the rival; @carmenalvz - Tumblr Blog

Is that CARMEN ALVAREZ? A JUNIOR originally from MCLEAN, VIRGINIA, they decided to come to Ogden College to study BUSINESS WITH ECONOMICS. They’re THE RIVAL on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance FULL BIOGRAPHY | PINTEREST

&. BASICS

full name: carmen moreno alvarez

nicknames: none that she’ll let you get away with

age: (just turned) twenty two years old

sexuality: broadly queer, but completely uninterested in labelling herself

date of birth: september 18th 2000

place of birth: mclean, virginia

#ogdenintro #about;#intro;

where: the library

when: the evening of the blackout

who: @mee-noi-boi

The library was not necessarily the only place in the world that Carmen wanted to be on a Saturday night. But the frankly idiotic schedule she had been given by the administration meant all her deadlines came round in one go. She would never have picked up the minor in economics if she’d known it was going to be such a pain in the ass. But it was too late now.

Still, Carmen Alvarez wouldn’t be caught dead with a GPA below 3.8. So here she was, stuck inside with everyone else who had nothing better to do on a Saturday night. As she typed away on the clunky keyboard - her laptop was sat beside her, displaying her lecture notes so she could reference them as she wrote the essay on the ancient university-supplied PC - she paused when the lights overhead flickered, one perfectly manicured nail hovering above the spacebar.

They flickered again, once. Then twice. Before the entire library was plunged into darkness. The overhead lights shut off instantly, and a fraction of a second later, the screen Carmen had been looking at also went dark. For a moment she just stared at the now dark screen, realising that the essay she had been working on for the past two hours was now gone.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me,” she groaned, resting her face on the keyboard in an uncharacteristic display of unselfconscious despair. The only people who were around to see her were the kinds of people whose opinions of her she didn’t value particularly highly.

“Is yours off too?” she asked the person sitting next to her, as though they might have the solution even though clearly the power in the entire building was out.

#ogdenstart #ogdenevent #thread;#oran 001

ironlvngs:

sleeping with carmen behind greer’s back had link thinking that maybe it was one extra person they’d be able to have some kind of influence over, and maybe that was the case… when there were times in general where he’d fuel the fire between them, happily being used as a pawn for carmen sometimes. but now with greer being gone, and him having not seen carmen for a while — they can’t help but wonder if they’ve perhaps met their match. and he absolutely loathed the thought of that.

at the sound of the voice of the person that was occupying his mind after sending a text her way, he looks up, and almost immediately flashes a grin at her. “ couldn’t i just be an angel that shows up exactly when you need them to ? ” they tease, sitting up a little straighter, rather than the comfortable slouch he was in on the couch. “ what’s up, carmen ? you attempting to run for the hills now ? ” he questions, and there’s a playfulness to his tone… but it was also a question he would love to hear the answer to. if anything, he just didn’t wanna be the one that didn’t have the upper hand here — it wasn’t a feeling he was used to.

---

“You? An angel? Now we both know that’s not true,” she leant her elbow on the arm of the sofa, fixing him with a pointed glance, matching the teasing lilt in his voice.

Carmen smiled when Link asked her what she’d been up to. They might have phrased it as a teasing question, but she could tell they wanted to know. She was honestly a little surprised that he was still bothering with chasing her around. They had never seemed overly invested in their regular hook ups before. But Carmen was vain and she liked the attention.

“I’ve just been busy,” she shrugged nonchalantly, wondering if it was possible to get him to ask her more directly. Maybe if she chose her words carefully, there was a possibility she could make them plead their case.

“Unless there’s a reason I should be running away?”

#thread;#link 001

aletheapierce:

of course the person that would be in their vicinity was carmen, who made it very clear that she didn’t like them. not that alethea blamed them entirely, but it sure was fucking annoying. greer had found carmen entertaining, a rival in good fun because she was so untouchable apparently, alethea hadn’t taken much notice to it, or her. but anyone could feel the coldness coming from her.

“i would agree with that.” she gave a strained smile, turning toward the counter to grab a handful of napkins and placing them very purposefully in the center of the liquid, letting it soak up before reaching to grab them. “oh don’t worry, i am. i’m not an asshole like that.” she flashed another smile in carmen’s direction. normally she would have shied away, done what she could to remain in good graces, to make carmen like her. but that seemed useless, especially since it was pretty clear how carmen felt. so alethea could respond however the hell she wanted. “thanks for your help, i really appreciate it.”

---

Carmen had half expected Alethea to shirk under her attention. But it seemed their ‘head in the clouds’ aura was easy to mistake for meekness. The smile she gave Carmen was strained, and she felt barely disguised dislike hovering beneath the surface. It broke through the surface when she slid an implied insult Carmen’s way.

It was certainly a more interesting response. But it spoke of perhaps more than one person vying for Greer’s former crown. Whether it was intentional or not, and whether she knew it or not, Alethea was in the running.

“You’re welcome,” Carmen plastered her own sickly sweet smile on her face. Her arms had remained firmly folded whilst Alethea had scrubbed around with the paper napkins.

“You ought to be more careful. You and Greer might have been playing My Fair Lady but...” she trailed off, what was left unspoken was obvious. It was probably the first time since coming back from summer that Carmen had mentioned Greer’s name. She preferred not to, as a point. She had little to add to the conversation and she wasn’t in the business of reminding people that they hadn’t been the best of friends. But it wasn’t like that was a secret.

#threads;#alethea 001

montyrichler:

Hanging back in the hall, Monty waited until the first wave of students rushed from the lecture hall, the flow of foot traffic becoming spotty enough that he could slip inside for the next class. There were only a few stragglers left, people slowly packing up their things or talking in huddled groups while heading for one of the exits. Nothing out of the ordinary until the extreme outburst hushed the room. Monty jumped a little, surprised that she’d whirled around and targeted him, but he supposed that he was the only person still just standing around and staring at her rather than making a mad dash for the door. There was a confused furrow to his brow as he shrugged. “I’m looking at someone who desperately needs to sign up for an anger management course.” His bag started to slip from his shoulder as he cautiously worked his way down the row, stopping a few chairs down from the dark haired girl to drop into a seat, shifting his backpack to wedge down between his knees. “Ogden has a topnotch counseling center, you know.”

---

Carmen fixed Monty Richler with her best withering look, trying to stop her mouth falling open in outrage as the words ‘anger management’ and ‘counselling’ came from his mouth. She felt an indignation that those words probably didn’t really deserve. Probably a reflection of her bad mood. Sure she had a temper, but only towards the things that proved worthy of it. She hadn’t decided if Monty was worthy yet. But implying that something might need fixing with her was toeing a line she did not like.

She didn’t think she’d ever had a full conversation with him. She’d never needed to. They hardly ran in the same circles.

“Sounds like you know plenty about it,” she glared as he sat down a few seats away from her, effectively blocking the stairs. She shoved her phone inside her own bag, not bothering to check for damage.

“What? Is this the counselling? You want to sit and talk about feelings? You going to teach me about self care and transcendental meditation?” she asked bitingly when he seemed to be making himself comfortable.

#threads;#monty 001

ellesnix

What about cashmere?

#wanted connection #q

milonavarroo:

***

He cupped his hands against the glass, looking through them as if he was having any difficulty seeing and suddenly this would help him spot a person inside that could help. The familiar voice in the background behind him made him pull away, turning to look at Carmen with a deep sigh. “Don’t tempt me,” he said, then nodded down towards the bag in her hand, “your equipment bag looks heavy enough.” That might have been a joke, but accidents did happen. It was just unfortunate the cameras pointed at the doors recording … whatever break ins were going to happen in a lecture building.

“I know the doors lock after nine,” Milo added, pulling his phone out, and shaking his head, “but there are people in there.” Conveniently walking away from the doors. “This is why I hate people being late to practice. It’s nothing but trouble,” he said seriously, as he pulled away from the door. Of course spinning this on other people, and turning it into a lecture about punctuality while he sent an email to his professor, sending the file of his paper, he’d have to turn in his designs later. Hopefully that would be good enough to get an extension until tomorrow. “What a pain in the ass…"

---

“Don’t think about it, this bag costs more than that entire door.”

She smirked and rolled her eyes as he made his excuses. She wasn’t sure what this had to do with tennis - though in her experience quite a few things did when it came to Milo.

“Yeah I don’t see what other people’s punctuality has to do with your poor time management,” she said, shaking her head, “You could just hand it in at a normal hour like the rest of us who are trying to pass our classes.”

She gestured around to show him that there was no one else trying to break into their professor’s office at nine pm.

“Instead of, you know, stalking campus and waking up the dead with the noise you’re making.”

#threads;#milo 001

bigmandiego:

-

After the lecture ended Diego spent a few minutes speaking with the Professor about a paper due in a few weeks, just to clear up a few ideas he had before he committed to them. It was while he was walking back to pick up his things that Carmen’s outburst happened. He hesitated taking a few more stairs up before stopping and turning to look at her. His expression concerned, but trepidatious all the same. It wasn’t like he and Carmen were necessarily friends… What was he supposed to do? Pretend she hadn’t almost broken her phone slamming it onto the desk for some reason. Most likely…

But he didn’t, even when she snapped at him. “Is everything okay?” Diego asked. Even though the answer was clear. He didn’t move towards her as he asked, feet still halfway stepping up onto the next level to get his things. If she wanted to tell him to fuck off, he would. But what kind of person would he be if he’d just ignored someone who was clearly upset?

---

A vicious retort was on the tip of Carmen’s tongue. But she reigned it in just in time. Diego was harmless, she didn’t know him well, but she knew that much. And his look was one of genuine concern. Carmen was many things but she wasn’t needlessly cruel, she tended to have a reason - even if her logic as twisted. And her conversation with Evan on the beach had made her tired of kicking puppies.

“It’s fine, I-...it’s fine,” she said, realising she couldn’t come up with a good enough lie quick enough to give him an excuse for her outburst.

Aware she looked more than a little frazzled, she attempted to smooth her hair out away from her face and picked up her phone that she’d just attempted to pulverise. Turning the screen to face her, it was hard to miss the long crack running across it.

“Well, not everything is okay,” she grimaced, flipping the phone round to show him. She supposed her reward for not turning her anger towards her father could be a new phone.

#thread;#diego 001

mari-zuko:

-

Mari was all too familiar with the rivalry between Carmen and Greer, herself being planted firmly - obviously - on Greer’s side. She had no issues with Carmen individually, but she had heard one too many complaints about the other girl trying to one up Greer - so when she heard the curse, Mari instantly eyed Carmen, her head tilting backwards slightly as her gaze narrowed. Trying to gauge if there was something to it, to the slammed phone, or if Mari was just overly suspicious with the way everything had been going thus far. “Not looking at anything,” Mari said smoothly when Carmen looked her way, beginning to gather up her things.

---

Mari was only known to Carmen as one of the less interesting members of Greer’s clique. Just another sorority girl, hard to pick out of a lineup, maybe a little rough around the edges if her fashion choices were anything to go by. She had been close to Greer sure, but there never seemed to be anything about her that stood out enough to pique Carmen’s interest. No soft underbelly to poke at, no weak links in the armour to try prise open.

But Carmen didn’t like the way she was looking at her, eyes flitting to her phone on the desk. Her reaction had been more instinctive than thought through, and she’d hardly taken a second to think about how it might look. She’d forgotten how god damn paranoid everyone on campus had become.

“Yes you were,” she shot back, a harsh laugh laced around her words, “Get a kick out of reading people’s personal messages?”

If her emotions hadn’t been running so high, Carmen might have stopped herself from digging in, from inventing an argument just to unleash her anger because it needed somewhere to go. She didn’t think about how her defensiveness might be perceived.

#thread;#mari 001

evancitron:

more and more recently, evan found himself spending the still-cool mornings down at the beach. he’d watch the movement of the water and the birds and bugs flying around, content to let himself get lost in the ease and unambiguity of nature. he normally kept his headphones in at all times, soundtracking his life to music that was made before he was alive so that he never had to truly interface with his own reality, but it was nice to sit with the ambient noise on these mornings.

he wasn’t usually alone the whole time he sat there, but most people who stopped by the beach merely offered evan a nod of acknowledgement and went on with their lives. there was a sort of symbiosis that didn’t exist at campus, even if it was only a few hundred feet away.

he was just about to sit down with a worn library copy of euripides’ bacchae that he was reading for class when he heard an all-too-familiar voice and turned his head slowly to look over at carmen alvarez. his stomach twisted uncomfortably seeing her, but he tried not to give her the satisfaction of showing it on his face. “hey. yeah,” evan started, knowing that offering a “how are you?” should have followed but feeling it disingenuous given the last time they’d spoken. “you’re not obligated to acknowledge me, you know.” it wasn’t even a question, but a statement that she’d made to him more than a few times, and it felt silly to feign politeness when she’d made it clear how she wanted to behave.

---

The discomfort was plain to see on Evan’s face as soon as he looked up at her. Reading other people wasn’t a strong suit of Carmen’s but even she could read the emotion clearly. She couldn’t blame him for his reaction - really it was surprising it had taken so long for Evan to come around and realise her treatment of him had been less than kind. Usually people came to their sense much quicker. But he had always been too trusting towards her, far too much for his own good. Again, that’s what had made it work so well.

But now there was none of that trust. And again, she didn’t blame him. Someone as smart as him should have worked out that she was not someone to be trusted. Especially not with something as delicate as emotions.

“I know,” she answered quickly, aware of her own words being thrown back at her. It stung a little but not enough for her to back off. There was little thought in her mind that she might be hurting him by standing there. Only the desire not to walk away; that would mean admitting she had a reason to do so, something that put her firmly in the wrong. Carmen Alvarez didn’t consider herself a person who was often, if ever, wrong.

“I’m just being polite, I’m allowed to do that,” she said defensively, but she glanced at the wounded expression on his face and softened a little, “We don’t have to...it’s just been a while, that’s all.”

It was a lame answer, a subconscious excuse to keep the conversation going. In an odd and unexpected way she had missed him - not that she consciously acknowledged that thought. He was just much nicer than most of the company she kept. And a far better person that she was - it was only natural she liked his influence.

#thread;#evan 001

ashleysolsen

MEAN GIRLS (2004) dir. Mark Waters

#inspo;#character study;

where: some lecture hall

when: midday monday

who: open to all

The class had began to file out the lecture hall but Carmen was still sat in her desk, turning her phone over and over in her hand. The screen told her there were six missed calls from her mother, all during the past hour. She was weighing up her options, deciding what the best course of action would be when her phone buzzed again. This time a text from her father;

It’s all under control cariño, no need to worry. Will call later.

There was a familiar feeling in her gut that flared up, a hot flash in her chest. Mostly anger, a little pain too. The real frustration was knowing there was nothing she could do.

“Fucking motherfucker,” she cursed, and slammed her phone down on the desktop. And then slammed it once more for good measure.

In her momentary rage, she forgot that the lecture hall wasn’t entirely empty. Forgetting that she should feel embarrassed about her outburst, she turned her head, face full of fire.

“What are you looking at?”

#ogdenstart #thread;

where: linden dorm common room

when: thursday night

who: @ironlvngs

The common room was only half-empty but Carmen was still stretched out across the leather sofa, feet propped up on the arm of the couch. She had got here first and she didn’t plan on relinquishing her hold on the spot. Her legs ached from equestrian practice earlier and what she really needed was a hot bath, but lying here and scrolling aimlessly through Instagram would do.

A text flashed up on her screen, clearly intent on disturbing her evening of peace. The name and accompanying message weren’t unfamiliar to her, at least not since the semester had started up again. It was a turn of events, especially considering how their dalliance had started - with Carmen firmly in pursuit. And she found she didn’t mind in the slightest, even if she had been ghosting Lincoln Crawford all summer.

She hadn’t been responding to his texts with more than a brief ‘i’m busy’ or ‘not tonight’. And there were only so many ways to brush off a ‘what you up to?’ message. But the truth was, with Greer out of the picture, hooking up with him wasn’t half as fun.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, she was saved from having to compose an answer because the next person who entered the common room was none other than the man herself. With a barely restrained eye roll, she knew ignoring him wasn’t an option, only because it would make her look blind or stupid.

“Speak of the devil,” she said, swinging her legs towards herself so she could sit up.

#thread;#link 001 #// i hope this is alright!

where: the beach

when: 9 o’clock, saturday morning

who: @evancitron

Carmen was never really quite sure why they called it a beach. As far as she was concerned if there was no ocean then it wasn’t a beach. Saturday mornings was also just about the only time it was empty - unless some poor freshman had decided to make a bed on the sand after a heavy night. But there were no happy campers that morning. Just the river lapping inches from Carmen’s running shoes.

She turned, ready to run the 5km loop back to Linden Dorm but saw that she was no longer the only person on the beach. Evan Citron had wandered into the clearing and it was the first time she’d seen him in months. She hadn’t been trying to avoid him, but she certainly hadn’t been seeking him out. Especially not since everything had ended so...catastrophically.

It was strange, looking at him after so long. And it was like time allowed her to see him differently, the way everyone else must do when he shuffled on by, a figure so quiet most did not notice him. That was what had made him so perfect.

Still, he wasn’t so invisible that she could just ignore him now.

“Hey,” she said, approaching as though he was a spooked horse, “Long time no see.”

#threads;#ogdenstart #evan 001

milonavarroo:

Location: Some lecture building Time: Around 10pm Status: Open!

It was later in the night so Milo wasn’t surprised that the building was locked. He’d already had to go around to a different entrance hoping to find someone there who would let him in so he could deliver his most recent papers to his professors office before the deadline. Not to seem ungrateful, but thank you Ollie for getting it to him so fucking late. So, it was absolutely unbelievable to head around to another entrance just to see a group of students wander away right before he could get to the door and start knocking on it. Fuck. He knocked on it anyway. Well, more like pounded on it, giving the metal at the bottom of the glass door a kick for good measure. Just so he could be heard, of course, not because he had any issues with his anger. “Dios…” He muttered, leaning forward trying to look around the corner of the hallway to see if there was any hope of someone helping him or if he was shit out of luck, and should just turn around and find something better to do. “Un-fucking-believable…” He said to himself, about to turn and just leave. He could take the late grade — he didn’t have to be perfect all the time.

---

The heavy gym bag kept slipping off Carmen’s shoulder and after struggling with it most of the walk back from the stables to campus. So she decided to give up and take a break. The bag landed to the ground with a thud and she knew she was probably ruining the fabric but she didn’t have the energy to care. Rubbing her sore shoulder, she was halfway through pulling her phone out when she heard the sound of very insistent banging.

Letting curiosity pulling her along, she picked up her bag, opting to just hold it in her hand, and rounded the corner to follow the sound. What she found was a rather irate looking Milo Navarro pounding on the evidently locked door of the lecture building.

“They lock the doors after nine,” she called, “You’re out of luck hermano. Hit it a bit harder though, I hear criminal damage looks great on a college transcript.”

#thread;#milo 001

aletheapierce:

open: to all location: coffee shop in the commons time: mid-afternoon

alethea had tucked herself up in the corner table of the coffee shop. she was supposed to be working on her history paper for her class, but they couldn’t concentrate. without the security and comfort of greer’s presence, or at least her demanding energy that formed a wall between alethea and the world, they felt oddly exposed. and what made matters worse, is that she didn’t hate it like she thought she would.

her black coffee was now cold in the mug, and the page in their notebook was unreadable with all the doodles they had covered it with. shit, they could probably get the notes from someone else right? or maybe they could fake it through this paper, not having the energy to actually care about it. with a sigh they glanced up, reaching for their mug to replenish it when she over shot, her hand knocking it and sending the cold contents across the table. and with just her luck she met the eyes of a familiar face, and offered them a grimace as they made their way over. “look i know what you’re going to say about dancers and clumsiness. so just…don’t?” they nodded, staring back at the puddle collecting on the table.

---

A strange mood had been lingering over the camp ever since they had come back from summer break. Carmen had been doing her best to pretend she hadn’t noticed. Or at least that it wasn’t affecting her. The soap opera that had embroiled Ogden was nothing to do with her after all. It was like watching a really bad episode of Afterschool Special.

It had a strange effect on people, including the person who had announced their presence will an ill-timed bout of klutziness. Carmen hadn’t noticed Alethea Pierce when she’d sat down with her green tea and the notes from her macroeconomic lecture. But now she was meeting her wide-eyed gaze with a cold stare. She’d orbited on the edges of Greer’s little clique, some sort of pet project she’d picked up. But oddly enough people seemed to like Alethea and her quirky air of whimsy. They seemed to like her even more now Greer was gone - a notion that had caught Carmen’s attention.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, this actually doesn’t seem out of character at all.”

Carmen slide her notebook out of the way of the growing puddle of coffee before looking back up at Alethea.

“Well, are you going to just look at it and hope it clears itself up?”

#thread;#alethea 001 #//i'm sorry she is not very nice

nataliavega:

WHERE: somewhere on the quad. WHO: open.

It only took catching eyes slipping to the cover of her book— A Court of Silver Flames— for Nat to use it as an opportunity to attempt inducting people into the world of fairy smut. “Have you read it?” she asked, eyes flicking down to her book and back, waggling her brows. “It’s, like, way dirtier than her other ones. Cassian is— well, I don’t want to spoil it, but the spice is…” she kissed her fingers. “Like, take notes, boys, ya know what I’m saying?”

---

Carmen hadn’t really been looking at the girl’s book...well no, she had. But not because she was deeply interested, she was bored and her attention had drifted. Dulce had texted asking if she wanted to meet her to grab coffee but she was running late and Carmen was running out of patience. Now she knew the book was apparently, dirty and spicy, yeah she really wasn’t interested.

“Uh no, I don’t know what you’re saying,” she said, regarding the cover of the book with considerably more disdain than it probably warranted, “And no, I haven’t read it.”

She looked up at the girl, who looked vaguely familiar, but not familiar enough for her to put a name to the face. That most likely meant she was neither exciting nor distasteful enough to draw her attention. Which admittedly was probably the best judgement someone could hope Carmen to draw on their character.

“It doesn’t really seem like my kind of thing.”

#thread;#natalia 001 #//hope it's okay i just kind of assumed they don't know each other!

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