Our characters so far...
Kyle (18): The Heir to a major conglomerate who has been attending Tuscany Academy for the last 2 months.
Strengths: determined, confident, passionate
Weaknesses: easily jealous, short tempered, impulsive
Likes: breakfast, working out, animals
Dislikes: liars, hypocrites, inactivity
Emily (19): The disciplinary prefect at Tuscany Academy. She has been attending Tuscany Academy for the last 2 years but has a hidden history as a gangster before that.
Strengths: loyal, hardworking, independent
Weaknesses: inflexible, critical, cold
Likes: stuffed animals, nature, physical activities
Dislikes: rule breakers, profanity, lightning
Naomi (18): The heiress to a major restaurant chain. She has been attending Tuscany Academy for the last 4 years.
Strengths: confident, enthusiastic, honest
Weaknesses: Brash, easily attached, spends mad money
Likes: shopping, partying, blogging
Dislikes: The Kardashians, studying, being alone
Brent (19): Emily's right hand man. Now a major executive at The Flaming Dragons. At Tuscany Academy for a unknown reason for last month.
Strengths: protective, compassionate, honorable
Weaknesses: the ladies, indecisive, bears grudges
Likes: the ladies, reading, his privacy
Dislikes: being vulnerable, entitlement, cowards
Candace (17): Heiress to a bakery chain. A sophomore at Tuscany Academy who has lived a low key life so far.
Strengths: gentle, intuitive, open minded
Weaknesses: self conscious, stubborn, naive
Likes: drawing, art galleries, anything romantic
Dislikes: cruelty, public speaking, Small talk
Maddox (19): The leader of the Mad Ox, a notorious gang that is on the rise. Appeared to be being chased at the school festival for an unknown reason.
Strengths: ???
Weaknesses: ???
Likes: ???
Dislikes: ???
xx
Emily sat on the velvet sofa a good distance away from the "boss" of Mad Ox. Unbelievable, she thought to herself. That guy who was getting chased like a puppy on the loose is the leader of the rapidly rising gang Mad Ox? She observed him quietly taking note of his physical shape and his attitude. His demeanor was confident and the men surrounding him were cowering even though he was clearly much younger and smaller in frame. He sipped on his caprisun which he then inflated before turning to Emily. She studied him with bemusement. Was he seriously the Boss? Or was this some sort of a joke?
"Sorry, old habits die hard," he grinned before letting out a sigh. "I apologize for what my men did and will make sure they fully compensate," he sighed as he massaged his temples wryly.
"It's not me they should apologize to, it's someone else who will be here very soon," Emily coolly replied.
He nodded in agreement. "You heard that," he snapped toward the kneeling men. "When that person comes, he will be the one who decides your punishment."
They nodded fearfully, "Yes, Boss!"
"Raise your arms higher!" He snapped and the men immediately straightened their barely crooked arm.
"Will a hand suffice?" He asked as he moved his arm in a swift chopping motion.
She have a slight nod of agreement. Traditional. She liked it.
The men who were kneeling in front of Emily immediately began to blanch and quiver.
"Please, anything but that. We won't rob again." They begged.
"That won't be for you to decide," he said menacingly. Emily felt a little shiver at his tone. His cheerful demeanor with her turned completely cold in a matter of seconds when he turned to his men.
"And you know, about the," he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "kiss; I'll fully compensate for that."
Emily felt her cheeks turn hot. And she was hoping he forgot about that. They had managed to avoid that topic for a good thirty minutes. "No need." She quickly downed the strawberry milk he bought for her to hide her discomfort.
"No, honestly!" He protested. "I'll take full responsibility of what happened that day." He paused before reaching out to hold her hand. Emily turned frozen. He gazed into her eyes imploringly, "Will you marry me?"
Milk spurted out of her lips and drenched Maddox's shirt.
"Sorry, what?" She coughed out.
He awkwardly wiped his face. "I said I'll take responsibility for the kiss; I'll happily marry you," he said solemnly.
"No. Just... no. I'm fine," Emily muttered.
"Emily!" Cried a soft voice from the entrance of the club.
"Thank God," she muttered under her breath.
She winced at Brent's voice which roared, "WHO'S THE BASTARD WHO STOLE THE MONEY? I'M GOING TO RIP HIM INTO SHREDS. I AM GOING TO SKEWER HIS BALLS TOGETHER AND TURN IT INTO A KEBAB,"
"Brent," Emily greeted amicably. "Where's Candace?"
"Over here," squeaked Candace. She popped behind him. She cautiously stepped into the room and absorbed the surrounding, wide eyed. She had never been in a club before nor in the presence of a gang member. Several gang members, she thought fearfully as she took in the men who were kneeling in front of Emily and a cute blonde guy. She weaved through knocked down guys and broken glasses capriciously when Brent hoisted her up and easily placed her on the velvet sofa.
"Thanks," she blushed.
"Hi," waved Maddox cheerfully. "I'm Maddox."
"Hi," Candace waved back awkwardly. "Um, are you the one who stole the money?"
He sighed and shook his head. "No. Unfortunately, it was one of my members. Gabe, come here." He ordered icily.
Gabe slowly stood up with trembling knees, and walked over to where they stood.
"Gabe, apologize to the students of Tuscany Academy and return the money," ordered Maddox.
Gabe glared at Maddox defiantly. "No."
"What did you say?" Say Maddox icily.
"I said no. All of you are rich spoiled brats who have all the time and money in the world. Why the hell are you making it such a big deal for stealing a couple hundred bucks? And why the hell should I follow some stupid ass rule like no stealing? We are gangsters. We do whatever the hell we want. Maddox, you're a joke."
Maddox nodded slowly as he stood up. "I see. Thank you for sharing." He walked over to Gabe and patted his shoulder. He then gently gripped it causing Gabe to grimace. "I appreciate all feedback from my members. However, I am intolerant to anyone who disrespects my guests."
Maddox's grip on Gabe causes him to fall to his knees. "Let this be a lesson to all of you Mad Ox members that yes, you can do whatever the hell you want. But if you carry the name of Mad Ox on your back, there will be repercussions to your actions. The consequences for disrespecting my guests and tarnishing the Mad Ox name is removal from our brotherhood. Like so." Immediately, Maddox followed up with a firm kick on Gabe's chest that has him flying out the door and landing with a crash. "Is that clear?"
"Yes boss," said the rest of the members.
"Perfect," he grinned as he sat back down. "Now where were we...," he trailed off. "Oh yes, an apology." He kneeled in front of Candace and immediately all the men followed suit. "I am sorry for my men's misbehavior. Let me know in whatever way I can repay you for the loss."
Candace crouched down, "you don't have to kneel. Our whole class prepared for the festival and raised this money. We just want it back."
"Of course," said Maddox. He motioned to one of his men and they brought a briefcase out. Maddox unlocked it and everyone's jaws dropped at the crisp stacks of hundreds. "Will this be enough?"
"A tenth of that should cover the money we raised," said Candace weakly.
"Ok," said Maddox. Immediately, the henchman began organizing the bills into another smaller briefcase.
Dangerous, thought Emily. There was more to him than meets the eye.
"Ooh Cheetos," said Maddox excitedly. He grabbed a bunch and stuffed some in his mouth. He immediately began choking, "too spicy."
One of his men promptly began pouring water down his throat and Maddox gargled.
Or not? Thought Emily hesitantly.
After he had calmed down, he turned to Emily, "As a sign of good will, it would mean a lot to me if you lot joined me at my retreat house in Holimont. I can cover the airfare, lodging, food, and resort costs of course."
Whoa, what the hell happened here?" Crowed a loud voice. "And why the hell is Gabe knocked out in the hallway?"
Maddox looked up to see Jack walk in towing in a slightly dazed red head.
"Kyle?" Emily asked disgruntled.
"Emily? What're you doing here?" He slurred. "And why's there two of you?" He muttered as he scrunched his nose questioningly.
"Hey Boss," greeted the pink headed guy but Emily barely took notice. Instead, she followed Kyle's disoriented walk sharply.
"Did you drink again?" Emily asked sourly.
"Just a little," he croaked, "But that's not the point! The point is," he fumbled, "I'm officially a Mad Ox member!" He declared proudly.
"What?" Emily and Maddox both said at the same time.
Jack laughed, "I officially knighted him into our group, Boss! He passed all the tests, well except for the one you're supposed to give. But other than that, he's set!"
"What tests?" Emily asked giving a death glare to the pink haired giant. "Whatever, Kyle, why do you want to be part of the gang?"
"To find the blue haired cow face, that's why!" Kyle admonished. "Where is he?"
Kyle walked dazedly around the kneeling guys who were eyeing him funnily. "Come out you thief! I'm ready to school your ASSSSSSS!"
Naomi snorted and Emily let out a small sigh as walked up to him. She grabbed his hand and he grinned dumbly.
"Emily, you're holding my hand," he said giddily. He locked his fingers around her's.
She rolled her eyes and dragged him to the sofa where she promptly sat him down.
"No," he whined, "I need to find the thief! I need to show you that I lobu you," he mumbled as Emily tried to cover his mouth.
"Sorry, what were you saying Maddox?" Emily asked.
"Um, would you like to join me? At the ski resort?" He asked shyly. "All if you, of course."
"I object!" Declared Kyle as he stumbled up. "Why would she go to a resort with you?" It sounded more like yewwwww in Emily's ears.
Kyle glowered at Maddox. He sized up the guy. He was sitting next to Emily way too close for comfort.
"Heh, how old are you anyways? You look like you barely got out of middle school," Kyle said irritably as he noted the wide blue eyes and dimpled cheeks.
"I'm 19, thanks. And it's cause I must take responsibility for my actions and for my men's." A blush crept up into his cheeks and his voice slightly faltered at the last word.
"What actions?" Kyle asked suspiciously as he wedged himself between the tiny opening between Maddox and Emily.
"Well," Maddox began, "I was getting chased by a rival gang and she happened to be there and-"and?" Kyle prodded.
"I kissed her," Maddox finished simply. Naomi raised a brow and snuck a look at Emily who was staring at her hand intently.
"You what?" Kyle jolted up. "How dare you k-"That's not the point," Emily intercepted as she pushed Kyle out of the way.
"You were being chased by a rival gang?"
"Yeah," Maddox winced. "I've still got some scratches from it. Those assholes popped up out of nowhere."
"Why were you in Flaming Dragon's territory, anyways?" Emily raised a brow and turned around to face Brent who was coolly staring Maddox down.
"Sorry, what?" Maddox narrowed his eyes.
"I said," Brent replied, "Why're you on someone else's territory?"
"Look, this was originally Mad Ox's turf. It was the Flaming Dragon's before, but we're reclaiming it," Maddox finished.
"You should keep yourself busy with what you have. Messing with Flaming Dragons might not be such a good idea right now. Don't get too cocky just cause you took over some turfs, or something bad might happen." Brent said calmly.
"Is that a threat?" Maddox furrowed his brows. His men were slowly rising and staring Brent down.
"No, it's a warning," Brent smiled chillingly.
Maddox crushed the inflated caprisun before smirking, "Well, I've never done well at following directions so you'll have to excuse me."
Emily took in their conversation and knew that there was a lot more going on in the gang world than meets the eye. Brent was holding back on her, she realized. There was no way that he stuck with her this long just to convince her to return. There must be something else, she deducted.
Guess I'll have to question him about it later, she thought. But first, she took a quick look at Candace and Naomi who were watching the interaction wide eyed, I ought to settle this.
Kyle beat her to it.
"Well, it's been lovely sitting smack in the middle between your incredibly boring talks, but we," he dramatically swept his arm towards Emily, Naomi, Brent, and Candace, "ought to leave cause I honestly don't give a shit about what you're talking about and I don't want to spend my Friday evening in a trashed club."
Maddox laughed. "Fair enough. If it's all right with you, we can head over to my resort immediately. I promise it will be a wonderful time."
"I agree," Naomi jumped in. "I absolutely agree," she said throwing a wink at him. Emily glared at her and she shrugged. "What?" She whispered. "He's cute," she giggled excitedly.
xx
And two hours later, all six of them were standing on top of snow during Spring.
"Omg! Snow!" Cheered Naomi as she sleekly turned in her snow board.
"Omg indeed," Emily sighed as she watched Kyle throw a death glare at Maddox every five seconds. Maddox paid him no attention and instead focused on building a snow man.
Brent studied Maddox carefully. He clearly wasn't the easy going nice guy he plays out to be. When it came to gang related business, he meant every word he said and didn't tread lightly. He's probably going to be more difficult to stop that thought. A little voice in him thought that was quite admirable.
"Hey Brent," said a sweet voice. He turned around to see Candace smile shyly up at him. Her long hair was tucked into a neat braid and she wore a cute beanie in the shape of a panda. Her petite frame was twice her usual size because of the puffiness of her dark purple jacket and she shuffled awkwardly in her snow shoes. She's too goddamn adorable, he thought to himself.
"Hey sweetheart," he grinned.
"Have you ever done this before?" She asked.
"Several times, you?" He said breezily.
"I come every winter, but I'm terrible at it," she laughed.
"Are you two going out or what?" Asked Naomi chirpily. She wrapped one arm around Brent and the other around Candace. "It should be any day now," she joked.
Candace blushed and stammered, "N-no, we're just friends."
"Friends, my ass!" Naomi laughed. "Seriously, what's going on between you two?" Naomi prodded them, grinning cheekily.
"Nothing that's of your concern," Brent smirked.
"Ooh. Secretive, aren't we? What's that supposed to mean?" Naomi asked playfully.
"Whatever you want it to," he grinned.
Brent winked and kicked his feet, propelling the snowboard forward and gliding down the hill. Candace watched in awe at how easily he maneuvered through the people and how dashing he was. She was focusing on him so intently that she didn't realize that a drifting skier was coming straight towards her. Suddenly, she crashed into him and started rolling down the hill. Everything was a flurry of white. She finally came to a stop. She painted hard and slowly unclenched her fists. When she opened her eyes she found herself face to face with Brent.
"Candace, you alright?" His eyes were filled with concern and searching her face for injuries and all she could do was smile. His face was so close to her's. She hoped she didn't seem to silly smiling up at him like that.
He nudged her cheek, "you okay? You look a little dazed."
She nodded sheepishly and when another skier flew by he quickly grabbed her and pulled her closer. She felt his heart beating rapidly beneath the thick winter jacket and she felt a blush creep to her face.
I'm so glad I came here, she thought blissfully.
Emily watched Brent wistfully as he snow boarded down the hill. She would ask him for help but he was busy with Candace and she didn't want to bother him. Naomi was already chatting up Maddox which only left... Kyle. Funny how she was trying to lose him the entire time, and now she was looking for him. She searched the valley for the familiar red head and the unbelievably bright clothes he chose to wore today. Sure enough, she easily spotted him snowboarding down gracefully. He zoomed by her and she saw a wide smile on his face and she couldn't help but smile as well. Damn it, she thought. What the hell am I thinking?
Kyle clambered over to her with a big grin on his face. His face was slightly red from the cold but his eyes were bright and excited. "Come on, why aren't you snowboarding?"
She shrugged awkwardly refusing to tell him that she doesn't know how. But he quickly caught on and grabbed her hand.
"What're you doing?" She asked in shock as she tried to shake off his hand.
"Taking you to a bunny hill," he smiled. "I'll help you."
She blushed but hid her face behind her thick scarf so that he couldn't see.
"Alright, so first off, you needa know which one's your lead foot. So test your right foot first," he began. "Then your other one."
She gently shifted her feet. "I'm more comfortable with my right one."
Kyle nodded and as he helped her shift feet a smile crept onto his face. For once, he was helping her and what more she's the one who holding onto my hand. He grinned widely.
"Alright, then put that one in the front binding. Got it?"
She nodded. "Then, bend your knees slightly. Make sure you keep balance."
She glanced at him nervously but he nodded encouragingly.
She nodded again but still held onto his arm tightly. He gently started moving with her, holding her shoulder and gently prodding her.
"The most important thing is balance. To move all you needa do is shift your foot, but the key is balance."
She nodded again fixated at her feet which were now slowly gliding down the snow. "Don't let go," she stammered.
"I won't," he lied as he gently loosened his grip. Slowly and surely, she was moving on her own down the hill and letting out peals of laughter.
"I'm doing it!" She said in excitement. "I'm doing it!"
"Go Ems!" He cheered as she zoomed down the hill.
Suddenly, she started panicking. "I can't stop! Kyle, I don't know how!"
Oh shit, he thought.
"Shift it upward! Or fall! Just fall!"
Emily kicked herself back and landed on her butt, slowly coming to a stop.
"You alright?" He asked worriedly as he knelt besides her. Her dark grey parka was covered in snow and her ear muffs hung awkwardly. Hopefully, she wasn't injured.
Emily gazed at him in shock. Her heart hammered but she started breaking down... laughing.
"That was," laughter burst out, "so much fun," she said through tearing up eyes.
He watched her bemusedly before cracking up himself when she mischievously tugged on his pants causing him to topple as well. He pushed himself out of the snow only to have new facial hair made of snow. She started snickering and he flicked some snow at her which she mockingly gasped at.
"No, you did not!" She narrowed her eyes before grabbing a handful of snow and tossing it at him.
He laughed, "That was pitiful."
"Oh yeah?" Emily asked challengingly, how bout this?" She heaved a whole bunch of snow together and dumped it on top of his head causing a small hill to form on his beanie.
He sputtered through the snow, "I'm gonna get you." She shrieked in exhilaration as he got up. The snowboards were briefly abandoned as they chased each other in circles around the dense woods and snow.
"Not so tough now huh, Ems?" Kyle snickered as Emily gasped through a face mask of snow. He had managed to lose her after she pelted him with tiny snow balls and had hid behind a giant stump. There, with the few minutes he had, he managed to make a snow ball a little bigger than a volley ball and managed to chuck it straight at her.
"Jerk!" She screeched before coughing as she swallowed a mouthful of snow.
"Sweet, sweet revenge," he laughed as he dodged a throw.
She was easily catching up to him even with the snow covering her spectacles when she suddenly tripped.
"You alright?" His previous competitiveness washed away into concern.
"Gotcha!" Emily shouted as she shoved a bunch of snow at his face. He toppled over and she attempted to run off.
"Not so fast, Ems," he laughed as he pulled her towards him toward the snow. However, she landed square on his chest and her nose brushed slightly against his when Brent's booming voice called out, "Where are you guys? It's time for dinner!"
Emily quickly jumped off of him but he pulled her towards him again. She landed with a thud onto his chest. His eyes were a dark blue, clouded with emotions and she felt as though she could get lost in them. She tried to pull away but he held her close.
Kyle wanted time to pause in that moment. Even just for another minute. His eyes traced the outlines of her face, taking in her pink cheeks, chapped lips, furrowed brows and lastly her dark green eyes. Those eyes that never gave anything away. He whispered softly, "I will wait for you."
When he realized she wasn't going to leave, he gently let go of her arms and cupped her cheeks. "I'll wait however long it takes. Don't think that by pushing me away, my feelings will for you change."
She let out a small gasp of breath before pushing herself off him. She gave him one long look before running back up the hill. The warmth of his hands were still tinging his cheeks and his words were ringing in her head.
AUGUST IS TOMORROW! ZOMG... THAT MEANS COMMON APPS BEGINS! DDUN DDUN DDUN ANYWAYS, THANKS FOR READING AND COMMENTS AND VOTES ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED! So what do you think about Maddox? Isn't his name just the cleverest? lol just kidding x) mehehe I'll be updating soon so keep watch!