#chat:slightly

There came an extremely unfortunate time, once a year, when Maddie had to face off against one of her ex-boyfriends in their intramural volleyball league. Their relationship hadn't nearly been as serious as the one Maddie was currently in, but there were two definitive things on the line: bragging rights, and the winning record that Maddie's team had held against Slightly's in the history of playing each other. She knew that it really wasn't that big of a deal, especially when the two were on much better terms now that her boyfriend had befriended him, but Maddie Rooney had never been one to enjoy losing, to anyone, ever. So, it was for this game that she'd given her team the pep talk of a lifetime, telling them to compete with no mercy, unlike the team they'd played the previous week. After losing the first set, Maddie had turned the anger into the kind of fire her team had needed to pull out a win over her ex-boyfriend's, for which she was happy to gloat about after the game. "Another year, another win for me," she said nonchalantly as they came to ceremoniously shake hands. "By the time you change that, we'll all be in wheelchairs, you know. Are you sure you aren't letting me win to make up for dumping me?"

New Year's was supposed to be about a night for the boys, or so some of them had described it, but Sam knew that there had been at least one of them there focused on a particular female. The moment the blonde had approached the group, Slightly had been whisked away by the hostess of the party herself and returned before midnight, like something out of a fairytale. All it had taken was some light searching online for his friend to have found the girl of his dreams and the bravery to make it happen, which had the wheels in Sam's head turning after his eyes had landed on a certain brunette at the party.

Sam hadn't known Colette Tramp's name before he'd seen her around her brother, someone who was generally known by the group to be someone to stay away from, given his affiliation with people who hated them. In fact, it was almost like she'd come to him, popping up on his feed like a godsend. He'd gotten so distracted that he hadn't noticed the older boy standing behind him until he heard a snort of a laugh come from behind him. "Holy--how long have you been there?" he asked defensively, pulling the phone to his chest. "I was just ... you know, scrolling."

Max had learned a long time ago not to get involved in the romantic endeavors of his younger sister, but he had heard about some of them, peripherally. One of the more significant ones, from what he understood, involved a boy who had been living with his friends, in the very same apartment where he was supposed to be picking up his younger sister. Dani hadn’t exactly explained all of what had gone on between herself and Slightly, but he had to assume that it had ended on a sour note based on what she’d told him. That was a while ago, though, and he guessed that half a beer and a conversation with the guy wouldn’t banish him forever from the Dennison household. “This is your place?” he asked as he approached Slightly, nonchalant as he raised a brow at him and gestured toward the living room. He wasn’t entirely impressed, given that he knew people who had much larger apartments than this, but it wasn’t a shoebox by any means, either. “Not bad. I’m just here to pick up Dani, if you’ve seen her, but she wasn’t really answering any of my messages, so ... I hope it’s okay that I came in.”

He had to hand it to the kid, who seemed like he had not an ounce of fear in him, but every responsible instinct still intact. If he was such a good friend, then Scamp was sure he would’ve heard about him from his mother, who had been sure to give updates on his sisters’ lives every time they’d met in his greater absence. This one, though, had never been mentioned, and though Scamp wasn’t even close to being worried about a tall, scrawny kid who lived in an apartment that was over capacity, he still had to carry out his older brother duties. Even though he’d been ignoring them for years, he’d seen his overcompensation as a way to try and get a head start on making up for it. That started with fucking with whoever was looking to get with any one of his sisters.

Scamp narrowed his eyes and gave a slow nod, unconvinced. “Good friends don’t invite each other to back-to-back parties,” he countered, leaning back against the wall of the hallway with his arms folded over his chest. The power trip of it all was fun, an easy challenge he often won. “I’m just looking out for her. You know, come to think of it ... I heard about some guys crashing that engagement party last weekend. Did you hear anything about that?” he asked, raising a suggestive brow. He wasn’t here to fight, but Scamp did know that he was standing in the apartment of the people who had supposedly ruined Atta and Myles’ party.

Caroline stepped outside after her last class and let out a long sigh. Making a little face at the muggy feeling the heat was giving her. Tossing her hair up into a high ponytail she looked up and smiled at the sight. Slightly. “Hey! Slightly!” She yelled out as she hurried up to catch up with him. Caroline knew Tootles had practice so she might as well just abuse his friends for company. “You wanna get some ice cream?” She said as she caught up to him, stumbling a little as she got to his side. Quick to cover it with a grin. 

The very first of her interviews for her novel was from a very enthusiastic Slightly, who was eager to give her anecdotes about Peter and what the boys had done together since they became friends. Though Wendy didn't have a clear vision yet of what her novel would turn out to be, she was hoping that something that came out of these interviews would help spark some vision for what she would write about first. She was sure that, at the end of talking to her friends, she would have enough to cover a whole series of books, but she was trying to think one step, one story at a time. "Okay, I'm going to record this, if that's fine with you," she started, before setting her phone down and pressing the red button on her voice memo app. "I know, very official of me, but I don't want to miss any details. Essentially, I'm looking for stories from any time since you met the rest of the boys: anything that sticks out to you, your favorite adventures, the like. I suppose we can start there, and then I can ask more specific questions based on what you answer with, if that sounds good?" she asked, offering a smile as she sat back in her chair to allow him to begin.

Though she made it a point to never really indulge in alcohol, especially when it was around the boys, Wendy couldn't deny that it was an especially rough evening, one which called for an extra drink than the three she'd allotted herself at the start of the party. She could tell just from the weakened look on his face that Slightly was also struggling, and if the best way she could be there for him was by having an extra drink, then so be it. "Is everything alright?" she asked, instinctively wrapping an arm around his side, as he was too tall to reach for his shoulder. "We don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to, but I'm here to listen, whether it be tonight, tomorrow, next week ... or never, even." She didn't want to press him into giving her the story now, when it was supposed to be a night free of drama and instead full of fun, but it had seemed to take a turn toward the opposite. Though she'd taken refuge in his room before, Wendy didn't want to bother him with her own problems, either, deciding that talking about Peter could wait until later, or maybe never, in her case, too. @slightlyconceited

Rapunzel had only vaguely recognized some of the people who were at the party now from the engagement one she'd gone to with Varian. The boy who had approached her at the punch station was one that she remembered seeing, though she hadn't formally met him before. "Me?" she asked, looking around to be sure that he was talking to her. "Oh, yeah, I'm kind of here as an invite of an invite. Everyone's so nice, though! I'll take any chance to make new friends," she explained, a smile coming to her face. Suddenly, a realization hit her, and her jaw dropped a bit in shock. "Wait--you're the one who was singing with Poppy before, right? Oh, my goodness, I love Poppy! I met her at that engagement party where she sang, and she complimented my dress and I almost fainted." @slightlyconceited