i have high standards.

📌 let’s put a pin in this for right now, alright?

alexandria dawn weston. twenty-one. she/they. communications major. heiress & trust fund baby. 

      a  perfect  song  for  a  perfect  drive  …  but  sunday  was  careful.  wouldn’t  want  to  get  lexi  involved  in  a  fast  and  furious  situation.  “  your  aux  privileges  are  safe  …  ”  she  began,  a  quick  glance  over  to  shoot  her  a  mischievous  grin,  “  for  now.  ”  a  hand  slapped  the  steering  wheel  at  their  following  words,  “  dude,  strawberry  milkshakes  are  superior.  every  time  i  try  to  order  one  around  somebody  else  they  usually  end  up  roastin’  the  shit  out  of  me.  ”  a  beat.  “  y’know  when  i  was  younger,  my  dad  used  to  get  neapolitan  ice  cream  and  i  used  to  sneak  the  strawberry  out  of  it.  ”  the  confession  paired  nicely  with  the  grin  smack  across  her  face.  “  but  if  i  had  to  choose  a  favorite  ice  cream,  gotta  go  with  ben  and  jerry’s  phish  food.  what  about  you  ?  ”  she  flicked  her  hand  to  trigger  the  blinker,  brows  furrowing,  “  sonic  would  be  an  absolute  goldmine  if  they  worked  around  the  clock  …  i’d  be  there  every  single  day  post  sesh  if  that  were  the  case.  next  trip,  we’ll  get  a  head  start  and  make  a  pitstop  there.  sound  like  a  plan  ?  ”

“HI.   okay   so   this   is… awkward   and   out   of   the   blue…but   i’m   playing   truth   or   dare   with   some   friends   and   they   kind   of… D A R E D  me   to   kiss   you.”   cheeks   were   quick   to   heat   up,   blush   preying   onto   fair   skin   as   she   tucked   blonde   locks   behind   her   ear,   “no   pressure   though,   you   can   totally   say   no.   just   thought   i’d   see.”

“oh HEY,” she joked, a smile already plastered across her face as she turns to face sophie, her hand coming up in a mirrored movement to tuck some stray curls behind her ear. “oh, say less. did they give you any specific requirements other than you kissing me?” lexi hadn’t played truth or dare in months, she was almost a little jealous. “if not, consider this permission to just kiss me.”

If there was one thing Matthew’s mother made sure he knew, it was horse riding. Playing violin and piano as well, sure, but he wasn’t any good at that, so she invested mainly on his horse riding skills. As it was, Lexi also had her fair share of experience with it, alongside other rich people habits. 

In the end, unexpectedly, they ended up bonding over this: being privileged. 

“Are you into horse racing as well? I hear Americans are big on that. I wanted to go pro with horse racing, but I don’t think I was good enough. There are tons of requirements you have to meet, not to mention the danger. Mother was fond of he idea, but when I broke my leg, I think she thought twice about it.”

​

Lexi appreciated those of her friends that understood the kind of life that she was raised in — the interests forced upon her, the drama caused by money and the bad habits that clung to her like secondhand smoke. Matthew was one of those people, so it was hardly surprising that the two of them got along well enough to be hanging out on the weekend. “I am, we always had horses growing up. I did the show circuit back east in high school, but college and soccer always have me busy enough that I don’t do it much.” 

She takes a sip of her drink, before suggesting, “We should ride together sometime, I have a horse stabled nearby. She’s an absolute beauty, a bit stubborn but,” she shrugged, “What horse isn’t?”

                before  makaela  knew  it,  they  were  starting  to  drive  away  from  the  school  with  the  sounds  of  monica  and  brandy’s  ‘the  boy  is  mine’  playing  on  the  radio,  courtesy  of  her  decision  to  do  90′s-2000′s  throwbacks.  the  last  song  that  was  playing  before  they  arrived  was  ‘  return  of  the  mack  ’  by  mark  morrison.  she  paused  the  song,  putting  her  phone  in  her  pocket  as  she  unbuckled  her  seatbelt.               “  oh,  that’s  open?  ”  she  asked,  opening  the  car  door.  “  the  last  i  heard,  someone  stole  some  important  things,  so  it  was  shut  down.  ”  she  exclaimed,  starting  to  step  out  of  the  car.  it  wasn’t  a  long  walk  —  thank  goodness.  “  if  it’s  open,  they  must’ve  caught  the  person  who  did  it.  ”  

             “oh i hadn’t heard about that,” she frowned, “but they were posting on instagram about a sale today, so i guess they must have found them.” she picks up her purse and closes the car door, keys in hand. “unless, i suppose, it was a scheduled post they forgot to cancel.” and wouldn’t that be unfortunate. 

            “hopefully they caught them, though. the owner is an absolute sweetheart, she must have been so stressed about the whole situation.” she looks around as if expecting to spot someone running away dressed like a cartoon robber. “and their designs for fall are gorgeous, they have this pair of jeans with swarovski crystals in the shape of leaves and vines. hello fall festival look.”

      “  a  two  ?  that’s  being  generous,  lex.  ”  as  soon  as  they  both  approached  the  car,  sunday  reached  for  the  passenger  side  door  handle  and  jiggled  it  open.  she  waited  until  lexi  was  settled  in  the  seat  to  shut  her  door  and  make  her  way  around  the  driver’s  side.  “  all  men  are  one  at  most.  ”  her  spiel  continued  as  soon  as  she  plopped  down  behind  the  wheel.  funnily  enough,  her  car  was  a  lot  cleaner  than  expected  …  not  a  single  stray  wrapper  in  sight.  it  was  almost  like  she  knew  she’d  have  a  guest.  at  least,  one  worth  cleaning  for.  anyone  else  ?  she’d  tell  them  to  toss  the  empty  energy  drink  cans  in  the  backseat  and  sit  on  the  pile  of  clothes  typically  taking  shotgun.  “  what’d  you  do  ?  throw  a  drink  in  his  face  ?  i  would’ve.  ”  the  hum  of  the  engine  concluded  the  thought  as  she  reached  for  her  aux  cord.  “  alright,  weston,  let’s  see  if  you  can  properly  fulfill  your  duty.  ”  sunday  knew  she  would.  after  all,  who  else  had  perfectly  crafted  playlists  for  every  occasion  ?  “  you  get  one  shot  or  else  i’m  playin’  crazy  frog.  ”  she  teased  as  she  pulled  out  of  the  lot  and  onto  the  vacant  road.  there’d  been  no  particular  destination  in  mind,  but  knowing  them   they’d  stumble  upon  something  in  their  travels;  but  first  …  “  y’need  some  fuel  ?    because  i  could  go  for  some  french  fries.  ”

                “  let  me  know  when  you  set  it  up!  ”  makaela  smiled,  continuing  to  walk.  this  wasn’t  the  first  time  she  was  asked  about  matching  costumes  and  it  certainly  won’t  be  the  last.  how  does  one  come  up  with  so  many  costume  ideas  and  have  some  still  left  over  when  halloween  comes  and  goes?  the  world  may  never  know,  but  she  could  tell,  just  by  the  other’s  excitement,  that  halloween  was  her  favorite.  opening  the  passenger  door,  makaela  climbed  inside  and  put  her  bag  down  on  the  floor,  closing  the  door  behind  her.  she  buckled  her  seatbelt,  grabbing  her  phone  from  her  pocket  and  plugging  in  the  aux  cord  into  both  the  car  and  her  phone.  “  how  about  some  90′s-2000′s  throwbacks?  ”  she  suggesting,  pressing  play  on  her  playlist,  moving  around  a  little  bit  to  the  song  that  was  on.

she nods, making a mental note to link makaela in later that night — setting up a board will be easy and she’s already got tons of ideas so consider it done. once they’re both settled, she revs the engine and grins, “90s-2000s throwbacks? sounds perfect darling,” and with the purr of the engine and an absolute banger on the speakers, she tears out of the school’s parking lot with a practised efficiency. 

and then they’re driving down the city streets, until they reach the mall — having quickly stopped by the apple store. lexi finds a good parking spot and thanks her lucky stars that they won’t have far to walk. “you ready for this? personally, i think we should start with that cute little boutique — the one where everything is hand-sewn?” 

[ * ! OPEN ]  -  @cybulletin​.

         “everyone is so wrong about cats, y’know? they’re my favorite little creatures!” she’s done with soccer practice for the day, slinging her duffle bag over her shoulder, easy grin ‘pon her lips. “i bet you didn’t know that a pope’s hatred for women and cats are literally the reason the black plague happened.” amongst other reasons, but … autumn liked sharing what people would be interested in - in what interested her. made school work a little easier. 

𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 by lexi’s annoyance with the general student body, or at least those of it she’d encountered during the rest of her time out there in the quad today. “comes with the job territory, no? madame president has all the answers, all the advice to give…” he teased her, “and all the time in the world.” now that made it really clear he was joking, he didn’t know a single other person who had a more tightly packed, crazy busy schedule than lexi had. “as a matter of fact, yes. this little group of emo looking kids come up to me earlier- i think they must’ve been freshmen.” he tried to give her some context, “anyway, they say they heard about the ghost hunting club and want to know when our first meeting of the semester is, and i told them, i’d talk to you, and text their tall leader to let them know.” ricky might’ve been the founder of the ghost hunting club, but given that lexi was the first one to join the club of her own free will and not because he’d made them (like he’d forced burke), he’d always thought of her as a kind of co-leader of it. he’d just never given her the ‘official’ title, so as to not overwhelm her by putting yet another responsibility of being some sort of authority on her plate. “so i guess you and me’ll figure it out, huh? i know you have way more going on, so it’s whenever works for you, really.” 

                “  i  have  no  clue.  ”  makaela  didn’t.  she  assumed  that  it  was  a  little  bit  early  to  start  thinking  about  halloween  stuff,  but  ironically,  once  it  got  closer  to  the  actual  holiday,  you’ll  slowly  start  to  see  some  of  the  halloween  and  fall  stuff  being  replaced  with  christmas  items.  her  halloween  costume  ideas  were  either  a  devil,  velma  (from  scooby-doo),  maybe  some  iconic  look  from  the  90′s-00′s  (including  dionne  from  clueless)…  she  was  torn  as  to  what  she  wanted  to  be.    “  i’m  open  to  suggestions,  but  preferably  until  the  end  of  september,  so  i  actually  have  a  chance  to  execute  it  right.  ”  she  nodded  her  head,  a  smile  on  her  face  forming  shortly  afterward.  “  when  you  do  have  your  party,  let  me  know,  too!  ”

“really? well, i am going to be sending you so many ideas,” she said, already thinking of all the possibilities — the characters that fit makaela’s personality, the one’s that she’d look cute as, the possible duo costumes with different people, endless ideas already bouncing around in her head. halloween was lexi’s favourite time of year, the only one that had always been more about unbridled fun than pageantry growing up. “and of course, we have to do at least one matching costume for the two of us. oh, i’ll make a pinterest board so we can choose.” she unlocked her car doors, throwing her bag into the back before sliding into the driver’s seat and locating the aux cord. “the passenger controls the music.” she said, offering it to makaela.

      her  phone  was  god  knows  where  …  probably  under  the  heaping  pile  of  laundry  she’d  kept  putting  off  to  prioritize  bigger  and  much  more  important  things.  those  important  things  in  question  ?  going  down  a  youtube  vortex.  started  off  watching  mindless  skateboarding  videos,  few  clicks  later  and  she  was  testing  her  shot  at  telekineses.  eyes  were  focused  on  a  half-empty  can,  narrowed,  just  waiting  until  it’d  move  the  slightest  inch.  didn’t  budge.  “oh  fuck  you,”  she  slapped  it  clean  off  the  desk  before  a  hailstorm  of  clacks  brought  her  attention  to  the  window,  ducking  as  she  opened  it.  “  jesus,  what’re  tryin’  out  for  minor  league  baseball  ?  ”  a  beat.  “  gimme  a  minute.  ”  and  just  like  that,  she  vanished.         moments  later  and  there  she  was,  leaned  up  against  the  brick  eyeing  her  visitor.  “  to  what  do  i  owe  the  pleasure,  romeo  ?  here  to  confess  your  undying  love  for  me  ?  was  hoping  this  day  would  finally  come.  ”  a  teasing  smile.  she  knew  why  lexi  paid  a  visit,  she  wasn’t  dumb  ––  which  is  why  she  plucked  a  set  of  keys  from  her  pocket.  “  let’s  go  for  a  ride  …  see  where  the  wind  takes  us.  i’ll  even  let  you  be  aux  master.  ”  an  arm  swung  around  their  shoulders  as  she  started  down  the  path.  “  you  have  a  fun  night  ?  looks  it.  ”  she  quipped.

“oh sunday, sunday! wherefore art thou sunday?” she grinned, reciting the most popular line of the balcony dialogue before skipping forward in the scene, “with love’s light wing did i o’erperch these walls for stony limits cannot hold out love — nor can campus security,” she ends with a sidelong glance to the grumpy security guard who was glaring at them still. “I love you.” she crooned, leaning into the arm around her shoulder.