Work hard, party harder

The petite brunette nodded at his faking hurt feelings with a wide grin, not apologizing in the slightest. Her brow raised in curiosity at the suggestion of quality time. “Just what are we thinking?” She may have already known better from experience, but Mona was by no means immune to Noel’s charm and walked a fine line between acknowledging how he operated and actually falling for anything and everything the boy had to say. “Are we talking something I can get done by night or am I going to need to clear my schedule? You know, as much as I just love quality time, if the case calls for clearing my schedule, it might just require some donation funds to..” Mona twirled, indicating she meant if it was hard work she was looking for wardrobe additions yet again. Something she’d only admit to Noel because he was already aware that the money she hustled out of people at school was allowing her to fake the rich bitch persona without relying too heavily on shoplifting. “I’ll do it, just.. make sure I get my end!” The girl took hold of her bag’s shoulder strap yet again, glancing around to see just who was shuffling in around them. “So, tonight? Should I expect you over or am I working solo?”

Noel wondered how much work was too much to give the girl. While he would’ve just loved to hand over every single assignment he had from now until the end of the year and give it all to her he knew that there would be no way she’d agree to it in the slightest, even though he was more than confident she would have been fully capable of handling it all. “One night, maybe two. Maybe even more if you find out you enjoy doing my homework.” Noel pulled up the flap on the front of his khaki colored messenger bag that hung by his side and riffled through a few sheets until he found the one he was looking for, placed neatly in between the sheets in his notebook. Pulling it out, he handed it over to the girl, wanting to give her a head start.“English, just an essay. Shouldn’t be too hard, not for you anyway.” Noel knew exactly what Mona wanted in return, something he knew without her even having to say. “Would I ever stiff you?” Closing his bag back up, he looked back up to the girl with his signature smile. “Of course I’ll be over.”

“Got it” Mona laughed quietly through a grin, scrunching her nose up at the boy. She definitely was in the habit of joking around with him, the pair lacked in much serious discussion. Perhaps rooted in Mona’s refusal to ever truly confront her feelings concerning their split, she had consciously chosen that their ongoing interactions from thereon out would be lighthearted. And that hadn’t changed since. After all, she’d never voluntarily sacrifice what she equated Noel with. A lifestyle she’d so desperately sought after, until her successful reinvention that in the end garnered her a relatively short lived but serious relationship, status at Riverwood, and the ultimate elimination of Loser Mona. Any real residual feelings from the breakup had long ago been suppressed, allowing only for the more upbeat casual conversation. “You’re appreciated too, most of the time” she teased. The tiny brunette furrowed her brows, “Uhh.. discount, maybe. Just cause you’re you. But what’s in it for me?” She was rather accustomed to tutoring the general population of the school, or obtaining revenue for assignments and other illicit assistance with grades. It was how she maintained any legitimate efforts to fake rich. Things were evidently just a little different with Noel than a solid steady rate though. “I don’t come cheap. What assignment are we talking anyway?” Mona was emphatic, wide eyed and readjusting her bag on her shoulder as she racked her brain for just how much time she had available to offer for the time being.

“Most of the time? That stings, Vanderwaal,” he joked faking the pain, knowing that there was no reason for him to be appreciated by her anymore. It was something he had lost a long time ago when he ended things with the girl standing before him, but him being him there would still be a reason for him to find why people here should appreciate him, even the people he didn’t know. The words Just cause you’re you were music to Noel’s ears. It was something he loved hearing - the idea of special treatment because he was who he was and the perks he got from it were something the boy loved. “With a brain like yours I don’t expect you to,” he informed the girl, finding that flattery always works well no matter what the situation was. Eric had told him from day one when it came to anything relating to girls and getting what you wanted that flattery was the way forward and it was advice he would carry with him for the rest of his life. “I thought quality bonding time with your favorite guy would be enough. But whatever you want you got it.”  Shrugging his shoulders, Noel knew that whatever the girl wanted he could more than likely offer. Keeping his answer short and vague, he didn’t want to give away details of his struggles to the girl until she had agreed. “Nothing too major. Nothing you couldn’t handle anyway.”

BETTY: You seem pretty sure about that.

BETTY: Um, I just meant, like, get ready for it? Why...is there some other meaning I should know about?

NOEL: And you seem pretty unsure.

“I’ll remember that! Should this be an after practice greeting or an everyday thing?” she chuckled, having more or less been making fun of randoms vying for Noel’s attention over which she saw herself far superior over more than anything, with the previous overt sarcasm. “That would require a burning building, and a baby.” One to always talk with her hands, Mona pointed from side to side to emphasize. “Your English homework though, that I can do but it’ll cost you. Just like everybody else around here.” She knew he was likely just making a point, assisting Noel in maintaining his grades was still well within the realm of their current friendship. “Though you have to appreciate me, other people just need to learn to appreciate the sentiment a little more.” Mona seemed to live on a high horse of well intentioned yet sometimes defective efforts when it came to helping others in her supposed shallow facade. However, she figured someone as close to her like Noel would understand what she was trying to say. Rocking her body weight from heel to toe and back, the tiny girl turned back up to her ex boyfriend, with a shrug. “There’s always another day for other good too, I suppose. Might even still be room today if absolutely necessary.”

Noel pondered confusion for a moment, pretending to consider both the options in his head. “Lets stick to after practice. I’m quite liking it so I wouldn’t want to ruin it by hearing it too much. Overexposure's dangerous.” He knew she was joking but he was happy to play along, he didn’t want to ruin it. Their break up felt like a million years ago to Noel and his busy lifestyle but he was glad that they could be on good terms about it all especially since he was sure he hurt her a lot more than she had ever let on to him. Even if it was just friendly conversations in the hallway it was a lot more civil than he got from most girls he had dated. Noel’s eyebrows raised as he heard the offer to help with his homework. “Now that’s an offer I might just take you up on.” He wasn’t stupid beyond any means but a lot of missed lessons and a lack of interest had pulled his grades down and he needed those grades if he wanted to carry on playing lacrosse. “Of course I appreciate you. I’m assuming I get some kind of Noel Kahn discount rate?”

BETTY: Ugh, it just seems like such a struggle.

BETTY: You'll have to let me know when the next one is, so that I can gear up for it.

BETTY: It appears that you are.

NOEL: The idea will grow on you.

Aria ignored her urge to look at it and instead put it on the table, face down so they couldn’t see it. She didn’t want to give Noel anymore ammo when it came to herself, or to Ezra. She hated that he knew her secret, that he could let everyone know the truth, ruining not only her life, but Ezra’s as well. But she also knew that she held a lot of the blame, she should have never treated him the way that she had. It had been wrong. At his words though, she felt her cheeks turn pink. “Ezra…Mr. Fitz would never give me the answers to anything,” She argued. “He’s not that kind of person, and neither am I. I don’t cheat.”

He bit down on his bottom lip, resisting the urge to let his smirk grow even bigger as he heard the slip up on his name. He wondered how many times she had made that exact same mistake before. He was sure it was a good few times, it must be an easy thing to do. Noel took a sip of his coffee before shrugging his shoulders to the girl. “And here I thought you were just sleeping with Fitz for test answers. Seems like a missed opportunity to me.”

Mona’s voice rose a few octaves to the fakest excitement she could pull, “Noel Kahn! Don’t you look all sexy and dashing?!” She couldn’t help with the teasing, it just came naturally. Immediately bursting into a fit of giggles in amusement, the tiny brunette quickly returned to her own real voice, not the one she typically used among the masses at Riverwood High. “It’s stress relief lotion, it helps, I swear. My good deed for the day, I suppose.” With everything happening around them, Mona simply saw it as contribution to the efforts of easing people’s general anxiety or any other negative feelings. That was especially true for those select few she truly cared about, including Noel.

A crooked smile became visible on the boys face taking over from the composed look he showed before. He appreciated the girls ability to play along and the sense of humor that came with it. “A little less sarcasm next time and that would be a perfect greeting.” With furrowed brows Noel briefly examined the lotion in his hands once again before giving in and slowly rubbing in the stress relief that she had just given him. He was sure he wasn’t going to feel any immediate affect from it but there was no harm. “You know, if you wanted to do a good deed you could rescue a baby from a burning building or do my English assignment for me, but lotion works too I guess.”

To say that Noel Kahn was the last person that she wanted touching her phone was an understatement. While she was panicked with the thought of someone else touching it, the fact that it was Noel made it even worse. She narrowed her eyes, and she wanted to wipe that smile off of his face. “No,” she said almost too quickly as she took her phone back, not looking at who the message was from. “I’m texting my mom,” she lied. He didn’t need to know that it could be Ezra texting her, nor did he need to know that it might not be Ezra, and that things might not be good between them. She just…didn’t want him to know any of it. 

Noel smirked as she took her phone back, feeling almost a weird sense of power. It wouldn’t be a lie to say he wasn’t still bitter about everything that had happened between the two of them and how it ended. And he wasn’t sure that if knowing about it made him uncomfortable or if he liked having the ability to be able to drop that bomb. But while he was sure he’d never use that information against the girl it made him feel slightly better knowing that he could, he just liked having a little fun with it. “It’s okay, I’m not gonna judge. If I had someone who could get me the answers to tests I would be texting them all the time too.”

Aria loved sitting at a table in Grandhouse Cafe, drinking her favorite coffee order, a dry soy cappuccino, and writing in her notebook. Right now, she wasn’t really writing anything of substance, she hadn’t been able to write something decent in days. She checked her phone for what felt like the millionth time, hoping that she had a text from Ezra, and frowned when she saw that she didn’t. He had been kind of distant the past few days, and she didn’t know why. She thought of going to his apartment, but she didn’t want to look desperate. Her phone lit up, and she nearly jumped for it, dropping it on the floor. As she was about to reach for it, someone else did, and she panicked for a moment. “That’s my phone,” she pointed out quickly. For once she hoped that it was her mom texting her, and not Ezra.

After quickly stopping in to grab a drink to takeaway after school, the dark haired boy was quickly on his way out, only stopping as he walked passed a table and got distracted hearing a phone go off. His laid eyes on Aria, the very person sitting there. It was almost like second nature for Noel to pick up the phone for her that had just been dropped on the floor, trying not to spill his drink at the same time. When he heard the panic in her voice he handed the phone back over to her with a knowing smile on his face. “Texting someone you shouldn’t?” He was probably wasn’t on the top of the list of people she would have wanted to see and with that comment he probably would’ve sunken even further.

BETTY: I should not be laughing at that story, I'm sorry. But god, is it really worth it if you end up paying for it two full days later?

BETTY: Yeah, tell me about it. The high school part, I mean, I'm still working on the antics :P

BETTY: Modesty? I'm shocked, Noel Kahn.

NOEL: Of course it is, I'll take two days suffering for one night of memories any day. Except that one, I'd happily take that embarrassment back.

NOEL: You'll get there, a couple more evenings of reckless fun and we can get you there.

    his eyes closed slowly as he heard noel’s voice behind him, his left hand moving to his face to rub at the headache that would surely appear in seconds. he always considered the boy a friend, but after what happened between noel and betty, archie hadn’t been a fan of him. he’d be civil, but a friend? that would take longer for archie to come around. “i hurt it a few weeks back.” he shrugged, not wanting to spare the details. tyler was gone, there was no point in burying his name anymore. people were talking about how much they hated him, and whilst archie was one of those people, he wasn’t going to start tarnishing the guy. “i haven’t been able to play football because of it.. obviously.”

Noel nodded solemnly in response even though Archie couldn’t see. “Must suck for you.” Slowly taking a few steps down towards the red head, his stick in hand, Noel watched the action that was playing out on the field. The boys in blue and gold jerseys, the hard-hitting tackles, the connecting throws, the yelling coach. It was enjoyable to watch for a moment in passing but for a moment only. While he wasn’t always the most understanding person in the world he understood how not being able to play football could crush Archie. “How long you out for? Indefinitely or?”

     football was the one thing he truly missed considering his injury was still dictating his life. it was heartbreaking that he couldn’t strum at his guitar, sure, but the sport had always been a part of archie’s life and it was always something he could go to if he needed a break from something. so it wasn’t surprising that the boy was sat on the bleachers, watching a few players train with coach clayton. “what?? have you come to gloat too??” the boy mumbled as he sensed someone behind him, not bothering to turn and look to see who it was. “i’m killing myself watching this… i know. i just can’t help myself. i miss it.” it was becoming a regular thing now.. moping as he watched his teammates train and prepare for games. “—do you need something??”

“Left my stick here earlier came to pick it up,” he explained as he walked past, not that it was any of the other boys business. Walking up a few rows behind him, a wave of relieve hit him as he saw his lacrosse stick exactly where he left it earlier today. Smiling as he picked it up, he saw the boy out of the corner of his eye looking miserable. He purposely ignored Archie’s comments earlier and focused on telling him why he was here but seeing the boy looking glum and the cast on his arm it aroused his curiosity. It had been a while since he had last seen the boy and they hadn’t left on good terms but his intrigue got the better of him. “Why are you looking so miserable, Andrews? And what the hell happened to your arm?” 

“Eek, you look like you could use a whole giant bottle” her voice was much too chipper for her words. Mona didn’t bothering hiding the fact that she thought the other person looked a little less put together than usual, in her personal opinion. As she spoke, she pulled out a tiny bottle of ‘stress relieve’ lotion, practically forcing a bit into the other’s hand. “Spa day, seriously necessary. This lotion alone won’t work miracles. Consider it. And thank me later.” For Mona who was still doing anything to assert her place near the top of the social chain, this was her good deed of the day.

Early morning gym sessions were one of Noel’s least favorite parts of the day. Sure, he loved the feeling but the early starts and the physicality of it all took it’s toll on the boy. “So no ‘Hey Noel, you look great today! Have you been working out?’ Just straight to the criticism I see. Some things never change.” Looking down the lotion she put in his hand he tried to make sense of it, if it wasn’t a hair product or cologne his knowledge of beauty products was below average. “What is this?” He asked, looking back up to her with a confused look on his face, leaving the lotion to stew in his hand. 

BETTY: That makes me feel better about mine, at least. Tell me about your first one.

BETTY: Probably, yeah. Are you planning on throwing one again soon? Although I'm interested to hear what your excuse would be. And why.

NOEL: 8th grade, I went to one of Eric's cabin parties, thought I could hang with him and his friends. I was wrong. Long story short, ended up with a two day hangover and projectile vomited all over Eric. Not my finest moment.

NOEL: Of course. The parents are hounding me to focus on school but high school's not high school without some weekend antics.

“And I like I said, bro – I didn’t start that fight. Tyler did.” He was getting sick and tired of hearing about it. If Noel wanted to cry about it, he should do it in counseling. “If it hasn’t already been pulled from the net you’ll see Tyler was on top of me. Just like, Jug socked you in the halls. You can’t exactly stop someone from losing their chill. As for your house being raided? S’not a big deal. Part of the business,dude.” Jake had half the mind to throw his own party but he didn’t know if now would be a good time. Not with everything that just happened with Tyler. But soon — Jake would throw his own shindig and Noel would be scratched from the evite. Then the thought occurred with a gliding tongue, “the Jake was actually going to have a bachelor party sometime in the near future. I’m sure a trip out of town with all the boys minus Noel would leave its mark.”

“Are you finished? Because as much as I’ve enjoyed this little back and forth with you, Fitzgerald, I have places to be.” Noel stated bluntly motioning towards the closed doors of the office that were awaiting him. He had already said what he wanted to say about the fight they were arguing over and even though he could happily go all day going back and forth with Jake over the matter to get his point across, he had other engagements to occupy himself with. Starting to make his way closer to the office that his appointment was at he stopped in his tracks as Jake continued to speak, unsure he heard him properly. Ignoring all the saltiness in the teenagers comment, his mind only focused on the one part of the sentence that stuck out like a sore thumb. “Did you say bachelor party? You getting married?” He asked the boy in disbelief.  

Scoffs, “Freebooze and drugs, man. They’re not coming for you.” Jake couldn’t believe Noelwanted to do this right now while in line to see a grievance counselor. Who reallygave a fuck about parties when three students and a principal was brutally murdered. “Bro,that fight was over a month ago.” Jake had gone to Noel’s Cops and Robbers partythe following weekend and he didn’t seem to have a problem. It was obvious hejust wanted to establish some type of alpha status by stepping all over his shoes. “You need to seriously just step back…” stiff-arming him out of his way,Jake took a few steps past but turned back around. He had so much angerbuilt up, but didn’t want to create a scene. “We’ll see who comes to your nextbanger. Guarantee it flops with the rest of your reputation.”

Noel rolled his eyes seeing Jake’s reaction. All he wanted to do was set the record straight since this was the first time he had seen him one-on-one since the fight. He didn’t intend to set him off, clearly the guy had some anger issues. Then again anyone who referred to themselves in the third person must have something wrong with them. Noel wasn’t worried about people not showing up or his reputation going up in flames, no one else was going to start offering to host them. But he didn’t see Jake’s issue, he was nice enough to open up his home for everyone to have a good night, why the other boy thought having an impromptu wrestling match during it was okay without offering up Noel an apology for getting his party raided by the cops was beyond him. “Calm down yeah,” Noel commented, keeping his cool as he barged past him. “I just came here for my meeting. Not for you to have a hissy fit because your parents haven’t house trained you. Like I said earlier, I haven’t got an issue with you, so don’t try and change it,” he said offering them a way out of this, hoping the other boy would take it and drop it.

Did Tylerthrow the first punch? Jake instigated it physically but Tyler did in everyother way. He wouldn’t tell him what he was doing with his girlfriend. He justkept saying ‘whatever you think happened, happened’ which is why Jake shovedhim. As Noel mentioned not having an issue with Jake, he nodded as if to saylikewise. But maybe he nodded too soon. He didn’t like the way Noel leaned in threateningly.It was a move Jake perfected to strike intimidation and he wouldn’t be intimidatedby Noel. They already did this whole song and dance when Noel put Brooke’s namein the playbook. Jake hit him for it then and he would hit him again if it camedown to it. Investigation or not, Jake wasn’t going to be a pushover. “Don’tthreaten me, ass-noel.” Jake swiped his hand off his shoulder but didn’t movefrom his face. “Your party isn’t a party without the Jake. Not that I even wantto come anymore. They’ve been a bust the last three-times, dude.”

Noel took a step back from the boy, relaxing his body after the small message he gave him. He didn’t want to have to say anything like that to Jake but he wanted to set the record straight. His parties were supposed to be the few good things that this town had to offer. They were supposed to be fun and full of laughs, not end in fights and a showing by the cops. It was tarnishing his reputation, one that he needed to maintain. Maybe Jake was right though, his last few parties hadn’t been the best of the best but he wasn’t going to let a few peoples opinions let him believe that he was starting to loose his touch. He was fully going to blame it all on all the killings recently ruining the vibe. “Yet people still line up to come to them. But hey, don’t come if you don’t want to. I’m sure they’ll be fine without ‘The Jake’. I was just saying, no more fights.”