always look forward.

keegan dolsen twenty-seven. st. elmo's 4ever.

[kingchadwell]

"Seems to me like you're walking back to the booth, actually." J called out to her, beginning to follow behind her until she found herself back behind the table - hosting the booth. A smile appeared on his lips at her words, "Alright, c'mere, we're going to stop at Magnolia's on our way back home. Make it really worth your while."

[keegan-dolsen]

"I am, actually." Louise nodded, with a laugh. "As much as I'd love to step away, Stephanie isn't here yet. Nor is Yves and Alfie, and god only knows what those two are doing so I'm literally the last line of defense between these wet shirtless guys and their adoring fans." She let her boyfriend know. "Well, now we're the last line of defense, actually." She corrected herself, as she tapped the table besides her to let him know to make his way to the other side. "Oh, you know how to talk my language." Louise playfully narrowed her eyes in his direction, before pressing a kiss to his cheek. "How's everything been out there?" She asked, gesturing to the rest of the fair before handing over some change to another girl wanting to participate in the game.

[brodiebalcoin]

"I know, I know. He's my biggest champion." Though sometimes Prince wondered what Ozzie may have wanted to do with his life if Prince didn't have the career he had. He tried not to dwell on it too much, told himself that Ozzie was happy but sometimes he got worried. "Well in that case give me two balls, I want to make sure I get this one right." He hadn't gotten the chance to catch up with all of his cousins but he figured they would over the weekend when their families got together for breakfast and summer parties that they didn't really need to invite anyone else to because the pol of cousins and family friends were so big. "Okay cool, I would love to try out some of the rides. And we can catch up. I know we've texted but I would love to hear what you've been getting up to this summer."

[keegan-dolsen]

"You know, next year, I will be calling you in to participate." Louise forewarned Prince as she watched him ready himself to attempt to hit the target. "I'd love to do that." She said, with a bright grin before the murmurs around them only got louder as people started to realize who was up to bat. Between Prince's overall presence and Chan making his way to the tank, she was starting to wonder if perhaps she should have sprung for security. "You know, it's actually been quite eventful." She told him. "I got at least three looks approved for the holiday collection. We debuted the collection in Rio and you just know how much I love going down there." Getting to go back to one of her father's family native land was always a treat, their extended family always welcoming them back with open arms. Now she knew she couldn't stay in Brazil, especially now that she was readying herself to take on more at the label but she was quite jealous the parental unit was thinking of moving down south soon. "I've been making a lot more cousin time as well. I found that perhaps work was taking over my life quite a bit. I think Ozzie and you are actually the last two I have to spend a day or two or even three with."

[presleymorales]

"Not too cool for school. Just easily bored and distracted, and from the outside looking in I probably had an attitude problem. I doubt I was anyone's favorite student." He didn't regret any of his choices when he thought back on things, but he definitely didn't look at it as his glory days the way some people did. "Yeah, that sounds a lot less fun than what I was expecting. I thought one of the perks of being in charge was getting everyone else to do the work for you. You don't seem like that's your go to though. Now it makes sense why you got along with my brother."

[keegan-dolsen]

"It does, doesn't it?" Louise couldn't help but laugh. "It's not exactly the Devil Wears Prada all the times. Trust, there's certainly a bit of cattiness and playing dirty but that's to be expected in this field. It's not exactly the deepest of jobs." She shook her head. "No, I think that being the head of anything actually comes with the most responsibility. You're the captain of the ship, you have to make sure you're consistently making the best possible decisions. People's livelihoods are at stake. Being the boss is like... the worst." Louise let Spencer know, but despite all the pitfalls— she couldn't wait to follow in her dads' footsteps. "Cory, correct? Yeah, he's pretty amazing. And a great representative for the brand, actually. People just seem to love that face."

[collinforresterchw]

"Oh see I thought a 'fuck off' was right on the tip of your tongue, and like I said, I fucking love the dunk tank so I couldn't get myself banned." Rob gave Louise a small salute and used both arms to hold all of the balls then dropped all at their feet except one. "Okay you literally just told me good stuff, that is not motivation. Fuck it, I'll make my own lore." They threw their first ball and didn't come anywhere near the target, "That's me warming up, no worries, promise I'm not that garbage at this." Cameron taunted them in good nature of course and Rob yelled back a 'thank you' then turned to Louise before they made their next throw, "See he knows how to shit talk. Take pointers."

[keegan-dolsen]

"No, no. That's reserved for those who are truly annoying for the sake of it." Louise told Rob as she wasn't above a good ol' 'fuck off' but that didn't quite seem appropriate from someone trying to securing funding for those in need. "Touché. You've got me there. But I suppose that's a testament to his character as I don't really think there's much negative to say on him." She said, looking over at Cameron as she tried to think on anything he'd ever done to annoy her. "He can be really loud sometimes. Boisterous, actually." Louise revealed, as she could count the number of times she would have been sat at a booth at St.Elmo's and find herself startled by Cameron cheering on some sports team at the bar. "Oh, I totally get it." Louise nodded, giving them a thumbs up as they were hoping they'd hit the target on the next try. "I'm definitely taking notes."

[collinforresterchw]

"I'm just giving you shit, I fucking love this booth. I suck at actually hitting the target but I feel like this is my year to get someone in there within 20 tries." They pulled their wallet out of their back pocket and just gave Louise a 100 figuring that would cover it and the rest was for a good cause so it was whatever. "Your customer service skills are on point. Rob nodded as they pulled off their red and white shirt and tied it around their waist, leaving them in their white sleeveless top - it was gametime. "Alright, whose this guy in here and what's his deal? I wanna trash talk while I get in my groove."

[keegan-dolsen]

"Oh c'mon." Louise said, breathing out in relief. "You really did have me a bit stressed there. I truly had nothing else if none of that had worked for you." She told them as she began to grab a ball before she saw the bill that Rob had pulled out. She expressed her gratitude with a small thank you, before handing Rob at least ten balls for the time being. "That happens to be Cameron James." She let Rob know. "Hockey player extraordinaire. Real golden retriever energy. Actually promised tickets near the ice to his next game to whoever ducks him first, so perhaps you'll be walking away with them. Truly wishing you the best of luck."

[brodiebalcoin]

"Me? Too busy for you? Never." His smile grew as hers did and he leaned forward to pull her into a hug, pressing a soft kiss on her cheek. "Oh I see she's got jokes. Take that up with Ozzie, he's the one negotiating with the arenas. They're terrified of him. I know a guy who can get you on the list though," he teased. He liked to think none of his dear ones had to pay for tickets to his shows but he knew some of them insisted. Even his parents wanted to buy tickets now and then just to show support. "I'll take a few throws though, if that's okay. For charity of course. How long are you working the dunking booth? I'm on a very strict mission to have some fun today."

[keegan-dolsen]

Louise's grin only grew brighter at his response, not having doubted what he'd said for a moment. Prince had always been by her side, through good or bad. From performing at family barbecues when they were six to well, arenas around the world. Fame had never once changed that and she knew him well enough to know that it wouldn't. "Oh, I can be funny." She let him know, playfully tossing her hair over her shoulder. "He can be a pain in the ass," Louise said, referring to his brother. "but, I will say, he does have your best interest at heart. Sometimes, you do need a shark like that by your side." Louise clapped, excitedly as she handed him three balls for ten dollars. "The best reason to be dunking our friends, if you ask me. Chan's coming up in just a second actually." She let him know, wondering if he'd had any time with his cousin as of yet. "Not too long. Stephanie's actually suppose to swamp in... soon enough." She said. "Then fun is most definitely what we're going to have. I haven't been on any of the rides yet, so give me a second and I'm all yours."

[presleymorales]

"Sure. We've all had our favorite teachers but we aren't all trying to raise money for them during our free time. I didn't know if it was something deeper. And I didn't know that. Once I left school I tried as hard as I could to never think about it again. Including the nice teachers and their supplies. But it's sweet of you to try and help out." It wasn't something he would start working towards helping with, but Spencer never did anything without the right motivation. "So you're a nepo baby. Cool. My girlfriend loves his stuff. Or your stuff. You know what I mean. What would taking over the reigns even look like there?"

[keegan-dolsen]

"Consider it my good deed for the summer?" Louise shrugged, as she liked to think she'd been known for being giving enough. Fundraising had come second nature for her, J and her having often gone head to head during their joint class presidency at Rosewood Academy to see who could raise the most money for their designated foundation of choice. "Ah, too cool for school, huh? While, I'm not exactly feening to relive my Rosewood or Ravenwood days to be frank, I can look back at all of it fondly." She shrugged, she'd always been a head in the books type. Her twin brother had been granted the party monster gene, not to say she hadn't flourished in her own right. "That's putting it bluntly, but yeah, I suppose I am." Louise said, laughing at his straight-forwardness. "Well, your girlfriend has taste, I see." She twisted her lips. "When I do get the reigns, it'll be a lot of overseeing the newest collection. I won't be the sole designer, we have an amazing in house team but I'll certainly be the head honcho. I'll also be responsible for the stores, whether that's opening new ones or unfortunately closing them if they aren't meeting their quotas. There's actually quite a lot the head of a label has to do."

[brodiebalcoin]

"Most eligible bachelors? Are you sure these are all of them?" Prince had finally taken a break from sleeping in the sun to see what else the party had to offer. He was trying to be more social after his conversation with Cami but of course it had only led him to Louise and a line of people waiting to dunk some men in a tank. "If it's for charity though, how can i say no? Or is it for something else?"

[keegan-dolsen]

"You know I did think to call on a certain friend of mine, but I don't happen to know how busy his schedule is nowadays." Louise fiddled with her perfectly manicured nails before looking up at Prince, the smile on her face only growing at the sight of them. She would always have nothing but the fondest place in her heart for the man in front of her. "Well, of course it is." She let him know, as she liked to think that was pretty obvious. Louise was fortunate enough to be the daughter of two men who'd done pretty well for themselves. Because of that, she was more than happy to give back to those who needed. "Actually, no. I'm raising money to buy a ticket to your next tour. Those ticket prices are a bit egregious this last time around, actually."

[collinforresterchw]

"What if dunking dudes for fun isn't all that interesting to me? I've got five dollars right here but the incentive just isn't all that enticing to me, but I'm not giving up on you and this dunk tank so what else you got? Help me help you."

[keegan-dolsen]

"That's more than valid." Louise let them know. "Well, thank you for not giving up on me." She said, appreciating their honesty. "We are raising money for teachers on the south side, if that happens to make you want to donate those five dollars. Hopefully that'd make you wanna buy a ball to dunk one of the guys?" She explained, as that was all she could provide for them. "If that's not enough, I can't really give you more of an incentive, but there's surely more booths that you can do business with."

[jesssuvari]

"Only five dollars? With this line up you have? Surely you could charge more than that. There's gotta be some catch. How many tries is it gonna take to dunk someone?" Harper raised a brow, the implication being her asking if there was some rigging going on, as she watched one of the men on her line up get into the tank. "Gotta say i'm kinda jealous the Coyotes didn't think of this one. This is where everyone's gonna be at all day."

[keegan-dolsen]

"You know as I noticed the crowd we were attracting, I did think of scratching the price. Full honesty." Louise confessed to Harper. "But five dollars is such an easy amount to gather. Anymore than that, I think I might have to promise some of these people skin and I wouldn't do that to the boys... unless they wanna show it off on their own will." Louise looked back at the tank. "Well, you're more than welcomed to find out." She suggested, holding a ball out to her. "Please, shake that off. No need to be jealous, this is for a good cause. None of this is going to our own pockets. But how about next time, we collaborate?" Louise suggested. "I happen to adore Coyote Ugly, I love the dance on the bar moment." She confessed to the woman in front of her. "And humble brag but I might have some more power on my fathers brand soon, so I would love to do something that brings the brands together."

[kingchadwell]

"Honey," J grinned widely, "I love you and I'm obsessed with you but my shirt doesn't have any other buttons and I already look like a contestant in Love Island, I think you and everyone else are seeing enough of me." He retorted as he gestured towards his own naked chest and abdomen, all while walking closer to her.

[keegan-dolsen]

"I know you do, you know there's no doubt about that here." Louise said, as she made her way closer to her boyfriend, her arms draping across his neck. "Oh, it doesn't? Are you sure?" She teased, as she'd certainly noticed the fact that J didn't have another button to remove. The Strawberry soiree had certainly treated her and the dunk tank well. While she'd been happy to showcase some of the hotter guys in Rosewood for a good cause, she didn't think a guy in town held a candle to J. "Fine, fine. I'll accept that." She said, raising her hands up away from him. "I guess I can step away from the booth, but you're going to have to make it worth my while." Louise stepped away from him, going back behind the table she'd been manning.

[presleymorales]

"Pfft, no. I was just wondering how you decided on who Rosewood's finest are. But whatever." Spencer rolled his eyes, trying to brush everything off at that. "Why are you worried about helping the teachers anyways? I thought you were into modeling? Or was it fashion?" He'd seen her with Cory once or twice but he'd never actually made an effort to get to know her. "Louise, right?"

[keegan-dolsen]

"Somehow, despite you saying no, I still feel like you're not exactly happy you're not up there." Louise let Spencer know, as she liked to think she was a pretty good judge of character. It'd been one of the first things her fathers had taught her given that the fashion industry had always had it's fair share of interesting characters. "Why wouldn't I be concerned with helping teachers? I'm sure we've both had favorite teachers. Wouldn't you have wanted them to have an easier time?" She asked him, her eyebrow raising. "I don't know if you know this but most teachers have to put their own money up to supply well... supplies." Louise nodded. "Fashion. I'm into fashion. I'm hoping soon enough I'll be taking over the reigns at Dolsen-De La Renta. It's my fathers line."

[willow-balcoin]

"Lucky for both of us you're never going to fail." He scoffed good-naturedly. It had taken a few years, but he'd decided to stay in Rosewood which meant he'd had to do the work to fit in with the family he hadn't grown up with. He still felt like an outsider a lot of the time, everyone else accustomed to each other down to a microbial level, but he'd done well to lose the chip on his shoulder, or at least lessen it. Given he'd agreed to help Louise at all was a great indication that he wanted to be part of things. "I don't mind," he shrugged, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, "why do you think I always wear such tight shirts? I mean... anything to help the underprivileged, obviously." His eyebrows shot up at the sight of the tequila bottle, "say no more, let's get this show on the road."

[keegan-dolsen]

"From your lips to Gods ears." Louise let him know, lightly bumping into him so that she could rest her head on his shoulder for a moment. A small way of saying she really appreciated that. Chan's inclusion in her life had truly been a welcomed one, the guy having truly been the missing piece of her extended family that they'd needed. Sure, at first, he might have been a bit closed off and rightfully so but the moment he opened up— he'd been nothing short of a great friend to her. "Is that so? And here I thought you were always forgetting to turn down the heat on your dryer." Louise poked fun, laughter spilling from her. "That's what I wanna hear." She said, excitedly as she went to pouring a shot for them both. "To raising some money... and looking really good while doing it."

[presleymorales]

"The image is already burned into my mind, so no. I'm good. I'll actually pay you to not dunk him for the next five minutes." Spencer dug around in his pocket, producing a five dollar bill for Louise. "Right. Teachers. That's great. How are you picking these guys anyways? Because it's looking like a random lottery."

[keegan-dolsen]

"Alright, consider it done." Louise said with a shrug of her shoulders, happily taking his five and dropping it in the transparent bin that was showing their progress that evening. And so far, it appeared they were doing quite well. "It is great. Anything to help alleviate their burdens, I think that's the least we can do for them." Louise raised an eyebrow, a small laugh spilling from her. "Excuse me?' She asked. "They are friends, acquaintances, some have walked for my father's line... a part of me is starting to feel like, and correct me if I'm wrong–" Louise looked back at the tank and then at Spencer. "like you want to be up there. Do you...?"

[presleymorales]

"Yeah, well, that last guy had pepperoni nipples so I want a refund. No amount of abs makes up for that." Spencer grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest. Even if he wasn't a bachelor, he still was offended that he hadn't been asked to help out. "What is this for anyways? Like, where's the money going?"

[keegan-dolsen]

"I'm so sorry that he wasn't to your liking," Louise said with a sigh, playfully snapping her fingers in front of her. "But perhaps your intense dislike for his nipples has incentived you dunk him again?" She asked, offering the ball over to him. "To helping teachers on the south side with supplies and such for the upcoming school year. So, are you sure you don't wanna try to dunk him once more? Like positive?"

[willow-balcoin]

"For the good of the community, my ass..." Chan groaned, chuckling and shaking his head to himself as Louise addressed the crowd– which was actually a lot bigger than he'd expected it to be. Despite his grumbling he wasn't against the game, but it was definitely dawning on him that he was about to have a hell of a soggy time in front of a lot more people than anticipated. "Lou, you ever considered taking this show on the road? You're a natural."

[keegan-dolsen]

"You think so?" Louise asked Chan, bringing her hands up to her heart. "If running Dad's line ends up being a monumental disaster for me, I'm calling you up and we''re definitely hitting the road." She let him know with a small laugh. "You know any other hotties that'd be willing to join us?" She asked, teasingly. "But seriously, thank you so so so much. I know being objectified isn't always a great time, but we really are making a lot of money for a good cause. And I did manage to get this—" Louise held up a bottle of tequila. "courtesy of J's dad, so let's take a shot and get you up there."

[kingchadwell]

Joaquin stood to the side as he watched his fiance work the crowd, one that rarely needed working considering this game was all for eye candy. His grin was wide as he watched her though, she was a natural. "Do you get to walk away from all of this if I give you twenty bucks?" J asked teasingly, reaching for his wallet.

[keegan-dolsen]

"May haps?" Louise said with a playful shrug, the sight of her boyfriend only making her smile all the much more brighter. "Some would say I do currently have the best seat in the house." She teased, as she looked back at the dunk tank where one of the rabid teenage girls managed to hit the button and sink Cameron James. "I might need more of an incentive. Perhaps a peek of ab or all six. For charity, of course."