COHEN JAMES. college sophomore; nineteen. charlie gillespie. TAKEN.
and, as cameron james once said:
“Just 'cause you're beautiful, that doesn't mean that you can treat people like they don't matter.”
BEFORE THE PARTY;
Cohen James’ had been yet to be sold on his recent move to Rosewood, Illinois. Why is that? You might be asking yourself. The answer being that he just wasn’t really to be tied down. That was what Rosewood represented to him. Being chained down, given that his return to Rosewood came with a whole lot of responsibility that he wasn’t too sure he was ready for.
You see, before Cohen found himself in Rosewood— he’d been enjoying his best life. He’d decided to take a leap year from college, promising his family members that once the year was over he’d settle down. He’d be the perfect little pencil pusher they’d wanted him to be. But the second he landed in his destination of choice, he threw his phone into the nearest garbage can. He just wanted to be free. From that moment on, he relegated himself to doing good out in the real world. He joined a number of non profit organizations over seas, helping those who actually needed help. He built homes, he cooked meals, he taught. He found all of that to be actually fulfilling, whilst also allowing him to see the world and actually see it.
Now, Cohen knew he was lucky to have been born into the James’ family. He’d essentially won the silver spoon lottery, his family being one with old money. Like old-old money. But with all that money, came so many responsibilities. Yes, he often flew to these amazing countries with his parents but he never really got to enjoy these trips because they were solely for business. So he saw the world through hotel rooms, car rides and plane flights. It all became rather mundane. That entire world, from the people who simply lived to flaunt off their excess to the pressures of fitting in— it’d terrified him so for that reason, he’d taken off.
But he’d find himself pulled back into the fold, at the request of his grandfather. Given his cousin, Calvin’s bypassing of his duties as the future head of their family’s printing empire— those duties fell upon him. And solely him, as they were the sole grandchildren. A part of him wanted to do like his cousin, turn down the offer but he knew that’d simply break his grandfather’s heart. This was something he wanted in their family and in their family alone, so Cohen made a choice to honor that and found himself on the next flight to Rosewood.
So that’s how he’d found himself in Rosewood, stuck in stuffy business suits and all. At least he’d gotten to keep his longer locks, at his grandfathers insistence. Sure, the man might have meant business but he was also a pretty dope old man if he had to say so himself.
And if he had to be honest, Rosewood hadn’t been all that terrible. He’d heard pretty great things about the town, from his older cousin and now, his cousin’s best friend— Penn Orville. The guy had become his unofficial but official guide to all things, Rosewood. Under his tutelage, he’d learned all about the social factions that the town had to offer. From the Greasers to the Elite, he’d been given the breakdown.
But he hadn’t said anything about one, Birdie Stratford.
It’d just taken one look at the woman and he’d found himself enthralled by her immediately. The words ‘I pine, I burn, I perish’ having had left his lips in his drunken stupor when describing his feelings towards her to Penn.
Although getting a date with the woman wasn’t going to be as easy as flashing that notoriously adorable grin of his, no. Apparently her father was well-known for being a bit overbearing on his daughters, to the point that it was a well known fact that Birdie wasn’t allowed to date. Well, that was unless her older sister, Kenya dated. A little tidbit Birdie had dropped on him during one of their study sessions.
Cohen thought that’d be easy to do. If she was Birdie’s sister, there was no way someone wouldn’t want to date her. That was until he got to meet said sister for himself. He was sure Kenya was a lovely person, but she wasn’t exactly the most friendly person he’d encountered in Rosewood. He liked to think that there were some people that wouldn’t mind dating a difficult woman though. People jumped off of planes and skied off of cliffs all of the time, this could have been like that for someone. But when Penn and himself attempted to find some potential candidates, most of the guys simply laughed and in the case of one guy, screamed at the thought.
Out of options, he was beginning to accept that perhaps Birdie and himself just weren’t meant to be. That was until Penn suggested him, Pete Verona. The two turned their attention onto the guy, who was literally playing with fire at the moment. A part of him thought that the guy might have been a bit too off-putting but that almost applied to Kenya, so perhaps they’d be a match made in off-putting heaven. So Cohen garnered the courage to approach the guy, who was quick to turn down whatever he had to say. But that didn’t stop Cohen from trying to get the guy to warm up to him, which happened when they realized they had a mutual love for comic books.
Sure, the two were pretty different from each other but they actually got along pretty well from that moment on.
Pete eventually found himself receptive to the idea, so long as Cohen paid for the expenses that came with dating Kenya. He happily obliged if that meant that he had a chance to woo that Stratford sister that made his heart race. Not only that but Cohen found himself slipping Pete a bit more money, not that he’d asked for it... but Cohen knew that things were rough on his side of things and he wanted to help out his friend however he could.
Now with all his bases covered, Cohen shot his shot. He invited Birdie to some party happening that weekend and rather than turning him down as she had often, she’d agreed. Again, she’d agreed and it’d felt like a dream. So much so, he had to pinch himself to assure that it hadn’t been one but no, he was very much awake.
He was in the game, baby !
DURING THE PARTY;
Cohen felt as perhaps he was blowing it. This was his chance with Birdie, the chance he’d been working for and it just wasn’t anything like he’d pictured it to be. He sort of thought that he’d have Birdie laughing at his jokes and that maybe she’d want to just hang out with him for the remainder of the night. But that wasn’t how the night was going.
They’d spent the last hour wandering the party, greeting a ton of different people. Now, he didn’t have a problem with meeting people, he loved meeting new people but for some reason... it felt more like Birdie was flaunting him. Weird, right? A part of him was flattered, he’d like to think that this was a sign that she liked him. You don’t go around introducing your date to everyone unless you liked them. And sure, the conversations often turned to that of his new job and where he liked to spend his summers— which was a bit too shallow for him but it was small talk.
The two eventually seemed to have come to a stop, Cohen making a light joke about having met just about everyone in Rosewood thanks to her. It wasn’t all that well received, but at least she smiled. He couldn’t stop thinking if he was doing something wrong. He had to be? Maybe he should ask her? But before he could, everyone’s attention turned to what was happening on a table not so far from them.
Birdie’s sister was dancing on a table. And not just dancing but like breaking it down. He was beyond impressed by her moves, despite the fact that Birdie looked like she’d rather die in that moment. He didn’t see what there was to be embarrassed about, as he let Birdie know. Actually, he thought it was cool that she could let loose.
But as soon as it appeared like he’d managed to get Birdie to drop whatever guard she’d had up towards him, he’d heard some pretty disparaging words towards Kenya. Things that someone should never say about anyone, yet alone, a lady. So Cohen couldn’t help but react and that led to him being punch in the eye by who he’d come to find out was a major fashion model. What a great icebreaker that was gonna be, but the best part of it all to him was that Birdie— yeah, the same Birdie that he’d been pining over... well, she punched that jerk right back.
alternate faceclaims and prompts.