BY THE WAY

‘ WHAT CAN I SAY ?? IF PINEDALE HAD A KING OF LETDOWNS, it would have to be me. i like to consider myself the most grand of pessimists around here. ’ dylan’s face turned a slight rosy shade at her comment and he rolled his eyes with a half-grin on his face. ‘ damn, mendez, you’re really makin’ me feel guilty, aren’t you ?? tell you what. i’ll dance with you now, and maybe we can “hang out” some time tomorrow. i got the graveyard shift tonight after this is over and i gotta sleep afterwards, but maybe later on...rain check ?? ’

DYLAN SMIRKED SLIGHTLY AS HE STOPPED WALKING, turning himself so he was face-to-face with the other boy. ‘ foss gettin’ some backbone on him. who knew that the day would come ?? ’ he cracked his knuckles and sighed, wondering to himself why the fuck the three of them had been accusing him of such off-the-wall bullshit. ‘ no, matt, i’m not playing dumb. why the fuck have all three of you been comin’ at me as if i actually gave enough of a shit about you to do something like that ?? and tell me what the logic of stabbing you would be in my point of view, really. i’m very curious. ’

With one thing she shouldn’t have done already under her belt tonight, Annie had gone back into the main ballroom following her intermission with Jagger feeling somehow both miserable, elated, and very much relaxed. So relaxed, in fact, that where she would normally have scoffed at the idea of eating anything off the dessert table, she felt herself completely entitled to a cookie with as much frosting on it as she could find. She’d hardly even begun to look at the selection, however, when a voice made her freeze all the way down to her bones–Dylan. His voice was muffled with cheesecake, but she heard him just fine. “Excuse me?” she nearly scoffed, mouth parting in shocked indignation. Even so, her cheeks reddened further, and the cookie was lost from her mind. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

IF DYLAN HAD SAID TO HIMSELF THAT HE WASN’T PURPOSEFULLY trying to offend annie in some way, shape, or form he would be lying, and the reaction that he got from her was satisfying enough that he had to give a small chuckle. though this resulted in several crumbs of cheesecake falling out of his mouth and onto the floor, he made sure to cover his mouth somewhat in order not to disgust her too much. ‘ you heard me, dawson. you been fuckin’ someone ?? i can tell just by your hair. you make it sound as if we weren’t doing the same thing a couple months ago. remember those bruises i left back in fergo’s bathroom ?? good times, jolly ol’ pal. ’ dylan smiled slightly as he reached for a chocolate chip cookie and shrugged. ‘ lila asked me. i didn’t really wanna go, but her mom paid for everything, so i figured why not. i hate everyone here, but at least the food’s good, right ?? ’

DYLAN FELT A LITTLE BIT BAD FOR HIS RESPONSE ABOUT carson, knowing that carson had actually been trying to establish a relationship with his cousin, and dylan trying to block that only for the fact that him and savannah were unnecessarily bitter. ‘ okay, are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on here because both alvera and brayden literally just accused me of what you’re getting at, like, not even a day ago and i’m fuckin’ confused. can you please explain or...?? ’

“I’ve never been a big one for formal events, but this doesn’t look too bad. Maybe we’ll actually have some fun.”

‘ DOUBT IT. I RUINED THE FRUIT PUNCH AND I ALSO ATE almost all of the cheesecake at the dessert table and i’m feelin’ kinda woozy. plus, everyone’s being all overdramatic saying this is like a “fairy tale,” even though this is literally just a plain banquet hall with fancy decorations. ’

DYLAN WAS JUST FINISHING UP CUTTING HIMSELF HIS umpteenth piece of cheesecake from the dessert table when he heard an unfamiliar voice from behind him asking him a question. ‘ oh, you must have me confused with someone else, ’ dylan started when he realized that it was annie’s weird boyfriend, eric, trying to maneuver himself away from both the table and the conversation.

“Is it just me or does this punch taste like piss?” Hailey scrunches her nose up, handing the cup to the other for a sip. “I should’ve just jumped on the bandwagon and brought my flask.”

‘ YEAH, THAT’S PROBABLY MY FAULT. I TRIED TO SPIKE IT earlier and the punch/alkie ratio between the vodka and whatever punch brand this is didn’t really mix together very well. guilty as charged, but at least it’s pissing people off and that’s what i do best, so... ’

“This may be the weed talking or the fact I’ve got at least three people willing to sneak off with me tonight but i’m actually enjoying myself.” Bo beamed, stopping her motions to turn to the person beside her. “Come on, dance with me or we can do whatever you want?”

‘ I WOULD TELL YOU TO MAKE THAT FOUR BUT I ALREADY promised lila that i’d fuck her for an hour or two before i go to work tonight, so, alas, i’m booked for the night, ’ dylan stated with a smirk as bo did a small dance move. ‘ i would, but i fucking hate dances and the only reason i’m here is because i was forced and i didn’t have to pay anything, but it’s nice to see that you’re having a good time. ’

“Well, I’m here trying to solve question 12 while at this very second, Kylie is probably crashing yet another one of her Ferraris. Maybe I am a little unsatisfied,” Rhy joked, though the interlocked ‘C’s on the logo of her bag may have suggested otherwise. 

‘ KYLIE CRASHED A FERRARI ?? I THOUGHT THAT WAS BIEBER that was into the illegal racing and shit, ’ dylan joked lightly as he attempted to peek at a couple of the answers on her worksheet. ‘ maybe you are, maybe you’re not. maybe i’m just speaking of my own experiences, who the fuck knows. however, your expression doesn’t really seem to...display that. ’