{109}✔️

Dahlia's outfit bc I NEED to get these pics outta my camera roll lmfao:

Dahlia's POV

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"Why the hell should he get to play Rooster while I'm stuck playing some fucking useless extra with no lines?!" Bowl cut dude yelled. I sighed as I glared up at him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Because he auditioned and Mrs. East thought he was right for the role. Simple."

"Right for the role? He sucks! He's stupid! The way he talks is so fucking robotic, I mean, it's not convincing at all!" He screamed, his face reddening as he threw a fucking temper tantrum over not getting what he wanted.

"People will be able to look past 'Rooster' sounding a bit robotic," I told him softly, pretending to feel sorry for him before sharpening my tone. "People would not be able to look past 'Rooster' forgetting every single one of his lines."

"It's not like we had enough time to memorize anything!" He tried to defend himself. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, Madison had the same exact amount of time to memorize his lines as you did, and he aced it. You, on the other hand, cracked under pressure and now you're mad that somebody better than you got the part."

"That little retard could never be better than me, and you know that's not fair. The only reason he was able to memorize all that shit so quickly is because he's slow and that makes him smart somehow."

I scoffed and let out a small laugh. "Right, so he's too dumb when you don't get your way and then he's too smart when you don't get your way? Make a choice."

"This isn't fair, Doe, and you know it. I didn't join this stupid club to spend all my time playing some insignificant part—"

"Yeah, I know. You joined this stupid club to keep you from failing the grade. Again." I snorted.

"Yeah, and your part is small, but it isn't nearly as insignificant as you are. In fact, I think it might just be too big for you." Cadence spat as she came to stand beside me. "You're making excuses. You're mad that Madi got the part instead of you because you think you're better than him just because you're neurotypical and he isn't, but you're wrong. You're not better. In fact, you suck. You're not as good an actor as you think you are. The two lines you actually had memorized, you gave a trash delivery! I've seen more talent on cringey Disney shows."

"You two are gonna regret this." He spat.

"Oh, trust me, we already regret every single life decision we ever made that led us to this moment right now, having to deal with you." She chuckled bitterly.

"Come on guys, let's all just calm down," Ori said as he came to stand next to us. Bowl cut dude backed away from him quickly and Ori rolled his eyes as he began talking again. "Stop doing that. I promise I'm not trying to get with you just cause I'm gay." He gritted out. "Look, if you really want, you can sign up for a retry and—"

"Whoa, dude! I'm not taking advice from some faggot who thinks it's okay to sleep with other dudes. That's an abomination, duh." Bowl cut dude slapped his head and let out a loud laugh.

Ori laughed and nodded, sucking on his teeth as he put a hand on his hip and stared at the chipped nail polish on his other hand's nails. "Sweetie, you can't possibly be judging me for my choices when you're walking around here with an 80s bowl cut, a face tattoo, and a lip ring that looks infected poking out from your ashy ass lips. I have to laugh!" He shook his head before speaking again.

"You're just being an asshole to everyone because you're bitter about the fact that you're walking around here looking like a wannabe mumble rapper, and you're not even good enough to be that! If only your mother had aborted you like she should've, maybe you wouldn't have to walk around here in constant suffering, knowing that you'll never be anything more than some skinny, little white boy, wannabe hood rat." He narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, well. I guess you'll just have to get another poorly done face tattoo to ease the pain. Now, if you couldn't tell by now, my flamboyant ass is a bottom! So stop riding my fucking dick, which by the way, you couldn't get hard if you were on your fucking knees right in front of it, so you can stop worrying about me trying to get with you. Unlike you and your rat ass friends, I am not into screwing animals, so you don't have a chance."

He walked away, tossing his scarf over his shoulder as he did, and Cadence, bowl cut asshole and I all stared in shock as he left.

I've never been prouder to call someone my friend.

"You pricks...You guys are gonna get it. You're gonna regret this." Bowl cut dude threatened lowly before stomping away.

"Yeah, you keep saying that! And yet..." I shouted after him. I sighed as I rubbed my forehead and tried to will away the headache that I could already feel coming on.

This is my fucking Saturday.

After adventure club, I came right to drama club and this is how it's going. People won't stop complaining about the parts they have to play because most of them didn't get the role that they wanted, and for whatever reason, they're complaining to me and Cadence about it despite the fact that Mrs. East ultimately made the final decision about who got to play what.

There weren't many people who made a huge deal about it, though. Just bowl cut dude, the stupid guy who's name I learned was Jasper, who'd continuously yelled random shit out while I was talking during the first meeting, and—

"Why the fuck am I playing Mr. Bundles when I should be playing Oliver Warbucks?!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes for the billionth time. Julian. Of course. One person after a fucking nother. Every time we get rid of one asshole, another one pops up. They're just like a bunch of fucking pimples.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Cadence shifted uncomfortably, began rubbing her arm nervously, and looked away from him.

I wrapped an arm around her waist and rubbed her side gently, leaning over to whisper in her ear. "Hey, it's okay, I can handle him. You go and help Mrs. East out, okay?"

"My god, are you still not over what happened?!" Julian questioned loudly, drawing a bit of attention. I looked away from Cadence and glared at him, tightening my grip on her when he stepped closer. "It was months ago, Cadence! I said I was sorry! I was fucking drunk and high! Get over it! And quit acting like I'm some type of demon or something!"

"Go over to Billie. Go to her instead." I told her gently, pushing her toward where Billie was standing a few feet away, watching carefully.

She sent me a questioning look and I shook my head at her, gesturing to Cadence so she'd know to take care of her instead of worrying about me.

I waited until I saw her wrap an arm around Cadence's shoulders and lead her away and then turned to glare at Julian again.

"What you fucking did may not have been a big deal to you, you know, since I'm sure that you're used to girls almost being taken advantage of in your presence all the time, but to her? It's a huge deal. Nothing like that ever happened to her before she met you. She was scared shitless, Julian. Fucking terrified. You fucking made her do cocaine and then almost had her raped, of course she's still scared of you!"

"I didn't make her—"

"You knew how much she liked you and you took advantage of that. Yeah, you did make her." I hissed. "Don't fucking tell her to get over that shit like it's no big deal. I don't give a fuck if it was months ago. She's probably gonna be scarred by that 'little' incident for the rest of her life. It may not be that deep to you because you weren't the one almost forced to fuck two guys you didn't wanna be with, but it is that deep to her."

"Alright, well, I—"

He was clearly just trying to cut me off and get me to move on as he gestured toward his script, but I wasn't about to have it.

"No, you shut the fuck up when I'm talking!" I spat. "Cadence hasn't talked to you since the incident, and nobody else has either. Caden beat your ass and that was it. Then everyone 'moved on'. Not Cadence, though. She's still fucking suffering. Not me either. There's a lot I've wanted to say to you since that night, and I'm gonna fucking say it. And you're gonna listen, or else." I growled.

"You should feel ashamed of yourself. How could you sit there and let two humongous ass guys try to force themselves onto a small, defenseless girl like that? And to hide behind the excuse 'Oh, I was drunk.' 'Oh, I was high.' Are you kidding me?! Seriously?! Face it, Julian. You're a piece of shit and you probably would've let that happen whether you were intoxicated or sober!"

"I wouldn't—"

"Shut the fuck up, and I'm not gonna tell you again!" I yelled. I looked around, noticing people still looking, so I cleared my throat and lowered my voice.

"You are a miserable, disgusting person and I really hope that your mom or your sisters or your nieces or your aunts or your grandmothers or your future daughters never have to experience what you put Cadence and who knows how many other poor, innocent girls through."

"I-I'm Sorry, seriously, I—"

"Sorry isn't gonna fix a damn thing, you absolute fucking idiot." I shook my head. "Cadence is walking around here desperately trying to move on from what happened, and as far as she's come, I know she's still not there yet. I know my best friend and I know that she still thinks about that stupid party. I know she has nightmares about it, I know she cries about it sometimes and she thinks nobody knows. And there's nothing anyone can really do to help her. And you get to stand here with crocodile tears rolling down your cheeks and all you have to feel is guilt. You don't have to be afraid of it happening to you again, you don't have to relive the memories, all you have to worry about is feeling guilty."

I laughed and shook my head. "You're pathetic and I can't wait for you to burn in hell. And if I ever see you around my friend again, I will hurt you even more than you hurt her, I promise you that."

I took an ibuprofen out of my pocket and popped it into my mouth before snatching the unopened water bottle he'd been holding out of his hands and taking a big gulp. He stood there awkwardly, clearly not knowing what to say and whether he could walk away or not.

"Play the part you were given and play it well. If you don't like it, deal with it. If you fuck up a single one of your pathetic lines, you're dead. Get the fuck out of my face. Now." I spat.

He scurried away quickly and I rolled my eyes as I watched him run right up to bowl cut dude.

I sighed as I walked to the opposite side of the stage, where Billie was distracting Cadence.

I smiled as I noticed them playfully arguing about which was cuter; Gigi or Prince Styles.

When they noticed me they stopped talking and Cadence ran over to give me a hug. She buried her face in the crook of my neck and I rocked us back and forth. "Thanks for yelling at him for me. I wish I could, but I can't. I just...Can't look at him."

"I'll always be here to yell at people for you, babe. It's the best part of being friends with you. Getting to yell." I grinned.

"Is everything okay? I mean...Did that talk go okay?" Billie asked quietly.

We haven't been talking since Wednesday. She refuses to apologize for the way she spoke to me and I refuse to talk to her until she does.

"Yeah, it went okay." I muttered before looking away from her. I tried to pull away from Cadence, but she just squeezed me tighter. I knew that she was crying because she always does that when she doesn't want me to see her crying.

"It's okay, love," I mumbled softly. "Hey, at least you've got Gigi now, huh? I bet he'd be able to kick Julian's ass, no problem." I chuckled.

"Yeah, he's really strong." She sniffled. "His muscles are really nice."

***

"Yeah, ugh, this is gonna be a huge order, okay?" I sighed as I looked at the cashier who nodded with a bright smile. "Okay, go ahead, Madison." I told him softly.

"Okay, we need sixteen baconators and all of those are combos. Large fries with all of them, and six of those will be with sweet tea, nine with sprite, and two with dr. Pepper. Three Barbecue cheeseburgers, all with sweet tea, three spicy chicken sandwiches, one with lemonade, two with pink lemonade. Five ten piece chicken nuggets, barbecue sauce with two of them, ranch with three of them. Three twenty piece nuggets, although you guys don't seem to offer twenty piece nuggets so I suppose I'll have to ask for six more ten piece nuggets. All of those are with fries as well, and honey mustard and ranch. One southwest avocado chicken salad with ranch and a water, two taco salads with Coke and Dr. pepper and hot sauce for both, and two garden salads with ranch, water for one of them and no beverage with the other. We'll also need six frosties, two vanilla, four chocolate. Oh, and for me, I'd like cheese fries. I don't like to eat tan things, and one could argue that potatoes are tan because, yes, they very well are tan, but I happen to like potatoes and fries are made of potatoes, but they are very golden and yellow and I like yellow, so I'll eat fries. The cheese makes them more yellow anyway, so it's alright...I do like cheese fries. I do." He nodded.

The lady stared at us for a few moments with her mouth wide open. She hadn't typed in a single bit of our order. "...Right...Could you repeat that?" She questioned, blinking slowly at him.

"Sure!" He smiled happily.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." I sighed before walking away quickly. I heard him start talking again as I walked off.

"Okay, we need sixteen baconators and all of those are combos. Large fries with all of them, and six of those will be with sweet tea, nine with sprite, and two with dr. Pepper. Three—"

I thought that going on a food run would be a good way to kill time. It beats being in that stupid auditorium with all those stupid ass people, I guess, but it still sucks.

It's 3:00 now and that means we've just got two hours left and then we can finally go home. I'm grabbing food for everyone who wanted some to kill the time. I hate to think about what a nightmare it'll be for everyone to sort through all this shit to find what they ordered.

That's why I'm just gonna wait until I get home to eat. I'll have to eat while I get ready for the party, though, since I'm supposed to be leaving at around 6:00.

I spent as much time as I could in the bathroom, but only managed to kill ten minutes before I decided to walk back out. Madison was sitting at a table in the corner, playing with the sensory chewy necklace he often wore around his neck. He said it helps him calm down and focus on one thing if he gets too overwhelmed. He's not chewing it right now, though, which I think means he's alright.

I sat down across from him and smiled.

"I repeated the order six times, 1, 375 words." He told me. "She gave me a free lemonade for my troubles, see?" He showed me the lemonade before taking a big gulp. "It should be ready soon. That's what she said, but I do not think our order should...mm...be ready soon."

"Yeah, I don't think so either." I snickered. "I like cheese fries too, you know! That's another thing we've got in common. What else do you like? What's your favorite show?"

"I like to watch doctor shows because I want to be a doctor. The good doctor is one of my..." He drifted off as he stared at the ceiling, counting the tiles.

I sat silently and patiently waited for him to continue, which he did a few minutes later.

"...Shows." He blinked and let out a small giggle. "I like Grey's anatomy too. These shows are not accurate, but they are enjoyable."

"I've never watched Grey's anatomy, but I enjoy the good doctor too!" I smiled. "What about House? Have you watched that? It's my favorite."

"Everybody lies, but...I do not when I say I h-have watched it." He laughed and clapped at his joke and I did the same.

***

It took about forty-five minutes for them to get our order ready, which I was impressed with because I honestly thought it'd take a lot longer. Most of the food was cold or lukewarm by the time it was ready, but I didn't care.

It took another fifteen minutes for us to get back to the school and into the auditorium. I texted my friends to come help get the food out of the car and we all walked in with tons of bags in our hands.

We put the bags down on the stage floor and left it to everyone who'd ordered something to get it themselves. I wanted nothing to do with it, and as I just barely made it off the stage before people started pushing and shoving wildly as they tried to get to their food, I was glad I was smart enough to make that decision.

I went to sit in the front row with Ori and Hudson as they watched everyone scramble to get their food, snickering at how crazy they all looked.

I let out a small sigh as I plopped down next to them. "It's been a long day," I grumbled. "How's everything been going with wardrobe?"

"Trying to get these people to look like orphans won't be hard. The jocks already have a head start." Hudson smirked.

I only hummed in response, too worn out to actually reply. I really want to just go home and get in bed, but I'm not canceling on that party.

At least I'll be able to rest tomorrow after the picnic.

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A/N: I be wanting to ask questions in my author's notes but I always forget lmao. But okay I remember today so

1. Who are your fave and least fave characters (ik I asked this before but I've introduced more ppl so 🤷🏽‍♀️)

2. What's the story behind ur usernames? I chose mine because I'm a Harry Styles stan, plain and simple lmao.