Layla

"Don't encourage his drawing skills. He already has a big enough head as it is." She took a tentative sip of her tea, checking if it was still too hot for her. "Are you alright, Alyra?"

Oliver

"You wound me sister, I did try my best." He put his hand over his heart and feigned a pained expression. The same way he used to tease her in years gone by. For a moment, he thought he could eventually work his way back to that point.

(I am so excited for this event you don't understand)

(I am too! I even got my annoying step-brother and his obnoxious friend to help out lol)

"Uh," "hold on, I need to go get an ice cube," she says, getting up and walking toward the counter with her eyes watering profusely. Betty gives her an ice cube, which Alyra puts in her mouth immediately, and then pays Betty and extra $10 tip for her troubles. "ouchhy" she whines quietly. Mad at herself.

Layla

"Well, treat it well. Burns on your tongue can hurt for days." She said, not sure what else to do to help. In reality, Alyra was already doing the most you could when you burnt your tongue. So Layla quickly took more sips of her tea, trying to think of a different conversation topic or really anything that could help. She came up with nothing.

Oliver

Oliver watched as Layla almost chugged her tea, and slid his over. Well, not really his, she knew that she ordered it for herself but wanted to look normal and disguised it as his. Good thing he hadn't swallowed any of it yet. He also knew the look on her face, the look of wanting to change the subject. "So, Alyra, how did you and Layla meet?"

Alessa
Alessa tilted her head, confused by the boy's sudden "kindness", should she say? She shifted back into a human, and she looked up to him, crossing her arms across her chest. "What do you mean?" Alessa asked.

Cole
Cole walked around Pinevale, Exploring since he already got to see his dorm. He
turned to Jitters, the coffee shop and walked in. He saw two harpies and a vampire (but one of the harpies smelled like a shifter.), talking with another vampire. He was too shy to walk over so he just watched.

"Well, there was this thief that stole my bag," Alyra begins to explain after getting another ice cube and dropping it in her hot cocoa, not wanting to get another burn. "and Layla tried to help me catch him." She stops the story there. She's known to overshare and doesn't want her new life to be tainted by that. She takes a tiny sip of her hot cocoa to test if it's still too hot, and, deciding that it has been cooled off enough, proceeds to drink the rest of it.

A cold aura seems to lurk through the halls as Roxanne Nova and Jameson Merle, descendants of the two most powerful vampire clans in history walk by. A trail of desperate girls follow behind, watching Jameson's every move like hungry drooling vultures. A group of jocks pass fliers around, and everyone is messaging about it on the school website. A Halloween party at Roxanne Nova's house? Everyone is buzzing in the halls about it, excited to dress up, for a chance to impress their crushes, for a chance to be noticed. Roxanne, ever the bully, trips a few people and laughs at them as she walks by, blowing kisses to a few of the better-looking jocks and throwing sly grins toward Jameson, who seems party uninterested in her theatrics and is more focused on showing off the color of his eyes, letting everyone know who the real on of top was. He'd died. He'd been brought back by an angel and acquired a curse, a deadly sin. He made sure everyone knew that.
Invitation
Roxanne Nova's mansion at [address] from [time] to [like 4 hours later] on Halloween night
be there or be square!
be sure to wear a costume!

(i'm not sure if he pinged y'all or not, but that was my step-brother and his friend making a quite frankly strange post to announce the Halloween event. It will not only be on Halloween though. Since real-life schedules can get a bit overwhelming, it's the day before, of, and after Halloween. We'll go based on sylestia time because it's more simple that way. I can't wait to see the costumes everyone picks for their characters! Good luck and have a good day!)

(okie dokie that works)
Sasha observed the shifter in the corner of the coffee shop with curiosity, only half-listening to Alyra's story. He had a nervous energy about him, and something about him was calming.
A kindred spirit, maybe she thought to herself. She continued to watch him until he nervously left the shop, apparently unsettled by her staring.

Layla

She only nodded as Alyra told the story, and eyed the cup of tea that was being pushed towards her. Once she realized Oliver meant to give it to her, she drank it quite quickly. "We should probably stop by the market and get some of that furniture. Once you help me with the layout, of course."

Oliver

Oliver was tentatively watching the shifter in the corner. "Well, that's quite interesting. I didn't think she would choose to draw attention to herself. She never wanted to at home. I guess these last few years have taught you something."