Young Writers Society

You are a student at the Tristony Academy of the Magical Arts, the most prestigious academy in the world for Chosen Ones and their sidekicks. And yes, you are a sidekick. But that's not even the worst part. What's really been driving you crazy is that the Chosen One and the other sidekick in your trio have been making googly eyes at each other for months. What is a third wheel like you to do?

Well, find more third wheels, of course!





I intend for this to be a silly, lighthearted roleplay where a bunch of third wheels get up to fun shenanigans! There may also be an underlying plot where our third wheels have to save the day... >.>

Anyhow, please keep things PG! I suggest inventing creative replacements for swears, such as, "Oh, carrots!" or "That moldy piece of bread" =P

As for abilities, anything magical goes, as long as it's not OP. So flying would work, but it should have some limitations, like your character can only fly for a few hours max. ^^

Here's the character profile template! Feel free to make character profiles for the other two members of your character's trio as well. Their ages should be around 12 to 18, though you can PM me for exceptions.

Code: Select all

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Pronouns:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Magic ability:[/b]
[b]Other:[/b]

Please post in the OOC Thread before joining! <3

Karter grimaced. Tyla and Barrin were at it again with the lovestruck gazes. Ever since they'd defeated that sunflower monster together last semester, something had changed between them, and they kept finding excuses to stare into each other's eyes. Karter wasn't normally one to feel jealous, but he was a bit miffed about being ignored like this.

He sat on the edge of the fountain, chin in his hands. "Hey guys. Wanna get some cookies from the cafeteria?"

Normally, Barrin would jump at the chance for food, but they were too busy staring at Tyla. The two of them were lost in a world that consisted only of them and the stone bench they were sitting on.

Karter sighed. "The world is ending. Fire is falling from the sky. I'm going to dieeeeee!"

The only reaction his melodramatic statements provoked was a soft "mhmm" from Tyla as she brushed a lock of hazel hair out of her face.

"Alright, I'm gonna go. Let me know when you guys are back to normal." Karter walked away, crossing his arms in exasperation. Was there some kind of solution or cure to this?

He'd have to think about it more. And his preferred thinking place was the courtyard behind the library.

“Yes sir, I understand,” Veronica lied to the principal, “I won’t do it again, I promise.” She used her most convincing fake apology voice.

The principal’s eyes narrowed. “Veronica, this is the fourth ‘promise’ you’ve made this semester,” he said, using air quotes. “Get into trouble one more time, and I may have to recommend you for expulsion.”

Veronica’s eyes narrowed too, but she didn’t say anything.

The principal sighed. “You are dismissed, Ms. Blazes. I will be contacting your parents later.”

Veronica stormed out, shutting the door a little too hard. She slowly walked down the long corridor, which led from the principal’s office to the rest of the school. The amethyst crystals on her horns swayed in cadence with her footsteps.

His words echoed in her head.

“Veronica, this is the fourth ‘promise’ you’ve made this semester.” Ha! Well, that shows what he knows! Veronica had caused trouble way more than that; the four ‘promises’ were the only four times she got caught.

“Get into trouble one more time, and I may have to recommend you for expulsion.” Who cares? Who said she had to do this whole ‘chosen sidekick’ thing anyways? Destiny? Well, destiny could kiss her hooves! Maybe she’d drop out of school entirely. Maybe she’d be something else—like a government spy. Yeah, she would make a great spy.

“I will be contacting your parents later.” That didn’t bother her so much. She had heard it all before. Her parents would give her the same old “you know better than this” and “how many times do we have to tell you?” and “we worked hard to get you into this school, and this is how you repay us?”

That last one was technically true. Veronica and her family were tieflings—their ancestors long ago had made a deal with demonic entities, and they bore the consequences. Veronica’s purple skin and cloven hooves made her stand out from most of her classmates, but she didn’t really mind; she was proud of her heritage. Most students here didn’t seem to mind either.

Things were much different back at home; at her old village, tieflings were regarded as second-class citizens. Her parents had to fight fang-and-claw to get to the top. They spent a lot of time and money getting her into this fancy school.

But could they really blame her? She was just having some fun! And, sure, some may argue that letting loose a bunch of tiny frogs into the library isn’t ‘fun,’ but Veronica begged to differ.

She was about halfway through this corridor. Seriously, how long is this thing? She picked up pace. Out of boredom, she lifted up her necklace. It was a cloudy white orb, with shimmering sparkles inside. She had been gifted it by a mysterious aunt who she never met.

“Oh, Amulet of Enigma,” she chanted, “Show me… Mallory.”

The necklace vibrated and lifted out of her hands. The air above it wiggled and spun, until an image was visible. It was flat and oval-shaped, like a mirror. It floated in front of her face, and was currently foggy.

The scrying portal began to clear up, and someone became visible. She was a middle aged woman, wearing an old-fashioned dress and churning butter.

Veronica groaned. If you didn’t give a first and last name, the amulet would just give you some random person with the same name.

“No, I mean Mallory Adair!” She specified. The scrying portal went foggy again, then showed a girl talking to someone. Blue fins stuck out from the sides of her head, and her cheeks and arms had scales. She sat in a wheelchair made specifically for merfolk, which had a water tank at the bottom to put her tail in (she was not quite old enough to grow legs yet).

“Who is she talking to?” Veronica asked to herself.

The amulet answered by shifting the viewpoint of the scrying portal. Right next to Mallory was a dark-haired boy, with a much-too perfect face and a seal skin draped around his shoulders.

“Ugh, of course!” Veronica grumbled.

Mallory was her childhood friend from the village. Ever since they were little, they would get into all sorts of trouble—like when they put a spell on their mean elementary school teacher to give her a big, bumpy nose.

Those times were great.

But recently, Mallory has been hanging out with someone new—Kenneth. Ugh, just his name made Veronica angry!

He was the ‘chosen one’ of their trio. What exactly about him got on Veronica’s nerves? Was it his pompousness and his constant need to show off? Was it the fact that girls fawned over him, even though he wasn’t even that hot?

These were contributing factors, but what really sold it was the fact that he took Mallory away from her. Mallory didn’t want to hang out that much anymore, and she didn’t want to cause trouble like they used to.

Veronica continued to watch the scrying portal. The portal showed everything in black-and-white, and she could not hear what they were saying. Kenneth made some sort of grand gesture towards the pond. He put his seal skin over his head and jumped in. The scrying portal’s viewpoint shifted again, and showed that he had transformed into a seal. With his flipper, he beckoned Mallory to jump in too.

Veronica could not stand to see his face any longer. She waved her hand to dismiss the scrying portal.

What did Mallory see in this guy, anyways? There was no way she actually liked him. He was a selkie, after all—he probably used some sort of charm to make her fall in love.

She had reached the end of the hallway. She looked over at the huge grandfather clock next to her. Lunch had started a few minutes ago.

She sighed. She would normally sit with Mallory at lunch, but that was obviously out of the question. Maybe she could people-watch through her amulet? That sounded like a good idea. She’d need somewhere quiet and uncrowded to do it, though.

She stepped out of the corridor and headed for the courtyard behind the library.

As the track and field coach shouts, “On your mark. 3, 2, 1, go!”

Solana runs across the track field along with other students who are well trained in Physical Education while Solana just has confidence. She loved Physical Education but the subject wasn't right for her build.

In the middle of her competition, she scrapes her knees. “Ugh!”

Although, she just keeps running but ends up to be last. “Jeez, I fought for that trophy!”

“It’s okay,” her friend, Luna, says. “You can try again next time.”

Luna was that one girl that felt like the main character of the film that always wears makeup and dresses up to attract boys. Because she is in desperate need of a boyfriend.

“Quit putting on your Nars concealer and help me find a band aid for my wound.” Solana rummages in her bag.

“OK.” Luna looks through her bag too.

“Hey, I’ve got a bad aid.” A pretty boy approaches Solana.

“Oh, thanks Kai!” Solana places the band aid on the wound on her knee. “This will definitely vanish in a few da-”

She sees her only two best friends meet each other for the first time. Luna was definitely the most infatuated over Oliver but he wasn’t that lovestruck. Solana knows deep down in her heart that Oliver will fall deeper than Luna. Oliver thinks he’s the coldest person you could ever meet but the truth is, he’s really sensitive and affectionate.

“Hey.” Luna smiles differently. Bubbly but in love. “I’m Luna.”

“Hi,” Oliver utters coldly, trying to hide the fact that he is in front of the love of his life. “I’m-”

“Oliver.” Solana butts in. “Yeah. he’s my friend too. He is the one who introduced me to this academy. And Oliver, this is Luna. I met her in this academy. She showed me around which was great. Three of us could be besties. What do y’all think?”

“Yeah.” Luna plays with her hair.

Ugh, c’mon. Solana thought in the back of her head. Your Honor, she’s down bad.

“Yeah.” he taps Solana’s shoulder. “See you around.”

As soon as he walks into the school, Luna hugs Solana from the back. “Who is he? Where is he going? How old is he? Can he be my-”

“No, and hold it right there.” Solana waves her hand. “Do you need a slap on the face so you can go back into reality? Hello, beach-blondy. He’s my friend and you are my friend, and no one is going to date anyone.”

“You never know,” Luna smiles. “He might be the love of my life.”

“Oh, for crying out loud.” Solana sighs.

“I swear, Lana.” She giggles like a baby who just said their first word. “He's so my type. He’s got those eyes you can swim in, olive skin with tiny, cute freckles down his arms and neck, and bouncy curls at the back of his head. I wonder what his magical ability is. What type of guy is he?”

“Luna,” Solana sighs. “Can we talk about this later? Or you ask him all the questions in your head about him? Hmm?”

“I’m shy.”

“And I don’t want to be involved with your lovey dovey trash.” Solana walks into the school. “You want me to call him so all three of us can talk while eating in the cafeteria?”

“OK.” Luna hops and skips in excitement. “I’m going.”

The school day started slow, but soon, it was going to end Or, close to lunch. Lum sighed, shaking their head at the nonsense conversations happening all around them.

At least his fifth period was without both of his only friends, since they were grossly in love whenever they were close by. Ugh. He shivered just thinking about how annoying it was being around them for hours on end. The weekend was gonna suck again, probably.

Lum pulled out their phone, hovering over the group chat they used to love between their best friends, Noel and Noah. Now, though, both names even made them feel sick. They would have rather had no friends then had two friends that fell in love with each other and made them feel so left out.

He really needed to find other friends, even though he was so bad at talking to others, especially strangers. Maybe he should've just stayed on Veed. There, basically everyone was lonely in some way -- they had all been stuck in their own situations forever.

Once the bell rang, Lum did not even try to send a message in the ever-spamming group chat they had with Noel and Noah. The two of seemed to be so obsessed with each other that they did not even acknowledge anyone, even getting late to classes and missing exams all cause they could not bear to look away from each other for a minute.

They did not even know which person was meant to be the main character of the group since both of them seemed to be having weird things happening around them -- fighting monsters with a luckily dropped weapon nearby, befriending someone that seemed to be a great asset within a few seconds, and even more.

Lum was lucky if they didn't get late to class cause the bus always ran late, despite waking up even earlier to get to the bus stop.

Well, today, it was lunchtime now. They did not feel like hanging out with the lovebirds, so they started walking very fast towards the courtyard behind the library. Maybe Lum can finally get some fresh air from everyone there.

"Get back here, Alka!" Hailey shouts as the mischievous girl flies down the hallway.

"I'm so sorry about your earbuds," she says, "Alka is such a weirdo."

Cameron holds the broken crystals in his hand. Before they were broken, they functioned as a magical listening device that allowed him to listen to music quietly.

"It's fine. I'll find somewhere else to listen."

"All right," Hailey says, ruefully, "I mean, you could just make one right now, right?"

"Yeah," says Cameron, "But anything I create with my voice will disappear once I'm done singing. And I want to listen to music."

"Right, right. Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to catch up with Alka before she blows something up."

Hailey dashes off and Cameron waves her away.

After standing there for a moment, thinking about what to do, he turns toward the library, deciding that it would be a great place to listen to music.

Is it just me, or are Alka and Hailey so much closer now? Cameron thinks, frowning. Of course, they're not mean to him or exclude him, but he just feels like the two of them have a kind of bond that he doesn't.

"Maybe they decided to be best friends," Cameron murmurs to himself, nodding.

When he gets to the library he enters and realizes his mistake. Without the earbuds, he can't listen to music quietly, and will have to play it at a normal volume. Therefore, the library is not a fitting place for listening to music.

Maybe I should try the courtyard behind the library? I'm already here anyway. It's worth a try.

The courtyard behind the library was a secluded place. There was a stone path leading from the right side of the library to the courtyard, but it was partly hidden by some bushes that the gardener never bothered to trim. As such, although Karter did see a few other people there from time to time, it was less crowded than the main area of the library or the various cafes around campus.

Karter tugged his satchel past a particularly annoying branch and emerged into the courtyard. The ground was paved with slate grey stones, and a quiet fountain burbled in the center. Four stone benches surrounded the fountain. Thankfully, the place was deserted, so Karter would probably be able to think in peace.

Karter brushed some yellow leaves off one bench and settled onto it with a sigh. He tipped his head up towards the tree above him and started pondering possible solutions.

Tyla and Barrin couldn't be under some kind of curse, right? Barrin was immune to magic. So that meant they were in love for real... Karter didn't want to get in the way or anything, but surely they could find a balance that included not completely ignoring Karter? But how could they even start to work out a solution if Karter couldn't even talk to them? Maybe Karter could get his hands on some listening potion to make Tyla, at least, listen to him?

Karter had been so excited to work with those two. They'd stood out, Tyla with her height and intelligent gaze, and Barrin with their infectious smile. The trio's chemistry had been excellent from their first quest, and they'd taken down the rogue fairy in barely an hour. Karter hadn't even minded not being the Chosen One, because Tyla had treated both him and Barrin like equals. Actually, more than equals-- like friends.

He just wanted things to go back to the way they were. Karter sighed and adjusted his position on the bench. Then he froze. There was a slight rustling sound, like someone coming through the bushes.

Veronica’s hooves clicked along the stone path. Scrying on random people was a fun and low-energy activity that would take her mind off of Mallory and Kenneth. The courtyard behind the library was the perfect place to do it, as nobody ever went there.

That was, until today. She stopped as he heard someone setting down their bag.

She hesitated a bit, before standing on her tip-toes. She looked over the bushes, to see a brown-haired boy siting on a bench by the fountain.

She held back a chuckle. Who was this nerd? He looked like someone who got scared easily.

She wanted to test that theory.

She crouched down low and took careful steps towards the courtyard. The bushes rustled as she did so.

She was almost in the courtyard now, but she waited a bit. The leaves stopped rustling as she stopped moving. She waited for about thirty seconds.

Veronica’s lips curled into a devious smile.

She leaped out of the bushes, right in front of the boy. “Boo!” She yelled.

"Ahhhhh holy potatoes!" Karter reached into his satchel in a panic and pulled out some shrunken tomatoes, resizing them in a blink and throwing them at the monster? being? errrr... student in front of him.

Karter gaped open-mouthed at the purple-skinned being. She didn't look human, but she definitely didn't look like a monster, either. "Oh. I'm- I'm so sorry." He fished around in his satchel and pulled out a miniature head of lettuce, which he quickly grew back to normal size. "Um, would you like to clean the tomato pulp off with some lettuce?" He offered an apologetic smile.

Internally, Karter winced. His first instinct had to stop being "pelt the scary thing with tomatoes."

Trigger Warning: Violence

In the cafeteria, Luna waits for Solana and Oliver. “Hmm? Where are they?”

Meanwhile, Solana fetches Oliver. “Hey! Kai, the girl you saw and that I introduced to you, is there in the cafeteria waiting for us. You wanna come join us and have lunch? Where are you anyway?”

She knocks ten times on his dorm’s door and sighs. “He’s probably not here.”

Solana goes to the cafeteria. Her original plan was to eat and talk with them. But when she arrived at the cafeteria, she saw Oliver and Luna getting food together. She grabs a tray, a plate and some utensils. She cuts the line to talk to Luna and Oliver on the way. “Hey, I didn’t know you guys were here.”

“I’ll get some chicken, one serving of potato salad and an iced tea.” Oliver says and hands the money to the cafeteria lady. “Thanks!”

He goes to a table.

“Hey, may I order the same as the guy?” Luna asks.

“Sure, sure.” The cafeteria lady puts a chicken leg and some rice on her plate, a bowl of potato salad, and a 16 ounce cup of iced tea on her tray.

“Hey,” Solana taps Luna’s shoulder. “I thought you hate potatoes?”

“I like them now.” Luna sits beside Oliver
.
Solana frowns then smiles at the lady. “Hi Miss Walter, may I have a slab of salmon coated in teriyaki sauce, and a side of a salad and a Coke?”

“OK.”

“Thanks.” She hands the money to the lady and gets her tray.

“Hey Kai.” Solana sits in between Oliver and Luna. “You didn’t tell me you were having lunch with my friend, Moon.”

“Moon?” Oliver says, confused. “I thought her name was Luna.”

“Luna means moon, dummy.” Solana laughs. “People around her here call her that. That’s like her pet name.”

“Yeah, what’s your pet name, Oliver?” Luna asks in a baby voice.

God, I hate it when she speaks like a baby. Solana thought.

“Um, a lot of people call me Water boy because of the character in that movie, Water Boy. And because I can manipulate water.” Oliver explains. “Some call me Ollie because it’s a nickname derived from my real name, Oliver. Well, Lana likes to call me Kai because it's my last name.”

“Cool!” Luna chuckles.

“How about you?” Oliver asks.

“Um, me.” Luna gets excited. “People call me Moon like what Lana said. But well, Lana calls me beach-blondy from time to time because of my hair and I love the beach.”

“No,” Solana says. “I call you that just because of your hair, not because of the fact that you like beaches.”

“OK, whatever.” Luna sulks and eats a potato from the salad she ordered. She is obviously disgusted.

“Why did you order a salad that you don’t even like?” Oliver asks Luna.

Holy potatoes! Solana laughs. He noticed the fact that she doesn’t like potatoes. Hahaha!

“I don’t know.”

I can’t believe that he noticed. Luna thought. What should I do?

“I’m just taking that if you don’t want it.” Solana says.

“Can we share?” Oliver asks.

“Alright.”

Why did she order a salad she didn’t even like? Oliver ponders. Yo, that’s kind of cute.

“Yo, guys.” Solana swallows the food in her mouth. “I thought of something crazy but can give us a ton of information about each other. Let’s talk about our lives before we went to this academy. Oliver, you start.”

“Why me?” Oliver makes a face. “You’re the first to initiate this.”

“Don’t I go ahead?” Luna smiles.

“Sure, sure.” Oliver and Solana speak at the same time.

“Um, I was born on February 14, 2008. I’m fifteen years old and I live near the beachside.” Luna illustrates. “I am an only child and I lived with my mom only. My parents are divorced and my dad left us when I was eight. I figured out my magic ability when, one night during summer vacation in 1st grade, the moon was full and I stayed there until midnight. And the moon was rotating and I could feel an energy approaching me as it spinned around and round. Then my body was floating in the sky and I was sent to the moon. Like it was calling onto me or something. The moon said something that I haven’t figured out yet and it blasted a grey substance into my right eye.
I woke up in my house and my mom noticed that my eye was grey and grey as the moon. Since she’s a doctor, she tried to fix my eye but then, every time she touched it, both of my eyes turned stormy grey. My hands were cold and my body quaked and then I killed many doctors and nurses that tried to help my mom take it out. So, she and I visited a magician and they told us to go to Tristony Academy. And now, I’m here.”

“That’s pretty weird.” Oliver states. “So, your ability and power is connected to the moon.”

“Yeah, that’s why her name is Luna and it means moon.” Solana clears her plate.
“She can gain power from lunar energy.”

“Yes.” Luna says. “That was the energy that was calling onto me at night on the beach.”

“Cool.” Oliver smiles.

Oh. My. God. Luna thought. His smile is so gorgeous.

“Hey,” Solana widens her eyes in excitement. “Oliver and I can play rock, paper, scissors to know who will be the first to tell their story.”

“OK.” Oliver giggles. “This is going to be fun.”

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

Solana puts up a rock and Oliver puts up a scissor.

“Aw, come on!”

“Yes!” Solana wiggles in happiness. “I’m the best.”

“OK.” Oliver smiles shyly. “Um, I was born near the beach too. I’m sixteen years old on November 7, 2006. I have an older sister and she’s the one taking care of me because our dad died because of an addiction to smoking very recently. The reason why is that his insides exploded and he vomited his guts and lost a lot of blood. Our mom also died but that was when I was born. She died because of me and my twin brother also died because I ate him in the womb. So yeah, it’s just me and my sister. Well you guys know my powers already but I’ll tell you how I figured it was my powers.
My father was vomiting out blood and his guts too. I was trying to help him by patting his back but then the more he tapped his back, more blood came out instead of guts. So, he choked. I sent him to the hospital but then it was so late. I got angry so I went to the beachside and waves of water raged like I did. My sister saw me so she recommended me to this academy. Although, I found it weird that I am the only one with powers in the family. I asked my sister that but she said she hid her powers from me because I was going through a tough time. I don’t have parents and I ponder over things a lot. Then, I met Solana and she was bullied for not knowing the path to a class. So I taught her.”

“Yeah and that’s part of my story too.” Solana laughs.

“But, I feel bad for you.” Luna is teary-eyed. “You lost your parents, you just have your sister. If you think about it, it’s sad.”

“Yeah, I know.” Oliver laughs. “Don’t worry. I’m over it.”

Well, I lied. Actually, my heart is still broken from the fact that my dad died. Oliver thought.

“So, Solana.” Luna says. “You never talk about your past. Is this why you planned to be last?”

“Probably.” Solana laughs. “Actually it has been something I have wanted to do since I met both of you but I haven’t found the right words and the right time to say it. But now, we’re here and I can say it.”

“Talk about it.” Oliver says. “We want to know.”

“It’s a dark story actually.” Solana sighs. And painful.

Luna laughs. “Come on, funny girl.”

“No, actually I’m serious.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s fine.” Oliver reassures her. “All ears are out.”

“Alright.” Solana brushes her shoulders. “So, I was born in the cityside on the 23rd of October, 2009. I was the third child of the family. My parents, my siblings and I were very close. We loved hanging around in malls and travelled around the country a lot of times. But one time, my father was at work, it was just my mother, my siblings and I at home. A lady arrived, my father said she was the babysitter of my youngest sibling. She was a magician. She took care of the house when my parents went on dates. She experimented on my youngest sibling; the one she babysits. She ended up killing her. Then, slowly, day by day, she killed the rest of my siblings. My parents have not fired her because she blamed me for killing them.
She left me because I would be the last experiment and that my heart is stronger than my other siblings. Even with the loss of my siblings, my heart is still striving to live. Since I was her last experiment, she made me produce, manipulate, and kill with fire. She trained me with this power. But one day, it was the weekend and it was my first time to go out after being grounded for three years straight. She told me to hold my hand into a position and I ended up burning my parents’ faces. Then, their bodies dissolved into ashes. In the babysitter’s words, she told me, “You will watch the skin of your parents burn with the fire you are producing. I will give you all my powers and I will die. You will live all by yourself, a strong-hearted one.” And then, she died because she gave all her powers to me and then, I was all alone. I had a job at the age of ten years old to have enough money. Then, I met Oliver and he introduced this academy to me. Then, I was bullied. Oliver helped me and then, I met you, Luna. The rest is history, come on guys. You guys know it.”

“Wow.” Luna says in shock. “Why is your story so painful?”

“Hey,” Solana laughs. “All of our stories were painful too. Look at Oliver, he lost his father and his mother. You, your father went away at a young age.”

“At least we have each other now.” Oliver says. “We have each other to depend on and talk too.”

“Yeah, it feels nice to have friends.” Luna says as the three friends toast their drinks up in the air.

“To our friendship!”

Veronica blinked. She looked from her tomato-stained arm, to the lettuce the boy was offering, to the boy himself.


“Pardon?” she asked, not knowing what to make of this situation.

Lum turned his head from where they were standing, right next to the bushes that lined the courtyard.

Maybe it was better for them to just stay here and not involve himself in whatever was happening with tomatoes. They made it this long without getting hit by, er food. Actually, the argument between whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable could get people pretty heated, so he should not think too much of that.

Although, they were curious as to who else was going to show up.

Karter spluttered another string of apologies, then finally got a grip on himself. “Sorry, that’s- that’s just my reflex. You startled me.” Karter’s face felt red, much like the tomatoes he’d thrown, though hopefully his darker skin didn’t show it. “I don’t usually see other people here, and they definitely don’t talk to me. It’s like… my thinking spot.”

Karter looked at the other person. Introductions would be the polite thing to do, right? “My name’s Karter. He/him pronouns.” He started to hold out a hand to shake, then realized he was still holding the lettuce. He offered up the lettuce awkwardly again.

Solana, Luna and Oliver take a walk after a big lunch they ate with the secrets that they spilled to each other.
“Whoo!” Solana shouts. “We definitely need a long walk after all those calories we ate.”
“Stop reminding me that I gained weight after eating those potatoes!” Luna sulks.
“That’s okay.” Oliver says. “We can take a long walk and lose a few.”

A few minutes later…

“Jeez.” Luna sighs. “I’m sweating so much.”
“Hey!” Solana points at a bench nearby the friend group passing by. “A bench!”
“Luna,” Oliver offers. “You can sit on the bench.”
Solana sits in between Oliver and Luna. “I’m tired.”
“Wow!” Luna is amazed by how beautiful the courtyard behind the library looks like. “I love plants!”
“We actually need to leave because I have a slight allergy towards plants.” Oliver states.
“Oh, sure, sure.” Luna stands up. “Let’s go, Solana and I definitely can’t carry such a heavy person.”
“Yeah,” Solana claps her hands as she stands up from the bench. “We don’t want our boy to have such a bad allergy.”
Oliver laughs. “Yeah, let’s go.”

On the way out of the courtyard, the three friends saw a few more people.
“Hey,” Solana whispers. “Do any of you guys know who these dudes are?”
“I don’t know.” Oliver replied.
“Is that blood or tomato juice?” Luna asks.
“Blood would look redder and thicker than that.” Solana says. “And look, there are veggies around them.”
“Can we hide in the bushes so they don’t see us?” Luna asks. "Plus, the other person looks scary to me."
“Sure.” Oliver and his other friends hid behind a bush but then they saw someone.

Veronica still did not know what to make of the boy. She reluctantly took the lettuce. “I’m Veronica, she/her,” she said.