outliers

Leonard Reed, but I usually go by Leo. 18. Junior at Ashton Prep. A soccer player and scooby doo lookalike. Sorry if I didn't pick up the phone; I probably won't call you back.

[leoreed]

theemilylarson​:

“Well, I am glad that you are having fun.” Emily replied, glad that at least someone was having fun. She was too busy worrying herself, but that didn’t mean if everyone had to be. “Oh, I am sure that you are right about that. I don’t go to many parties myself, but I have heard that this one is good as far as parties go.” She added with a small shrug. “You can thank Ellery for that one as well. I am not sure if she made it herself, or got someone to make it. I just know that I didn’t.”

“I’m no connoisseur either, but I’m sure this party would top anyone’s standards,” he assured Emily. Even though they weren’t that close, he knew she was close to Elisabeth, and that automatically put her in a safe category for him. Approachable, at least. Leo nudged the girl playfully, “Whoever made it did a good job, anyway. And why aren’t you out there dancing? Not feeling much of the beat yet?”

[leoreed]

thesamreed​:

“Just don’t get arrested and we’re fine.” Sam joked, not really caring if his brother wanted to get drunk and have fun. As long as he didn’t get arrested, he could pretend that he knew nothing about it. He shrugged at his brother’s question. “Weirdly enough, Ellery invited me.” Sam replied, knowing that he had been surprised to heat from his ex-girlfriend. “She seemed pretty insistent that I come, so I decided that I might as well. It seems like it might be the party of the year.” 

Hearing his older brother’s warning, Leo couldn't help laughing out loud. “Somehow I think that’s going to be the least of your worries tonight. You might have to clean up my puke, at worst,” he joked. Leo highly doubted he would be drinking that much tonight, but sometimes he was easily pulled into his friend’s antics. “Oooo, Ellery,” he cooed, teasing Sam by making a little kissy face. He didn’t know much about his brief fling with the girl, only that she probably would have been the one to dump him. “That’s weird...You don’t think she did it on purpose, like to get back together with you? Would you be interested?”

[leoreed]

thecoltonsparks​:

“It’s just me. I mean, I play my own instruments usually anyway. But we are going acoustics style tonight.” Colton replied with a small shrug. It had been pretty short notice, so Colton hadn’t really had much time to get anyone else here. Not to mention, it wouldn’t have made a lot of sense to do so for financial reasons. “It should be a fun little concert, and it’s free so it’s not like anyone has too much to complain about anyway. “ He added with a small shrug. Colton wasn’t sure how well things were going to go, because he didn’t think Ellery had planned much, but he was willing to go with the flow. “There was a lot of begging involved. I didn’t have much of a choice.”

Leo couldn’t help snorting at the singer’s admission about how he landed the gig in the first place. “Begging? No offence or anything, but I never saw Ellery as much of the begging type.” No - he expected Ellery to demand things, rather than ask for them like other people. Eyes glancing down to the guitar, he said, “Acoustic might be a good idea. It might calm the crowd down a bit. I have to say I haven’t heard that much country music played since I got here. To Ashton. Many Dolly Parton, but that’s about it.”

[leoreed]

itselisabethmoore​:

Elisabeth was only an inch or so away from his lips when he pulled away. She looked at him for a brief moment, before she started laughing. “Yes, Leo!” She screamed over the loud music as she started to dance again. “I am great! I have never been better! I have no idea why, but this night has become so much.. fun!” She admitted, before she stopped a little, looking at him again. “Sorry, I just.. I just wanted to try it, to see what it would be like.” She admitted. “But lets just forget about it, okay? Let’s just dance!” said, holding out her hands, offering them for him to take in case he’d like to join her.

Leo didn’t trust himself with boundaries. He knew himself, one slice of cake would turn into two, one hour awake past midnight would turn into three, and one wrong step with Elisabeth would open a whole world of confusion. He didn’t trust himself - but what she wanted, he wasn’t so sure about. She seemed happy, definitely intoxicated, and he didn’t want to be the kill-joy ruining the party for her. “Yeah...Okay, sure. We can dance.” Forcing a smile, he took her hands. They bounced around a little, breathless and sweaty and probably out of tune. Leo shuffled a bit closer, lowering his head down to Elisabeth’s head so she would hear. “Actually, are you thirsty? I think we should get some water. Or something to eat.”

[leoreed]

shawnlamontagne​:

“Now that’s more like it” he smiled, grabbing Leo’s arm and basically dragging him over to get more drinks for the two of them. “I haven’t seen Emily and I am actively avoiding Ellery, so no. In this crowd I don’t think you’re ever going to find them, let’s be real” he nodded, pouring himself a new drink. “They sure do know how to throw a party, I’ll give them that”

Under the weight of Shawn grabbing his arm by surprise like that, Leo dropped the cup and crushed it under his feet as he was dragged away. Despite being the considerably taller one of the pair, he couldn’t deny that his friend was just as strong as him. At least they were able to carve themselves a clear path to the collection of booze the twins provided. “Actively avoiding Ellery, huh?” Leo smirked, sliding him a beer he popped open. “No chance of ever just a casual ‘hello’ with her? Or does she still bite?”

[leoreed]

itselisabethmoore​:

Elisabeth had been on the dance floor for the past hours or so, consuming multiple cranberry juices, which for some reason made her feel a lot more brave than normal. She stopped and looked at the person closest to her. “I just.. I want to try something..” She said before she started to lean in to the person next to her. 

Going through the motions was simple enough. Foot up. Foot down again. Slide to the right. Sidestep the couple dry humping next to him. Bob his head the main beat thumping the stereo every few seconds. Elisabeth thankfully didn’t care that he was a bad dancer, she just let him be. Making a fool of himself in a sea of other mediocre dancers. He was too out of himself, lost in the music and finally having fun to notice how close she had gotten. Until it was too close. Leo’s pulse throbbed painfully in his throat, dangerous and sickening. He bounded back even before the alcohol in her breath wafted over. “Elisabeth - I don’t think you should,” he gulped. “Are you feeling okay?”

[leoreed]

shawnlamontagne​:

“I said- quit watching the damn tv and come get a drink. You look like a statue, can you loosen up a little?” he said, holding out his own drink which was half full. “Down the rest of this, maybe it’ll help you let go a little bit so we can start having some fun, yeah?”

“What?” Leo snapped back, peering incredulously at his friend. “I am loose.” He resisted saying, or even thinking, too much - a fatal flaw that would make him appear more aloof than he already was. Latching onto the cup Shawn offered, Leo swallowed the remainder of the drink. His throat burned a little as the alcohol washed down his throat too fast. “See? Done.” He smiled sheepishly. “Have you seen Emily or Ellery? Somehow they managed to fit the entire town in here.”

[leoreed]

itstrevorhastings​:

Trevor smiled at the other man. “Yeah, sorry I was just checking to see if you knew where the toilets were..” He said before he entered the room a bit more. He had not expected it to be as many young people here as it was, but then again the concert had sounded like a pretty big deal. “Who is playing?” He asked, noticing the football game on the screen.

“Toilets? Uh, can’t say I do, but -” Leo’s glance snaked over to the side, landing on a queue of party-goers frowning while checking their phones or tapping their feet. “Over there, maybe?” He tilted his head. “The Vikings, I think,” Leo responded. Football was not his preferred sport, but years of locker room talk endowed him with the skills to quickly analyse any match. “but it’s not going well. The defence has holes so large they have their own gravitational pull. Not to mention the star player had one of those nasty head injuries.”

[leoreed]

thesamreed​:

“I said I hope that you are having fun, but don’t have too much fun.” Sam replied, chuckling at his brother. The last thing he wanted to have to do is take care of Leo tomorrow if he decided to get too drunk or something of the sort. Sam took a long swing of his beer, surveying the crowd and trying to see how many familiar faces there were in the crowd. “Are you here for the party or the concert?”

Leo rolled his eyes playfully, turning to his brother with a wry smile. “Yeah, not too much fun, sure,” he said before taking a gulp of his drink camouflaged in a red solo cup. At least Sam didn’t ask what he was drinking exactly. A small part of him was even surprised his brother had time to talk to him at a party in the first place. To Sam’s question, he could only snort in response, genuinely amused. “The party. I think if I was a secret country music fanboy you would know by now...what about you?”

[leoreed]

itsellerylarson​:

Ellery rolled her eyes at him. “I asked you if you were enjoying the party.” She responded before she let her eyes glance over to the screen. “Football?! At my birthday party?” She said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Is it that boring?”

Birthday? For some reason, the fact that the Larson twins’ party was also their birthday party completely crossed Leo’s mind. Out of his element, the boy shook his head wildly. “No, not like that -” he insisted. “I’m just passing the time until more of my friends arrive. And, your birthday.” The brunet latched onto whatever he could to dive away from his anti-social behaviour. “Happy birthday. I hope you like the colour blue, because I might have seen some presents and a card passed around between a few groups of girls outside.”

[leoreed]

theemilylarson​:

“I was asking if you were having fun.” Emily repeated, sending the boy a soft smile. The evening was not going as Emily had planned it, but clearly it was following her sister’s plan. At this point Emily had just decided to try to make the most out of a bad situation. “Yeah, the music is a bit too loud for my liking. You can blame my sister for that one. I am fairly certain that she pretty much wants the police to be called.” She joked.

“Oh - yeah I am. Just settling in, waiting for a friend with more beers,” he nodded, voice thick. Despite how long he’d been at Ashton, Leo was a little embarrassed to admit he still had trouble identifying the twins at times. Given the same tall stature and blonde hair, he did tend to notice that Emily smiled much more out of the two of them. He quirked his upper lip up at her, a coy attempt at a grin. “I’m sure this isn’t the first party ever to get a little rowdy. And whoever made the playlist at knows how to liven up a crowd.”

[leoreed]

thecoltonsparks​:

“Yeah, that’s the plan.” Colton replied with a small shrug. Ellery had begged and pleaded him to do so to the point in which he had basically only agreed because he had been tired of listening to her. He was under the assumption that it was going to be a smaller event, but it seemed like Ellery had actually invited the entire town. “I mean, it’s more of a favor to a friend than anything. But I guess that’s fair.”

Usually, Leo would never drag himself out to a country music concert on his own accord, but the fact that it was coupled with the last town party before the semester started did make the prospect more attractive. Not to mention, his friends were pretty relentless about going. He listened to music sometimes, unironically, if his parents were driving and forgot their AUX cord at home. Leo cocked his head at the musician, the alcohol making his movements sloppy and loose. He asked, “Is it just you, or do you have backup or a band too? It’s nice that you’re doing this for a friend. I think most singers have heads too big to ever do something like that.”

[leoreed]

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” Leo asked, turning away from the football game he’d been watching on a TV left turned on in the living room - not that he could possibly hear anything anyway. He felt too stiff at this party, his limbs too heavy and in the way, even if most of the people surrounding him were his classmates. It usually took a few drinks to beguile Leo into believing he was having a good time, and he didn’t want to go too hard too fast. He glanced at the person leaned against the wall next to him. “I didn’t hear you - music’s too loud.”

[leoreed]

 thecoltonsparks​:

“Honestly, I think don’t know how I got convinced to be here.” Colton replied, letting out a small sigh. This type of party wasn’t his scene, especially not when a lot of the attendants seemed to be a lot younger than he was. Not to mention he was more or less retired from his career at the moment. “I especially don’t know how I got convinced to play music.”

“No way, you’re gonna be singing tonight,” Leo cried out sheepishly, a lot more excited than he would have been under normal circumstances. The alcohol he’d consumed thus far loosened up his facial muscles, making him smile more easily and not feel self-conscious. Leo glanced around the guy’s feet for a guitar, hearing from someone else at the bar that their surprise talent was a a country singer. “Even if this isn’t exactly MTV Music Awards - any publicity is good publicity, right?”

[leoreed]

Text // Leo & Elisabeth

Elisabeth: Thank you! You are a star *star emoji*

Elisabeth: No thank you, that is great!

Leo: alright, if you say so

Leo: if you remember anything else just drop me a dm

Leo: can i call you when im there? i mean at your dorm with the stuff

[leoreed]

thekathryngray​:

Kathryn was glad that the boy was so willing to let her take his picture. Some people really hated that sort of thing, which she could understand, but it always sucked to miss out on a good shot. She watched him get into position, and then nodded excitedly. “Yes, exactly like that. Perfect.” Kathryn replied, assuring Leo that he was doing a good job. She took a few shots, before changing her angle and taking a couple of more. Kathryn was really having some fun now. “Okay, I think I’m done. Some of these are really good. Do you want to see?” 

After many camera clicks and god-awful poses, Leo felt the blush on his cheeks cool down slightly. Embracing the awkwardness, rather than insisting to himself that this is totally fine, helped calm him down and make the most of those brief few minutes. At least the photographer seemed to like what he was doing. He kept smiling, straining his cheek muscles with his grin until she gave the all clear. Leo scooted over to her, squinting to see the pictures on the camera through the strong midday sun. “Wow, these don’t look that bad - I mean, like, I don’t look that bad,” he smiled. “Let me take one of you! You must be sick of always being behind the camera.”

[leoreed]

Text // Leo & Elisabeth

Elisabeth: I mean.. If you would not mind that would be great.

Elisabeth: I have cash so I can pay you back!

Leo: i don't mind at all, i'm glad i could help

Leo: do you need anything else? i might as well run some errands if you need