length hem of her cover up. Her wonder and curiosity grew even more with the words uttered by the mousy stranger; they absolutely dripped with an accent that Jay (and probably most people not born in a cave) immediately recognized.

"Eh, bien!" Jay exclaimed softly, her semi-refined French dropping her voice a few decibels from it's normal raucous volume, "Vous etes de la France? Une de mes grands-mères est Quebecois." Jay gave another small laugh and put a hand over her mouth, slightly embarrassed at her attempt to display her Frenchy-ness. "Please pardon me, my accent is atrocious. Yeah, this is the picnic. I'm Jane, welcome to Harriman." Jay smiled warmly at the newcomer and stuck out a hand to be shook.

Mellow was a good way to put how Miss Vittorno felt as she stepped onto the lawn of her prestigious Harriman. She hadn't, after all, started any notorious feuds as of yet; she hadn't been pissed off, merely aggravated by Isaac's obnoxious texts; and she hadn't offended anyone with her trademark sarcasm. Yea...mellow was a good word for this. Pausing for a moment and surveying the scene, students busily moving around the outskirts of the lake and fraternizing with various friends, Sophia sighed. Why wasn't she as excited as they seemed? There was nothing in her today that particularly wanted to dive into the fray of social disorder, but everything dictated that she should get over herself and join those she allowed to get close enough to be called her friends. The lowering of her lashes as she glanced at the grass was almost timid, but anyone who knew "Sophie Vi" also knew that she had plenty of confidence - on a dance floor, at least.

Blinking away the sudden glaze on her cerulean irises, Soph moved forward as a force of habit, long legs clothed only in a pair of usual vintage jean shorts, found God-knew-wear, frayed, with a hole in the right back pocket patched by her own hand with pink plaid. They were ancient but comfortable and well-loved, and they matched perfectly her bee yellow baby tee, circa 1976. She smiled ever-so-slightly at the thought that her shirt would match Jay's truck, and that smile turned into an even fonder little grin at the thought of Jay herself. How in the hell were they so timid around each other? Sophia had heard rumors of her intimidation, but she certainly had no clue how she was intimidating at all. In fact, she was silently intimidated by plenty of people - the difference between Soph and others, however, was that it didn't effect her in the slightest other than lend to her relatively quiet nature around acquaintances and strangers.

The sun bore down pleasantly on her cheeks, which were somewhat freckled from her time on the beach, her sun-kissed hair falling in its ridiculous length down her back. Her pink-striped swimsuit sat comfortably beneath her clothes; she was prepared, if Isaac decided to pull a stupid stunt and throw her in the lake, as he was often prone to do. Sophia really didn't have a best friend - she didn't trust anyone enough - but it was almost amusing that her closest friend beside that was a boy, of all things, considering how much she loathed all the rest of them. He knew he was special, she supposed, and as long as he took the hint not to screw up and be typical, she would allow herself to indulge in a satisfying friendship; thankfully nothing as rocky as her friendship with his twin, whom she shared a delicious love/hate parallel with that spanned several years. Today, it seemed, Izz would love her; the moment she performed a step one centimeter more precise, she would hate her. Too bad Sophia didn't care about all that triviality - she would have been entertained.

Her thoughts had brought her just about 10 yards from the blanket where she had spotted her group of friends, if you could call all of them that; she dreaded the appearance of Zach and Simon, of course, but ignoring them was something she was quite used to. Izz and Isaac and Jay were there - and who was that? - Sophia wasn't at all fond of new people, they made her uneasy. She would just have to suck it up, as always, and be nice - perhaps this girl would be a winner, and she deserved a chance, if nothing else. Bare feet stuck in the grass as she looked at them, and she fought the urge to go back and find Annie. Anne was far more of a social creature than her elder sister, despite appearances. Sophia admired that greatly in her younger sibling - but not enough, apparently, to adopt it. Instead, she played it off as though she was admiring the lot of them from a distance, the lake, the scene, and waited until Isaac glanced up, at which she caught his eye and gave him a fond smile and tiny wave.

Nice. Junior year at Harriman. The thrill she felt was comparable to that of a small child going for a shot. It wasn't that she didn't like her beloved institution; she simply felt, strangely, that she was walking stupidly back into one of the sticky fly strips her father hung in their beach house's kitchen.

God, she wanted to jump in that lake.

Every year had been the same. Every year, the ride from Ohio to Maine via minivan was far from luxurious, and every year, Simon found himself asleep with his face plastered against the window. This year, autumn of 2008, was absolutely no different. As the Theodore family minivan pulled into the large front lot of Felicity Harriman's school for the arts, Simon James's lips were mashed against the dirty window. His pillow was constricted between the car chair and his heavy noggin, held tightly in place atop his shoulder. In the front seat, Simon's stepdad, Greg, rested his weary hands on the steering wheel, inching lazily along the last few feet to the parking lot. Julia, Simon's mom, sat next to him, wrapped in a blanket and doing all she could do stay awake.

It was a tradition to drive all the way to the east coast for the school year, whether Simon liked it or not. His mother had placed high importance on soaking up every moment she could with her only son before he was gone for nine months, and despite the groans and grumbles of Simon, nothing ever changed. He'd given up relatively quickly this September, deciding to make the best of the situation. They'd stopped for a few days in Pittsburgh, followed the Atlantic coast of New Jersey, and made most of New York's country sides. By the time they'd gotten to New Hampshire, the entire family was exhausted.

Everyone was so exhausted, in fact, that when Simon's phone began its shrill ring, not a single one of them was phased. Simon just pulled his face away from the glass, smacking his lips blankly as he flipped open his phone. It was a text from Isaac, of course. His eyes drifted back to the scenery around him as he replied to his best friend, not bothering to check for typos. Within another minute, he was out of the car, unloading his stuff with his parents.

By the time he'd finished hauling everything into his new sophomore dorm, he was slightly more aware. He trotted down the long flights of stairs, his parents following behind, and raced onto the lawn. Yep, same old Harriman. Simon breathed in the aromatic Maine air as he approached the "picnic". Now, if only he could find Isaac...

It was amazing how there seemed to be no one there then all the sudden everyone showed up at once. He didn’t mind in the least, being in a rather social mood for the time being. After all, he hadn’t gotten to see his friends in a few months now. Jane’s smile – as promised – appeared in front of him, eyes shining. The manicured girl looked rather ravishing, he had to admit to himself, as she plopped herself down between the twins. A chuckle escaped his throat at her first words to him of the year. Slightly fitting actually. In response, he inhaled on the cancerstick once more just to spite her, though he was kind enough to let the smoke out away from her.

A large grin developed on his face when he turned back to her, and he was about to ask her about her summer when a thick accent wove its way between them. Isaac, silly grin still plastered to his face, looked up at the girl. He remembered vaguely the first time he had stepped on campus. But he had at least had Isabelle to keep him company back then. Even as nervous as he was sure she was feeling, he wondered why it was like he didn’t even exist to her. His mouth pressed into a hard line, but it looked like Jane had it all covered, her natural friendliness pouring out at this point.

Isaac’s eyes squinted a little, when Isabelle stood up, watchfully taking not of her direction when he noticed Simon step across the lawn. The goofy grin appeared once again only to completely drop, along with his jaw. He couldn’t really blink. It was like watching a train wreck, seeing his sister kiss friend like that. When the Hell did that happen?! And it wasn’t just like. A kiss. That was a kiss. he was still flabbergasted as Jay’s hand’s found their way over his eyes. He could feel her breath and hear a muffled sound, but things weren’t quite registering the way they should. His hands found her’s pulling them down and holding onto them slightly to catch the tail end of the kiss.

Then he caught onto Isabelle’s mood. She was totally fooling around with him. Poor Simon. Izz and Isaac would be having a conversation about that soon enough, but he let it go for the time, not wanting to make things awkward for anyone not in their odd little family. He was still holding onto Jane’s fingers when he came completely back to reality. ”Sorry Jay,” he laughed, looked back around to her and letting go of her. He didn’t mind, but he didn’t want to make her accident on accident like that. If it had been purposeful awkwardness, he might have kept it up though.

Someone standing a little wais off caught his peripheral vision. Greeting Simon could wait. Besides, he wouldn’t want to steal him away from Bells in the first few minutes of his arrival. He excused himself from Jay and the newcomer, putting his cig out on the bottom of his shoe, leaving his belongings on the blanked and crossing the distance to Sophia in a few strides. A new kind of smile spread across his lips now. A mix between a smile and a smirk really, slightly one sided, eyes squinting just a little. A little grin mixed in there when he opened his arms and gave her a nice friendly hug for the first time in three months. Hmm. He had grown a few inches. He stood back, leaving a hand on each side of her hips – though he kept all fingers on fabric – and gave her a nice look over, though it was all in good fun, before greeting her, his voice calm and low, ”Sorry you didn’t get a greeting like Simon.” He nodded over to where she had no doubt seen his sister and friend kissing in front of his parents, ”We could fix that if you wanted though.” This was added with a nice wink for extra umph. It wouldn’t be a good Sophia greeting if he didn’t flirt on her nerves at least a little.

As Jay waited for the mousy girl to shake hands, she noticed Sophia's unimposing yet inexplicably eye-grabbing entrance. There was just something about that girl that could bring eyes towards her without even the shadow of intent on her part. Jay had decided at some point in the past to attribute this ability of Sophia's to the girl's flawless training in dance. There was just something about dancers (at least the ones that Jay had met so far in her life) that set them apart from the masses. Perhaps it was the way the walked as if they were floating on top of the air, as if after dancing for most of their lives, such a meager act as walking posed no problem to them. Jay, who'd had her fair share of stumbles, always envied dancers this innate grace. Jay shot a smile Sophia's way, not wanting to completely abandon the new girl by waving or calling her friend over, and then noticed yet another addition to the quickly growing picnic crowd. This time it was Simon.

Jay had never really been sure how she felt having Simon as a friend. It was strange how she could be great friends with both Issac and Izz but still feel like Simon was some potentially unfriendly acquaintance. She'd always just gotten the feeling that he thought she was butting in on his friendship with the Cauldine twins. Maybe she was wrong, she probably was, but that didn't stop her stomach from turning from the small fear of spending the afternoon with him. At least she would have plenty of others to take her mind off of it, that would be worth such a small sacrifice. Izz had noticed Simon too, it seemed, and Jane wasn't surprised that her friend took the first possible excuse to get herself away from having to deal with an interruptive newcomer.

She was surprised, however, at the particular way in which Izz greeted Simon. The particular way she put her body all over him and kissed him like her life depended on it. Jane's eyes widened and she glanced at Issac and saw his mouth gaping open like he was a fish out of water. She drew her hand back from the stranger and placed it next to her other hand, now in front of Issac's eyes. "Sorry champ, this stuff's rated R." She realized that her mouth had probably been gaping almost as much as his had been, and clamped her lips together firmly. They were still kissing! Well, technically Izz was still kissing, but... Issac's hands clasped over hers and pulled them away from his eyes. She saw a momentary flicker of understanding in his eyes, understanding which she was still searching for, and then he let go of her hands. "S'okay." she said stupidly, wondering what he was sorry for. Oh, he had been holding her hands. What a stupid thing to be sorry for. She brushed a stray curl of hair away from her face and sat silently for a moment, realizing that she had pretty much just been ditched. She pushed her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose and tilted her head as she watched Issac greet Sophia. What the hell, couldn't hurt to socialize, could it? Jay could never really tell if there was anything between Issac and Sophia, but she wasn't going to sit awkwardly around while they got chummy. Uh-uh, no way.

She waved apologetically at the new girl, then jumped to her feet and headed to Sophia and Issac. She caught the last few words of Issac's sentence and laughed, putting together his meaning. "Yeah, he's been practicing, I hear." she said, elbowing Issac lightly. She began kissing the back of her hand passionately, illustrating what she had meant. She pulled away and wiped her hand on her cover up. "Hey Sophia, how was summer?"

The shock that etched across every inch of Sophia's face as Isabelle practically violated Simon upon his approach was not well-hidden; in fact, it was evident, as were most of Soph's feelings, and impossible to misinterpret. That kiss looked something like a prelude to a porno...or something...since she didn't really have anything to compare it to, that was, of course, a guess. It didn't help that Soph wasn't all that fond of Simon, who she found to be incredibly obnoxious (well, Isaac would have fallen into that category, as well, if not for certain extenuating circumstances that remained between the two of them). For the sake of civility, she tolerated him, and Zach, for that matter, who was ridiculous in his own right, but upon his appearance she found herself feeling a bit more sardonic. Making a mental note to ask the two of them what each other had for lunch, she found herself jerked from her thoughts by a strong hug from Isaac himself. She was only relaxed for a moment as the full force of touch hit her, and, being as disinclined to physicality as she was with anyone but her family, she was promptly relieved that it was so short.

And then his hands remained on her waist as he spoke. He was so thick-headed! Pushing his hands off with a look that clearly stated that he knew better, perhaps with a whisper of a smirk to match, she spoke. "Oh, please, since I'm just dying for you to know what I had for breakfast this morning." She glanced at Izz with a rather disgusted look on her face before staring up at Isaac after his next comment, her mouth almost gaping open. He really was on his game this morning. She caught that wink and ignored the little tingles in the pit of her stomach, as usual, proudly brushing off his attempts at being charming before speaking again. "What is there to fix, handyman? I-"

She was interrupted by the cheerful voice and face of Jane Johnson, who Sophia would admit that she somewhat missed. The girl was just sunshine in a bundle of skin, which was almost the opposite of the girl she was greeting, but it was fine. They got on alright, in any case. Smiling her usual (which certainly wasn't the rare bright one that Isaac so loved), she laughed a little at Jay's impression and glanced up at Isaac, blue eyes smirking with her pale pink mouth. "Just like that, hmm? What did your hand have for breakfast?" She blinked innocently, blonde lashes spilling over her cheeks, before giggling again and patting him lightly on the chest to make it more than obvious that she was joking, before answer Jay's question. "Great. I spent a lot of time on the beach."

"Oh your French iz really nice actually" she laughed, "eetz nice to hear something familiar" She looked up as more people started to join the little group, "hello I'm Silver Elizabeth Bessette, transfer..." she felt really out of the loop considering most of these people probably already have known each other from previous years. Noticing that most of the students didn't have their bags with them she looked at the girl Jay, "Où dois-je mettre mes bagages?" which in French meant where do I put my luggage? ((OOC:: I honestly hope it does translate to be that, I'm not good at French)) She didn't want to seem stupid, even though having her bags with her in general probably made her look dumb.

She listened as everyone greeted each other and remembered what her father told her about listening into conversations in order to learn how to speak better. Her father warned her not to speak so much French, but it was difficult sometimes.

Long fingers paused and hazel optics searched out the window in the sophomore girls’ dorm. Although she shouldn’t have been, Kaylor was completely and utterly alert. Then again, she had slept most of the previous day away in order to prepare for the late night plane ride. She and her siblings had caught the earliest plane ride possible, which had been somewhere around four in the morning. She had been up at two, already dressed and ready to go. On the plane, she had fallen asleep staring out the window, as she had done the year previous. She had, indeed, stolen the window seat both years now.

Once the plane had landed, she and her siblings had collected their luggage, caught a taxi and come to Harriman. Once arriving at the school, they’d more or less gone their separate ways. Kaylor had immediately made her way to the dorm room in order to get a good bunk. Seeing as she hated the top bunk, she chose an open bottom bunk, threw several blankets and a change of clothes on it and then started unpacking. Once everything was unpacked as she liked it, she set about exchanging her underwear for her bright, multi-colored bikini.

Pulling her handkerchief top on again, she slipped her pantaloons back onto her legs. Dancing around the room for a second, she ran her fingers through her wild locks and then left the room. Immediately, she returned again and scoured about for a moment before pulling out a huge, handmade quilt. She had helped Kale make and sew on a good portion of the panels. It was magnificent in appearance and very warm on cold, winter nights. It had been a project she and her best friend had embarked on to remember good events or days during the time he was alive. He’d said it was to remember him by and she had continuously told him he would have to keep it, since he wasn’t going to die. Yet, here she was, with that very same quilt. Grabbing her sketch pad and the pencil case filled with the necessities she needed for the aforementioned pad, Kaylor left the room.

Barefoot, she left the dormitory and stepped outside. Pausing to enjoy the sunshine, she tilted her head back to stare at the blue sky, a smile lighting up her features. Then she was off, heading in the general direction she knew the picnic to be in. It did not take long for her to come upon the student infested area. Kaylor stopped for a moment to take in everyone that was there and to decide in which direction she was going to head in. Firstly, she realized, she needed to lay out her blanket. So, she picked a level spot on the grass and shook out the huge quilt, laying it out on the grass. On one side, a new row of blocks had been added and then left only half finished, but the reason why was obvious. It had been created to document her time with Kale. Once Kale was gone, she’d found no reason to finish that row.

The much used, and much loved quilt settled on the grass. Kaylor walked over, making sure it was flat and then took a seat to survey her surroundings. She noted that the spot she’d chosen was not too far away from what she guessed was the Cauldine twins’ blanket. Noticing that that blanket was empty of people, she searched for its missing occupants. Isabelle was running away from Simon. Isaac and Jane were, quite obviously, greeting Sophia. No sign of Annie yet.

Standing, Kaylor dusted her pantaloons off and set off in the direction of Isaac’s little group. She left her sketch things behind on the quilt, due to the fact that she would have very little use for them if she was going to strike up a conversation. The sun beat down on her dark head as she neared the trio. Preparing her plastic smile, Kaylor joined the group. “The lake looks rather cool compared to the heated air, don’t you think?” Her question wasn’t directed at anyone in particular, but rather left open to anyone to answer. Even though the smile she was making use of was the plastic one, her demeanor was still very pleasant and friendly, Kaylor was not looking for any fights this day.

Gerard really hated the first day back at school. It was the way you were forced to stay outside all day and were encouraged to be happy with all your friends. However, it was a long sight better than staying at home by himself all through the holidays. The relatively cool breeze calmed him as he stepped out the taxi- it felt so much better than the dry air of the Nevada desert, and everything was just so quiet here, despite the fact that loud music pumped and people chattered. Festivities were a word for it. The quiet of the Junior boys room- home. Hair products had been the first out of the case, as always. They were packed last, out first. Identifying a drawer, he'd packed everything away and was back out by the lake.

The soft fleece blanket given to him by Tiana 'just in case' was in his hand and he slotted the earphones into his iPhone. A lot of the grass was already taken or was dry and patchy after a long summer. Finally, Gerard found refuge in the shade of a tree, shivering slightly at the difference in heat between Maine and Nevada (something he got used to as the year progressed). He pulled his velvet jacket tighter around his muscled body and lay back against the tree, trying to find something to select on his iPhone. Like most years, his legs bore leg warmers- something he always wore when he first arrived in Maine. Even in the summer heat that they were experiencing, he was far more used to warmer conditions, well into the 100's. After a similarly hot summer, he was quite ready for the cool, moist air.

Finally, Gerard admitted defeat- by staying in the shade he was prone to shivering, and the sun was far more pleasant 70 degrees. So he settled there, closing his eyes, turning up the music playing as loud as it would go, and stretching out his black-clad legs to soak up some of the heat. Leg warmers were very nearly unnessecary.

Ah, Harriman. The grass. The lake. The...building. The people! Will, having just enjoyed a brief smoke (just one, really!) before venturing from his room to join the festivities, was taking each little detail in through glassy blue eyes as he soaked in the cool Maine sunlight, tingling warmth on his skin surprisingly noticeable considering how desensitized he typically was. He had missed this place. While Mr. Gates was just as fond of New York, there was just something much more fitting to his outlook on life in the quiet country, away from the busy bustle of a city constantly moving. Here, he could relax...one step at a time, man. Grinning his usual, dopey smile, he loped across the lawn toward a group that he thought he recognized most within, and picked out the few that he could. Izzzzzz, she looked like a doe, like, a deer...all long and graceful and...yea. That was his partner! He wrinkled his nose and shook off the wave of euphoria before noting the little group nearby. Isaac and...yech. Sophia Vittorno. But Jane! Suddenly content to forget his observations his step quickened as he neared the group, making a beeline for his favorite prude. On the way, he passed Simon, but a streak of...Izz..caught his eye and he turned around as quickly as he reflexes would allow catching the kiss as it ended. His mouth dropped and he let out a chuckle and fisted a hand into his hair, laughing fully now. Now that - that was funny. Oh, man. Simon looked dumbfounded, to say the least.

He was distracted. His brain was always so fantastically jumpy when he was on a trip, even as small as this one was. It would wear off within the hour, but perhaps he'd be too busy having fun to notice. He only felt the need to have some when he was bored, anyway. Pivoting on one foot, he continued his slow, casual lope over to Jane and, without a word, picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder, his cut-off jean shorts brushing carelessly against his lower knee, tye-dye boxers peeking out of the various holes in them. "Jay Jane Janey Jayyy." Putting her down back where she started, next to Izz and the new girl - at least, he thought she was new - he put a hand on her head, and shook his own. "Now this is better, see? The vibes coming off Izz are way cooler." His significantly watered-down accent rolled lazily off of his tongue and he grinned at Isabelle, then looked at both of them as seriously as he possibly could. "I missed you ladies." Rolling his eyes upward as though pondering, he continued, now peering down at Jay. "I missed you always telling me that I'm going to die." He chuckled at himself for no particular reason, then turned to Izz. "And I missed you because your legs are like my legs, you know?"

Man, he felt good. This was a way cool day. Peeling off his shirt, not particularly caring who he sent into a lustful coma with that abdomen, he tossed it to the grass and moved between the girls to stand by the water. "And why the hell aren't we swimming, huh? It's bloody beautiful, ain't it? Come onnnnn, clothes off or I'll throw you in fully dressed!"

Jay grinned fondly at Soph's response, briefly reminiscing her own days on the California coastline. She felt acutely sad that summer (at least in the sense of summer vacation) had ended with such finality. It had been her last summer during which her only worries had been avoiding sunburns and looking after her younger siblings. It had been her last summer as a student, and after this year at Harriman she would have no more summer vacations. After this year she would have to hope to goodness to land a job acting and not end up being a little gum-chewing waitress. That would probably never end up happening though, her being a waitress. If all else failed, she could always do something with cars. She shook herself out of this brief contemplation of her future and realized that she should probably introduce Silver around to the rest of everybody before the poor girl got overwhelmed. "Hey everyone, this is Silver by the way. I think she's a transfer?" she raised an eyebrow at Silver, wondering if she was correct in her assumption, "Anyways, Silver, this is Sophia, Issac...and Kaylor!" Jay finished just as Kaylor entered their small group, and gave the newcomer a big hug to say hello. "Oh, and you should probably get your stuff up to your dorm room. You can leave it over there with our towels and such for now, though." Jay noticed out of the corner of her eye that Gerard had just deposited himself (oh so gracefully) beneath a nearby tree. She waved rather timidly at him, feeling her head spinning slightly at the sight of him after so many months. She beckoned him over, not wanting to leave the group but wanting to make sure he would come and join it.

She was about to suggest to Kaylor that they go over and bug him together (safety in numbers and such) when she was swept up into somebody's arms. She squealed in surprise and started kicking for a moment before she realized who had seized her so suddenly. "But soft! Is it fair Lysander?" she smiled, and messed up his hair with one of her hands, "You'd better put me down this instant. Or else!" She threw him a look of mock fury from his shoulder, knowing full well that her threat was completely hollow. It wasn't long before her feet were securely back on the ground and Will had turned to bug Izz. She made a show of brushing herself off and mimed kicking Will in the arse while his back was turned. When he looked back at her she tilted her head and gave her best innocent smile. "We're all going to die, you know," she said, her smile melting into a playful grin, "You just seem to want to get there faster, that's all." At his comment to Izz, Jay gave Will's legs a look-over and a hearty thumbs up. Oh those dancers and their wonderful musculature! Speaking of which, Will had now released his perfect torso onto the world (or at least the Harriman lawn) and Jay produced a second thumbs-up to join the first.

At Will's mention of swimming, Jay shrugged, "Well, when you put it like that!" Jay pulled her white cover up off majestically, threw it next to her towel, readjusted her sunglasses, and then stood beside Will with her hands on her hips. Her yellow polka dot bikini shone brightly from her fair figure as she waited for the others to join them. "Good to see ya Will, how've you been?" she looked up at him to smile and tried to ignore the slightly glassy and red-rimmed way his eyes looked. She hated getting on his case, and what he did to himself was his own choice, not hers, but it still hurt her. Just a little bit. She grinned at him and took a couple of steps back until her feet were in the lake. "Last one in's a rotten egg!" she shouted towards her group of friends. Oh, it was good to be back.

Sorry Kayla, I godmodded Will a little to get him into the lake for my post. I'll change it if you want. Just tell me. xD And sorry it's taken so long for me to reply here. xP

”Handyman?” He mumbled the word through small laugh. It sounded like she was about to make some hysterical, yet possibly slightly forced, comeback, when Jane popped in and made Isaac almost snort at her impression of him making out with his hand. ”Oh that was attractive. And maybe I did, but if I wanted practice, not that I need it of course, it wouldn’t be with the back of my hand.. or pillow.” He grinned smugly. Isaac was feeling a little egotistical today, but it was the first day back, and he was in such a cocky good mood. A hand, strangely connected to a long thin arm, patted his chest. Could it be? Sophia touched him?! He snickered internally. It was rare that she would touch him first, but he assumed he was more comfortable with that. See, there would be some problems if he tried to pat her chest.

After some small talk and the transfer student’s entrance, another body wandered into their growing little group. His eyes jumped to the movement before a small smile set on his lips. ”Well, hello Kay! Had a good summer, yeah?” he greeted her with a shortened version of her name, and he honestly couldn’t remember if she liked that nickname or nicknames at all, now that he thought about it, but it seemed appropriate at the time.

One moment, Jane was on the ground, the next, she was most certainly not. A very happy Will was gallivanting about with her over his shoulder. A very ‘Will’ thing to do, really. When the girl was stationary again, it seemed like it took only a few seconds for Will’s shirt to disappear. That attention hog. Of course Isaac didn’t get a greeting, but then again, judging by.. well, everything, but mainly the sweat smoke smell and the specific demeanor Will carried with him, he was quite high. Isaac really needed to try that stuff one day. He would have to remember to talk to Will about that soon. It couldn’t be worse for him than everything he already did to his body.

Everyone seemed to be heading for the water now. As long as the lemmings are all having fun together, he might as well be one too. Isaac tugged off his shirt unceremoniously, tossing it easily over to his small pile of personals. He was wearing jeans that fell a little on his narrow waist to reveal the top of his boxers, so his pants would probably be literally falling off after they were soaked with yummy lake water, but he would deal with that when it happened. He glanced at the rest of the groups still standing there, ”You all coming or what?” His eyes shifter to Sophia a moment with a smirk before he turned towards the lake. She hated when he took his shirt off. Or at least she said she did. It was hilarious how hard she tried to not really look at people, especially guys. It was all odd to him, but he took it for what it was with Soph. You had to just learn to accept her thoughts on things, because she wouldn’t be changing them for anyone.

Will was already into the water a little, so naturally, Isaac ran after him lazily pretty much tackling him into the water. They barely went under before their heads surfaced, it still being shallow enough to stand on the bottom. He laughed loosely moving one of his hands through his hair, fluffing it a bit more than he meant to in an attempt to keep it from lying completely flat on his head like a wet dog. ”Welcome back Will, you ridiculously attractive druggie,” He laughed again, giving him a little shove.

Running buck-wild across the lawn from Simon Isabelle began to strip, kicking her dockers off as she ran across the cool grass for speed and depositing them on her massive picnic blanket. She paused here only a moment, seeing the great start she had already on Simon, and threw her tunic down on the ground before slipping quickly out of her white shorts to reveal a tiny blue bikini that flattered her dancer's body nicely.

Grabbing Jane Johnson's arm Isabelle whooped loudly and carnally before pulling the Senior behind her in a flash of dark brown hair, dashing for the cool water, shouting an obnoxious "Hi Will!" over her shoulder and laughing hysterically as she headed for the lake. Poor Jane bounced along at her side, still fully clothed, as the younger maniac's impossibly long legs made her fly across the lawn and onto the sandy banks of the lake, leaving Jane on the edge and leaping forward like a crazy person, all legs and arms and skin in her tiny bikini.

The water felt cool and nice as Isabelle broke the surface, running full force through until she was in deep enough to tread. She ducked her head once, getting her long brown hair wet so that it stuck to the sides of her face and standing on her tiptoes to wave towards the shore.

"Come on then, you lazy bums! The water's fiiiiine!" The grin on her face split from ear to ear and she beckoned her friends to join her.

Saffron could hear the distant sound of splashing as she pulled up to the school and rested her head against the steering wheel off her old, old, car. She heaved a heavy sigh and breathed a big long breath of sweet Harriman air. Ah, the smell of creativity in the morning! Ah, the smell of spontaneity! Ew, the smell of... of... she sniffed around her car until she found the culprit- a half eaten box of chicken nuggets stuffed under her backseat. That's what she got for volunteering to ride her little future lawyer hellion cousins around.

With a grimace still on her face she stepped from her car, stretched, and began the walk to the lawn and lake. She could already make out the figures of Jane... Izz-hmph... and Will- mmmmmhm, shirtless. She smiled. Oh, and she saw Isaac and... Simon; but they were really of no concern to her. She didn't know the underclassmen guys very well.

"Will! Jane! All! Hee-wooo! Wait for me!" Setting into a run, she disposed of one layer of shirt to leave only a thin white tank-top in place. She watched Will and Isaac in the water, and tried to aim for jumping in beside the former. "Here I come!" She jumped, and pulled her legs in tight. "Wooo!" Hitting the water as a human cannonball, water sprayed everywhere and Saffron was completely submerged. She twirled underneath the subtle waves before coming up, laughing and spitting water from her mouth.

Content with her splash, she settled into treading, although her feet could have touched the bottom if she'd wanted them too. "It's so great to be back..."

The sun was atrocious today. Rifling through her purse as she walked from the student parking area, she left daddy's hired men to hustle her bags up to her room while she made her fashionably late way over to the picnic area by the lake.

Shoving aside the assorted mess of trash and treasure that sang and jingled in her bag, she found her sunglasses under a pack of cigarettes. A quick jiggle of the box proved the pack to be long empty. With a sigh, she tossed the empty box back in her purse. Alicia was many things, but a litterbug was not one of them.

It would have been nice to have a cigarette for the walk. The joint she had smoked an hour ago was wearing off, and without the nicotine buzz would soon be completely gone. 'Such is life,' she thought to herself with a smile.

Lost in her thoughts and hiding from the sun behind her rose colored glasses, Alicia found herself at the picnic area sooner than she had expected. She looked at the milling mass of those collected and smiled. It seemed like there was no supervision in evidence, which pleased her for completely innocent reasons. Reasonable and decent people don't need constant policing, and it did her heart good to see that at least for the moment Harriman and the faculty seemed to agree with her.

There was no way to pick out who was who in the fray. Some of the people were standing around, talking in closed circles. There was even a healthy number of folks in the actual lake itself- Alice wouldn't be caught dead in that water. Not because she was averse to unchlorinated water, but because there were already so many people in or about to be in it that it was turning into a sport of sorts. Besides, the glare off of the water was starting to give her a headache from here- how much worse would it be at eye level?

Alicia decided that the best course of action for the moment was to be easy to find. Choosing a likely enough spot, she sat on the grass of a gentle slope not too near nor far from the lake. Once her eyes adjusted, maybe she would make her way out and try to find a friend or two.

In the back of her mind, wheels and gears started turning. There was so much more potential here than a dip in the lake. It would come to her soon enough.

Soph smiled pleasantly, her customary greeting, to Silver. Those that knew her would see right through it. Sophia Vittorno was a lot of things, but she was not the traditional 'friendly'; she was cautious, judgmental, and more than a little difficult to break. If not for Isaac's encouragement during her disorder and Jay's persistence, there was a quite a chance that she would have been just as shy to them. As such, it was the best she could muster, and when Kay made an entrance, her smile only increased in warmth marginally. She knew Kaylor as Rea's sister; much different than the latter, thank God, but still something foreign. Something tugged at her stomach to see what Kay was about, but it also cautioned her. Her fairly blatant dislike of Rea meant that she was careful of getting palsy with her quad sister. Her mood was failing; she felt so insecure around the new face and the face of a girl she felt somewhat trapped around that it was like Sophie was shrinking, her already small frame slowly pulling away from everyone else. She had already taken a step back from the group in order to find her personal space again, blue eyes attempting to remain on Isaac as discomfort was more than likely clear on her face, before her attempts at socialization were immediately destroyed by her least favorite person in the entire world.

And that was saying something.

Ly Gates. And she called him Ly because, fittingly enough, she found him to be a lying, conniving, lazy, spoiled jerk of a human being. Her eyes narrowed rather fiercely but she breathed a sigh of relief as he darted off unceremoniously - no, rudely, with Jay and left the rest of them just standing there, wondering what had just happened. Unable to stand it, she huffed rather pointedly in his direction and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms decidedly as he spoke to Izz and Jane. "And the most intelligent of Felicity has arrived..." She glanced once at Isaac before moving her eyes back to him and immediately covering them with a squeak of indignance. Sophia, being the sort of girl that she was, was not at all interested in drinking in the flesh of her fellow dancer; even one supposedly so pretty as Ly. Removing her hand just to look at Isaac with an expression that clearly relayed her disgust at the boy's appearance, she found very suddenly that it was right back in place, her cheeks flushing heavily, one eye peeking from between her fingers. "Of course..." This was muttered beneath her breath, and it wasn't until she heard the splash indicating that the boys were safely under water that she removed her hand finally from her narrowed blue gaze. She watched as others followed and was suddenly very aware of the swimsuit beneath her clothes. Sophia was no stranger to skin, as a dancer; how she had managed to not see Will half-dressed was a mystery, but professionally, in the studio, during a routine, a recital, was far different to her than in her free time.

That was why, until this year, she had kept herself tastefully covered with a one-piece suit. Her mother, however, had encouraged her to purchase what she was now wearing, and after a few moments of consideration, her cheeks flushing even more, she was beginning to wonder how stupid she had been. Sophia loved to swim; she wanted to jump in with the rest of them now that the boys were safely unexposed besides their shoulders. It was just going to take a moment before she found the courage to remove her clothing in such a clearly public setting. Silently wishing that her mother hadn't been so persistent, she smiled farewell to Kaylor and Silver, walking slowly over the lake, where everyone was not floating, splashing, and treading haphazardly off shore. Her eyebrows wrinkled in thought. She would be under water, really; it was no big deal. Why did it matter now when she didn't care at all how much she was wearing while dancing? Soph huffed. She felt so much more naked without music to move her. Slowly and bedrugdingly, she unbuttoned her shorts, trying very hard not to draw attention to herself, shooting Will a very mean look when he whistled obnoxiously, and wriggled her hips to slide them off, following that with a quick sweep of a shirt over her head. Goosebumps rose on her skin in bashfulness and she tried to ignore them as she slowly made her way to the water, walking in until it washed above her belly button. A smile broke across her face and she swam over to Jay, sinking beneath the water and wetting her long blonde hair before rising back to the surface. "It's warm, huh?" She laughed slightly, happily, and swept the wet strands of gold from her face, fiercely ignoring Will and giving Isaac the smallest of smiles; she was still frustrated that he'd stripped in front of her like that.

Uttering his usual 'har har, Jane!' at her play on his name, he wasted no time in moving a foot or so into the water, his shins halfway submerged, the mud on the bottom seeping between his toes which squeezed and squished happily. He stretched his arms out and let out a cry like that of a monkey, or maybe a roar like a lion, some sort of animalistic sound, and closed his eyes, tossing his head at the sky. And he would have kept yelling like that, if not for the wall of man that hit him seconds into his proclamation.

The moment Isaac hit him Will began sputtering expletives through laughter that resulted in a mouth full of water upon landing in the lake. He came to the surface sputtering madly, coughing, eyes even more red than they already had been, and grinned ridiculously, splashing his buddy with a heavy dose of water, still cursing. "Bitch!" Making a face at Jay as she joined, sticking his tongue out and waving his hands like a five-year-old would, he promptly turned his attention to Isabelle, and, picking up her lithe little form, one he was familiar with after hundreds of lifts in the studio, he tossed her like a matchstick several feet up an over into the water, near her brother, bobbing nearby. After the wave passed, he cocked his head and rolled over on his back, spitting water up into the air like a fountain and trying to stare directly into the sunlight. After a couple seconds, he sneezed and rolled in the water, coming up and shaking wet from his hair like a dog, spraying everyone with a small radius around him. He touched his feet just as he heard the sound of Saff's little voice and squeezed his eyes shut as the splash inundated him. The laugh that followed was great and deep, one of Will's finest. He felt like a fish in this lake, he was so familiar with it.

As Saffron rose to the surface, he reached out and mussed her hair up even further, grinning brightly. "'Lo, Saffffiiiiieeeee." He wasn't drawing out her name for effect; it just came out that slow, being as tricked out as he was. His smile fell into the comfortable crooked one he always wore as he admired her; she was like a little work of art. Will liked her nose; it was close enough to him that he could admire it, and his eyes narrowed slowly and he chuckled at himself. "I think I've told you this before, buuuuuut Ilikeyournose." The speed of the sentence varied from beginning to end and as he finished, he sank beneath the water and came back up, coughing and pounding his chest with his fist, turning around to laugh at Jane between heaves. "I'm not dead, really!"

As he swam around in a circle and took everyone in, he made sure to check his pants and their location on his hips - yep, still up! - before stopping at the sight of Miss Virgin Mary losing her pants for him. Yep, it was for him. Not for anyone else, for him. Letting out a whoop and a couple of catcalls, he pumped his fist and only waggled his brows at her weak meanie face, laughing at his own joke, and glancing back at Isaac as if curious as to what he was thinking. They were stuck like glue, the two of them. It was like Will and Jane except a lot more tense and a lot less cute, seeing as Sophia Vittorno and her chastity belt had sharp teeth, like a shark. Or an alligator. Or...something else with sharp teeth. A lion! He nodded at his reasoning and whistled once more for good measure, ignoring her as she entered the water and swam by him. It was a damn good thing she didn't want to pay attention to him, because one she was finished with her little show, he didn't want to talk to her, either. He reeeaaalllyyy wanted a cigarette.

"Shit!"

Cursing, he pulled the wet pack from the pocket of his trunks and made a very sad, yet angry, face at it, winging it at the shoreline. Glancing over at Isaac, he frowned. "Got yours? I'ma wantin' one of those when I get my ass outta this water. Later." Unable to keep his attention grounded, he stayed near the boy but reached out and tugged on Izz's hair rather hard and smiling. "How was your flight?"

Bobbing up and down, Saffron scrunched up her face at Will as he messed with her hair. She shook her head, and stuck out her tongue at him. They were kind of alike in the way they acted, she realized; both of them tried to have pretty much as much fun as possible and acted a little juvenile along the way at times. But meh, she couldn't care less, she liked it.

Her amused grimace switched quickly to a full blown smile at Will as she wiped her eyes, opened them and caught him admiring her face- probably her nose, considering never a month had gone by without him reminding her about how much he liked her nose. She liked that he liked her nose- she just kind of hoped he liked more. And there he went again, complimenting her nose; it made little butterflies rise up into her stomach, but it didn't show on her face. She laughed,

"What a coink-ee-dink; I like my nose too!" But he probably hadn't heard, sinking so fast down below the water's surface. She smirked as he came up, no longer facing her. Now... what should she do now... Izz was in the water, and she really didn't mind, but knowing Izz, the whole attention of the group would soon be on her, and Saffie wasn't really that interested in the girl- plus she wanted to find Gerard... wherever he was.

For the time being she grabbed Will's shoulder and hopped on his back, her hands moving then on top of his head and pushing him back under the water- pretending to drown him, but of course, letting him back up.

"You better stay in- I just got here! And ya know- smoking is really not good for you anyway-" she told him, and was tempted to add 'I'm much better for your health', but it just didn't feel right. So she nixed it. She honestly didn't care that he smoked. Most of her friends back in the NJ smoked; she was around it all summer- she'd probably die of second-hand smoke- the most pathetic way to go in her opinion- at least for her. If she was going to get a disease from smoking, should she at least have smoked? Ah well, no time to think about that, she was busy fake drowning Will.

Feeling a lot warmer and quite self-satisfied, Gerard opened his eyes. He seemed to have fallen asleep on the grass, music blaring away in his ears and eyes feeling bleary. Blinking a little and rubbing them (never mind pollen on his hands), he focused on the lake, which was now full of people. He noticed each individual as he scrunched his eyes up once more, clearing them of a haze, and his phone vibrated once, just to let him know he'd had a message while he'd slept.

1 missed call
1 new voicemail
Saffie! at 11:28 AM today

Gerard smiled slightly at the name displayed, and called voicemail, listening to the message with a smile and a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks. "Hell, I'm not that hilarious..." he muttered to himself more than anything, as he finished the call, beginning to strip off, shivering when the lukewarm air hit his bare arms- he was far too used to the heat of the desert by now. However, he carried on stripping until he was left in only his jeans. By no means did he have the worst body- Las Vegas had influenced him to make sure that never happened. He liked to work out, have muscles and look good. anyway, an odd artistic type like himself had to be able to beat up whoever came his way if he wandered onto the strip after dark.

"Hey guys!" Gerard called as he ambled down the uneven slope of the grass, giving a large smile to Saffie and Kaylor. "Having fun?"

That water looked far too cold for it to be normal, and Gerard was no wuss, but after living in Las Vegas for three months, he had absolutely no intentions of jumping straight into somewhere cold when the water wouldn't be evaporated away almost straight after going in.

Saffron was having fun enough for about twenty more people when she looked up and saw Gerard standing by the lake. She smiled at him, and squealed, jumping off of Will's back and wading through the water to the shore. The grass felt wet and squishy underneath her hands, but she didn't care; she was always one of those kids who'd splashed in puddles and made mud-cakes, getting a little dirty didn't bother her at all. She didn't even really think about it, in fact.

"Gee-Rawrrr!" She laughed, enveloping him in a big bear-like hug. Then she realized, hey, not everyone likes being all wet like she was, and there she was wetting up Gerard. She pulled back, "Sorry, didn't mean to get you all wet..." but her smile lingered. "How was your summer?"

It was a sincere question, but at the same time, she was going over her own response in case the same question got flipped back to her. If that were the case, then she figured she'd say something along the lines of 'oh, y'know, family drives me absolutely crazy, too many cousins to even count anymore and I couldn't see my friends half the time because whenever we got together we'd have so much fun I'd end up grounded!' Then she remembered, she had pictures! Oooh, she really hoped someone asked her about her summer so could sprint over to her car and get her camera out. Fred, as she had named him.

Kaylor stood quietly while Jay introduced everyone to Silver. A new girl, then. Part of her empathized with the poor teen. To be new could be very inconvenient. Kaylor had firsthand experience from the past year. It had been a very interesting year, to say the least. What Kaylor had not entirely expected, although she should have, was Jane's enthusiastic greeting. Though the hug took her by surprise, Kaylor reciprocated correctly, somewhat amused by this gesture. Released once more, she stayed quiet as things went insane.

One moment Jane was standing next to her and the next the older girl was gone. Flung over a handsome young man's shoulder and carried off. Kaylor couldn't help but giggle at the sight. At that exact second, or at least it felt like it, Isaac turned to her. Turning back to him, she grinned. "Yes, a very good summer." It made her feel better hearing her nickname fall off of his lips. She was among friends, after all, none of them needed to call her 'Kaylor' all the time.

She was going to ask him how his summer had gone, but decided against it when she glanced at Sophia. Instead, as Isaac stripped and then took off for the water, Kaylor fell into an uncomfortable silence. Lowering her lashes, she studied the grass intently, as though she'd never seen it before. The older girl was slightly intimidating, even if Sophia didn't mean to be, perhaps it was that Kaylor had a vague idea of the tension between Sophia and Rea. No matter what it was, she just didn't feel like herself around the junior.

The half-naked males messing around in the water didn't bother Kaylor at all. After all, she had a pair of brothers herself, she had seen more than her fair share of half-naked boys in her lifetime. The fact that it seemed to embarrass Sophia only made them that much more different. A smile was flashed her way and then the blond left, also making for the water.

Saffron's arrival made Kaylor turn. She watched everyone interact for a moment before retreating to her quilt. Opening her sketch pad to a fresh page, she began sketching the scene that had been laid out before her. Curving over the pad, she focused on what she was drawing. Some might've thought she was being shy when she avoided joining the group in the water, but she really wasn't sure if she should join them or not. She didn't want to make Sophia feel uncomfortable again and they were already having more than enough fun without her.

A voice interrupted her focus, and Kaylor looked up. Ah, Gerard had gotten up. Then Saffron was upon him with her almighty wet hug. "Might as well get in the water now, Gee!"