#monarchstart

​“do you think this outfit makes my butt look good? because i know i look good, but does my butt look good?” joey asked to the first person he spotted, tilting his head so he could look at his butt before looking over at the person - the truth was that he asked this a lot, it didn’t matter where he was or who he was talking about, but the truth was that he liked looking good and he had to make sure that was happening right now. “you can say no, but then i’ll just think you’re lying... because i really do think i look great right now.” he said with a small chuckle.

In her defense, Ryan hadn’t expected much to come of simply google searching her mother’s name. But now that the information was at her fingertips, the blonde knew she was in way too deep. Nearly an hour had passed since she’d allowed herself to take a “quick break” from studying for her upcoming final in the library, which was when she found the FaceBook page. Her heart raced in anticipation as she clicked the link, a profile picture of an older blonde women surrounded by three young children and what Ryan assumed was her husband filled her computer screen. Furrowing her brows, Ryan began clicking through the photos to confirm her fears--the woman who’d abandoned her as an infant solely because she didn’t want children had seemingly moved on to start a new family. All color drained from her face as she quickly shut her laptop, only then realizing someone had sat down across from her. “Oh...hi.”

She ordered her favorite sandwich along with an iced coffee and took a seat on one of the barstools that looked out the window and onto the beautiful street that was lined with palm trees, watching as pedestrians walked and rode past on their bikes. she kept herself occupied by people watching and checking her phone every once in a while, glancing over at the door every few minutes to see if maybe someone she recognized from school would come in and want to join her.

Alfie couldn’t help but feel like he stuck out like a sore thumb while he drug his suitcase across the campus. “Fucking hell” he grumbled, stopping in his tracks to check the map of the school he had pulled up on his phone. He figured it’d be easier than this to figure out where frat row was…after all, those houses were always said to be the most extravagant. “Excuse me” he called out to the person walking in front of him, “do you happen to know where I can find the Delta Psi house…you’d think they’d but some signs up or something” he chuckled, hopeful as he shoved his phone into his pocket.

After a lot of soul searching, he had decided to return to Monarch University so that he could obtain a double degree in Business and Photography; wanting to turn his passion into a sustainable and profitable career. Weirdly enough, deciding to settle down in one place for a lengthy period of time wasn’t as unsettling as it had been in the past -- something that he attributed to his slightly increasing levels of maturity. Although he knew that he wasn’t about to win an award for co-parenting or being an excellent dad, he had at least maintained contact with Aria and Lily during his absence and didn’t think that he could be fully classed as a “deadbeat” anymore. 

As soon as he got back to campus, he dropped his bags in his dorm room at Yorks and immediately grabbed his camera. He knew that the key to maintaining the blog whilst studying was fully exploring all that California had to offer and documenting his adventures; whilst also making trips away during long weekends and spring break. It would be difficult to manage the blog with his studies, along with the job and sports team that he had easily been able to re-join, but it felt like something that was worth the effort. He was taking some artistic photos of the outside of the Yorks residence building, knowing people would like the old and gorgeous architecture, when he heard a voice from behind him. He turned around to face the person, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “I know, I know. I’m a sight for sore eyes”.

@monarchstart​