#event. spring breakers

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# 𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝟎𝟎𝟑 : 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐄

a bit of tasteful body paint and a shotgunned white claw never hurt nobody. ©

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𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 : closed for @orteskycam 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 : by the pool

AT A PARTY, THERE WERE THREE UNIVERSAL TRUTHS : if there was a bonfire, there was a guy with a guitar at it ; if there was a bed, there was a couple fucking in it ; and if there was a pool, there was a group of shitheads throwing people into it. a trio of adp pledges had taken it upon themselves to fulfill that third truth, each one of them more terribly dull than the last. reeve watched their routine from the sidelines, camera out as more of a habit than anything : pick an unsuspecting target— usually a girl or duo of girls just minding their own business, swoop in, hoist them up, throw them into the deep end, pound another beer to celebrate, and repeat every ten to thirty minutes. it was all rather juvenile, reeve thought, but if nothing else, it made for decent b-roll.

when cam stepped out, he felt his stomach drop. out here, standing out was a death sentence, and nothing stood out quite like a fashion faux pas. it was like a time bomb had been set, the bright red and orange sunflowers decorating their torso creating a proverbial and literal target on their back. reeve watched as the pledges tapped each other on the chest, pointed her out, snickering as they geared up to serve another lamb to the slaughter. but before they could make their move, reeve cut them off, his warning glare powerful enough to burn holes in the sides of their thick-headed ( and apparently suicidal ) skulls. seeing that, their shit-eating grins faltered, heads dropping, a trio of over-enthusiastic dogs instantly heeled with a single, disapproving look. good. reeve covered up enough for camille already ; he didn't need to sour the party mood by letting her add murder to the list.

with that settled, he pushed past the trio to approach the younger ortesky himself, his tone caught somewhere between playful banter and genuine accusation as he called out, ❝ you know, i'm pretty sure i explicitly said no hawaiian shirts on the invite. ❞ stopping in front of them, he marked the words with a quick flick of the offending garment's collar. ❝ i'm surprised eliza let you leave in that. ❞

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𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 : closed for @finalghost 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 : a quick kiki on the upstairs balcony

❝ OKAY, FINE. I'LL ADMIT IT. ❞ her heel had barely made it up the last step when reeve, draped over the landing rail overlooking the crowd, caught eliza out the corner of his eye and called out. ❝ you had a couple of good ideas. ❞ more than a couple, but even with how unlikely either of them were to remember this conversation come morning, reeve had a hard enough time getting his own fair dues to feel comfortable relinquishing much credit. still, with the party stretched out before them— laughter sounding from the kitchen over shots of cherry schnapps, dance floor balloons exploding into showers of glitter confetti, a game of suck and blow gathering on the living room floor— he felt he had to give eliza something.

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𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 : closed for @g0dcountry 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 : alpha delta phi fraternity house, on the outskirts of a makeshift dance floor

HE HALF EXPECTS HER TO BE AN APPARITION, the sight of her face in the same frame as a sea of red solo cups and vape smoke so genuinely unbelievable that he's sure she'll disappear if he blinks just one more time. it doesn't happen though. double take, triple take, quadruple, it didn't matter ; isla wardwell remained fixed in reality no matter how many times reeve took his eyes off her. with that realization, he no longer could.

❝ shit, you actually came ! ❞ the greeting came from the middle of the dance floor, reeve all toothy smiles and sharp elbows as he pushed through the throng of bodies to get to her on the fringes. there was a wickedly manic aura to him here, a far cry from the man she knew over textbooks and flash cards, who bitched and moaned over formulas and always seemed just that little bit off, like his mere existence had turned into something chronic, painful, and ill-fitting. even here, he couldn't hide that part of himself entirely— something still misshapen beneath his metamorphosis, though dulled, somewhat, beneath magenta light and the gleaming approval of others enjoying something he had made ( even if their words of praise were wholly misdirected ). were he standing next to luke, the discrepancy would be entirely too obvious. thankfully, luke was tending to his subjects elsewhere, his loyal guard dog left free to his own devices and away from any sort of immediate comparison. for now, at least, he could transform.

as could she, it seemed ! when he invited isla, the action born somewhere between pity and curiosity ( and, perhaps distantly, a smidge of gratitude ), he expected nothing short of a miracle for her to even show up. to see her not only here, but dressed up, fully immersed in a party scene ? well ... maybe it was time to start going back to church.

❝ what the hell, isla ! ❞ arms flew out in what could have been exasperation, if not for the grin still tugging at his face. ❝ it's like ... shit, i don't know. ❞ late. it was late, but he'd lost track of time ( and his phone ) somewhere between britney and the dare. ❝ how long have you been here ? ❞ better yet, ❝ what made you change your mind ?? ❞ even better yet, ❝ do you ever play poker ??? ❞

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𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 : closed for @kcdysb​ 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 : alpha delta phi fraternity lounge room

CUTTING THROUGH THE LOUNGE ON his way to the pool from the dance floor, reeve stopped suddenly and, to be honest, not entirely sure why. sure, this was maybe the first time he’d ever seen kody suzuki-braun alone, with no thomas in front of her and no milo hanging off her back, but it wasn’t like she was of any particular interest to him. she was just the girlfriend of someone he happened to know, little more than a topic for playful banter whenever thomas was around, and locker room style consideration whenever thomas was decisively not. nevertheless, he does stop, specks of glitter scattering to the floor as he tossed a quick finger to the painting he'd caught her looking at. ❝ arreguin, right ? ❞ reeve asked, genuinely unsure. they'd received the piece a few weeks before— something about end of life care and paying respects to an old friend— but reeve didn’t know much about it. he just recognized the style from pieces in the art building. ❝ someone told me there’s supposed to be a bunch of faces in it, but i don’t really see them. just a lot of spirals. ❞ said spirals being incredibly dizzying to look at, amped up on a cocktail of booze and party drugs as he was. he turned to look at her instead, brow raised. ❝ what about you ? tommy mentioned you're an artist, so what do your artist eyes see ? ❞