wildflower

if you are reading this, let this be a lesson in girlhood: the undying terror. may this be an ode to fated girls, terminally doomed girls, girls drenched in glitter & in love with their reflections. that is what this togetherness means to isla, being a girl again. just for the night, since no one besides her mother got to witness this development in real time. the lengthening of limbs, suddenly too tall for cotton dresses & bare feet in the mud. in this bathroom, flogged with ruminations of marijuana & febreeze, isla is suddenly too young for her body. too much of a girl to be a woman. yet, a woman still. she doesn't tell kody no when she offers the inscription, but there's no blatant concurring either. she turns on her side, lets the jut of her bare hip rest against the lip of the sink counter, " the problem is i'm not casual about anything. " and it's not that this revelation had been some grand secret that could not be unveiled upon the world—it was something isla wanted to keep from herself. come the end of the night, she had already determined that there should be no evidence that she had ever been as unfettered as she was in this moment. that perhaps in punishment, she would never be allowed from her mindcage again. " —people, especially. "

"That - is true." Kody had seen it firsthand in the brief moments they'd interacted. There was nothing casual about Isla and it was one of the reasons she liked her so much because Kody wasn't either. Passion was important. Why be casual when you could be consumed?? "Well, what would you like it to mean?" She asked, genuinely curious, her tone soft and unjudgmental. "The kiss could mean something, or it could mean nothing, it's really all up to you. Do you want me to find them?? We could have a whole conversation about it and figure out what it all means!"

something rippled across his face , disrupting the amiable cordiality he had worn most of that evening . whatever it was , though , disappeared as quickly as it came , melting into sun-kissed skin . out of sight , out of mind . yet , his mind continued to spin . it was hard not to take the introduction as an insult .

Her eyebrows lifted at his words, wondering just how much he'd heard about her. As far as Kody knew, most people hardly paid much attention to her at all unless they were somehow involved with the art school or the party scene...and she'd hardly interacted with Luke for more than ten minutes total before. "I'm surprised you care about my opinion," Kody admitted, having heard plenty of things about Luke herself. It went both ways. "But yeah, it's a good time. I didn't realize you were the one who planned the whole thing. Party planning doesn't seem like your thing."

" i think most of my stickers have abandoned ship , too , " thomas observed , a glance down to ink-stained skin where the remainder of now-saturated emblems of colorful display clung onto peach fuzz with what remained of the tack glue on their undersides . he was kind of disappointed to see them gone ; the scrapbook she had made of his skin disintegrating and floating away . " we can replace 'em once we're out . the glitter , the stickers , " he trailed , brushing his thumb along her lower lip , gently tapping each tooth on its other side with the curve of his nail .

Kody shouldn't have cared about the stickers, and she didn't really, but still she wished she'd brought more with her to replace them later. "Maybe..." she giggled as his lips moved across her jaw. "But also, maybe I forgot while I was trying to win." Which was very likely, actually. Her mind had been so hyper focused on winning and not being caught that she entirely forgot about having to respond to him. She kissed him back hungrily, legs lifting easily in the water to wrap around his waist, almost forgetting that it was far too cold outside to be in the pool considering how hot her body was running right now. "You're so dramatic." She whispered against his lips, teeth nipping at his bottom lip before kissing him again. At the end of the day, she didn't really care about being at this party and she might not have even come herself if Thomas hadn't been here, but if this was how they were going to be able to spend time together, Kody was more than willing to crawl out of her studio for this. Her hands roamed over his skin, fingernail dragging over small patches of glitter that hadn't yet been washed away.

"Of course! I would never lie to you." Except when she lied, in which case she was lying, but other than that?? Never! Her grip tightened around his hand as she grinned up at him. "And you shouldn't be cheap! You have the good stuff and if Lucas, Luke - whatever it is - wants to get the right stuff, he has to come to you and that means he has to pay for it." Kody knew she was rambling at this point but she meant every word. Every single one. "It's so good that I feel like I need to be outside on the roof watching the stars or something."

CLOSED , @kcdysb .

Somehow, Kody had lost track of Thomas which was unusual for the two of them. They didn't see each other all the time but when they did, the pair were practically attached at the hip...or other spots on their bodies. But right now, she'd found herself on the makeshift dancefloor, surrounded by sweaty bodies who were all moving to the beat of whatever mix was playing. It didn't entirely matter what it was, only that they could dance to it. And dance she did. Sweat was rolling down her skin as she writhed between other people, eyes closed as her high made her feel each and every note in the core of her being. It was glorious. It was beautiful. It was cut off by a hand pressed against the wall and a body blocking her path. Kody was jolted out of her meditative state, eyes blurrily landing on the figure; recognition taking a while to catch up with the rest of her senses. "That's me! My friends call me Kody." She looked him over, unsure why someone like Luke would be striking up a conversation with her. "But you can call me Dakota. Is there something you need? Are you looking for Thomas?"

𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 : closed for @kcdysb​ 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 : alpha delta phi fraternity lounge room

It was no surprise that Kody had gotten distracted. A new drink was in hand and a painting full of eyes, whimsey and all the right colors was the perfect combination to stop her in her tracks. Hearing a voice, and the name of the artist, she turned with a grin on her face. "Right! How did you know that? Are you studying art?" No matter what the medium was, Kody was obsessed with artists, they were her people and could understand the way her mind worked and her dedication far more than anyone else. "Well, I do see some faces in it, do you want me to show you?"

WHEREABOUTS SECURED: A REMNANTLY HOTBOXED BATHROOM.   JUST GIRLS BEING GIRLS, OR A SECRET THIRD THING. @kcdysb

The bathroom was their sanctuary, there was no other way to describe it. The two had come to the party together, separated for some amount of time Kody had lost track of ( could have been thirty minutes, could have been three hours ), and now that they'd found each other again, she wasn't ready to give it up. "You kissed someone??" She practically shouted, giddy with excitement as she shuffled over to Isla, catching her own reflection in the mirror and wondering who that gorgeous, glittery creature was. "You know, kisses can be casual, they don't have to mean anything if you don't want them to...but why would liking the kiss be worse? It's a good thing." And then inspiration struck. "Oh! Wait, I have eyeliner. Gimme your arm. I'm gonna write 'Isla kissed a girl and liked it' on your arm and then you'll remember in the morning. Or!! I could write it on my arm, unless you don't want people to see it, in which case, I could write it - "she paused, looking around her mostly bare body before pointing to her inner thigh. "No one would see it there, except Thomas but he's not going to tell anyone if you don't want him to. I'll swear him to secrecy."

" nooo , " he crooned correctively . " - you only almost had me because you were cheating , " thomas playfully reminded her . the man then bowed his head to scrape his teeth along the crux of her jaw and nip at her water-stained skin , his laugh a low rumble against her pulse point . pool chemicals and the remnants of her perfume stung his tongue , but he tightened his hold on her and grinned against the side of her throat anyways. adrenaline was pulsing through him like a stampede of war-drawn horses , clattering along his bones and making them vibrate as he continued to track ghosts of affection along the side of her neck . the water lapped at their now still bodies , save for kody's torso as it twisted to point out the glitter .

"Oh my god...you're right! All our glitter is gone." Not all of it, absolutely not considering how much she'd doused them in, but enough to leave a thin layer over the chlorinated water which would be a problem for the water filter later. "What are you talking about?? We can both be pretty." In her mind, everything was pretty if you looked at it from the right angle. Beauty was all around them and that most certainly included Thomas. And, not to be shallow or anything, but if she hadn't found him at least a modicum of attractive...she had her doubts about whether or not they would be together. She was an aesthete, sue her!

𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 — kody suzuki-braun 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — the pool

LOCATION: somewhere outside FOR: @kcdysb

"Want - yes! One thousand percent!" In Kody's mind, there was nothing better than this party blower. Nothing in the world. Of course, that thought was carried along but the copious number of shots and mushrooms she'd had but still, it felt completely true. Grabbing the blower he held out; Kody was moments from blowing it when he shouted spring break, and it was like a code word for her to start dancing. "Let's goooooo."

𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 — 𝘬𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘪-𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘯 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭

There was no one out there concentrating as hard as Kody was concentrating right now. It was life or death! She silently moved through the water, getting distracted with how it felt against her skin, how the light reflected off of the surface - was that glitter? There was definitely glitter in the pool and she was so focused on that and how funny it was that she laughed, she couldn't help it! And that giggle was her undoing. "Noooo..." she barely had time to protest before Thomas was on her, arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her close, her giggle turning into an uproarious laugh now that she'd been found out. "I almost had you!" Kody grinned, her own arms moving to wrap around his neck, the waves around them slowly returning to stasis after they'd caused such a commotion.

THOMAS'S HANDS WORKED THROUGH HIS MANGLE OF CURLS ; tangled , clotted , and thick — pawing at them with a lack of regard for the gash on his scalp , ignoring the sting as he worked mountain water through it . he had almost forgotten kody was there , lids having closed , submitting to the will of the water's bite as it chewed taught muscles and licked at torn flesh . it was euphoric , numbing in all the right ways , the sting of the frigid air enough to make any thoughts of events prior fizzle away .

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎The world around Kody didn't quite exist at the moment, fantasies and universes playing out in her mind that weren't actually happening. In one, Thomas accepted her help and she moved to crouch behind him, guiding his head back into the water. It felt right, helping him get the blood out of his hair because she knew she could never get the blood off of her hands ( even if she wasn't the one to put it there ). Letting the cold water wash over them both, like they were at a hair salon, nothing wrong here, ignore the red washing down the drain. And as she tilted his head further under water, she didn't stop. Down and down and down he went, held under those rapids but a strength no one ever expected from Kody. No one ever expected anything from Kody ever. In her minds eye, she held him there until he grew blue in the face and only then did she let him up for the air he so desperately needed and then she would ask. Why? It would be so easy to do it, too. He deserved it, didn't he. All because he couldn't even face her after what he did and she needed to know why. Why couldn't he say sorry? Why didn't he feel badly for what he'd done to her? Why -