THIS IS FOR MORE INFO ON THESE TWO LOSERS: LUCIAN PRYDE https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1318089172/ RIDGE CALDER https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1318106708/ ALSO GIVE ME SOMEWHERE TO THROW THESE PUNKS BACKSTORY ✦ AGE 12–13 — THE FIRST COLLISION They meet young — too young to understand why the other gets under their skin so fast. Ridge thinks Lucian is “too serious.” Lucian thinks Ridge is “too loud.” They annoy each other instantly. They also gravitate toward each other instantly. They’re not friends yet. They’re not enemies either. They’re aware of each other — in a way that feels like foreshadowing. ✦ AGE 14 — THE RIVALRY BEGINS This is when the competition starts. Not the heart‑stealer stuff yet — just: who runs faster who answers questions better who gets picked first who looks cooler doing absolutely nothing They push each other. They irritate each other. They motivate each other. Everyone else sees it before they do: “Those two are obsessed with each other.” They deny it. ✦ AGE 15 — THE UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP Somewhere between the bickering and the competition, they accidentally become friends. Real friends. The kind who: sit together without planning it walk home together without talking about it defend each other without thinking understand each other without trying They still argue. They still compete. But now there’s warmth underneath it. They don’t talk about that part. ✦ AGE 16 — THE SHIFT This is the year everything changes. Their rivalry gets sharper. Their friendship gets deeper. Their attention on each other gets… weird. They start noticing things: Ridge notices when Lucian ties his curls up Lucian notices when Ridge gets quiet Ridge gets annoyed when Lucian ignores him Lucian gets cold when Ridge charms someone else They don’t understand it. They don’t name it. But everyone else sees it. ✦ AGE 16½ — THE FIRST “SNEAK OFF” It happens after a stupid argument. They sneak off somewhere private they need to "talk" they need to "breathe" they need to be away from everyone else It becomes a habit. A ritual. A secret. They don’t tell anyone. They don’t explain it. They don’t stop. ✦ AGE 17 — FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS It starts casually. It stays unspoken. They don’t call it anything. They don’t set rules. They don’t define it. But they: sneak off together constantly get territorial without admitting it act like a couple without realizing it return to each other no matter who they charm publicly It’s not dating. It’s not nothing. It’s something in between. And they like it there. ✦ AGE 17 — THE HEART‑STEALER COMPETITIONS BEGIN Someone jokes that they could make anyone fall for them. They take it personally. They turn it into a game: pick a target charm them compete sabotage keep score But the target is never the point. The point is: the tension the rivalry the attention the excuse to orbit each other Their FWB dynamic makes the competitions ten times more intense. ✦ AGE 17–18 — THE DENIAL ERA This is where they are now. They insist: “We’re not dating.” “It’s not like that.” “We’re just competitive.” “We’re just messing around.”
Activities & Competitions — “The Heart‑Stealer Wars”Activities & Competitions — “The Heart‑Stealer Wars” Ridge Calder and Lucian Pryde are the school’s unofficial dual playboys — two dangerously charismatic boys who accidentally became legends and then intentionally became problems. Their reputations are built on charm, confidence, and a trail of confused crushes who swear they “had a moment” with one of them. Individually, they’re heart‑breakers. Together, they’re a public menace. And because they’re both competitive to the point of stupidity, they turned their natural charm into a full‑time rivalry. ✦ THEIR MAIN ACTIVITY: HEART‑STEALING COMPETITIONS A series of ongoing, escalating, absolutely unnecessary challenges they invented to prove who’s the superior play boy 1. The Bet Every 3-weeks, they pick one target — someone neutral, oblivious, or unimpressed — and compete to see who can make them fall first. Ridge uses warmth, humor, and golden‑retriever charm Lucian uses elegance, mystery, and slow‑burn intensity The target never knows they’re part of a competition. The school absolutely does. 2. The Popularity Rounds They keep score on: who gets complimented more who gets stared at more who gets more people sitting near them who gets more DMs (they don’t answer them — they just count) who gets more people showing up to their games or events Ridge wins the “accidental crushes” category. Lucian wins the “obsessive stares” category. 3. The Sabotage Clause They claim sabotage is against the rules. They absolutely sabotage each other. Ridge interrupts Lucian’s conversations Lucian steals Ridge’s seat Ridge makes the target laugh louder Lucian makes the target blush harder Ridge blocks Lucian’s view Lucian steals Ridge’s spotlight It’s petty. It’s childish. It’s iconic. 4. The Confession Count They track how many people confess to them each semester. Ridge gets heartfelt, emotional confessions Lucian gets poetic, dramatic ones They pretend they don’t care. They absolutely care. 5. The “Break Rate” Ridge breaks hearts by being too warm Lucian breaks hearts by being too cold They compare notes like athletes reviewing game footage. 6. The Secret Activity: Sneaking Off Together This is the part no one knows about — the part that makes their competitions ten times more complicated. Between rounds, between bets, between victories and losses… they sneak off together. It’s their unspoken rule: No matter who they’re charming publicly, they always return to each other privately. 7. The Real Competition Everyone thinks they’re competing to steal hearts. But the truth is: They’re competing to keep each other’s attention. The targets don’t matter. The points don’t matter. The wins don’t matter. The only thing that matters is the person standing across from them — the one they sneak off with, the one they can’t out‑charm, the one they can’t shake. 8. Denial Level: Olympic‑Grade Ridge and Lucian insist — loudly, repeatedly, aggressively — that they are not dating, not together, and not interested in each other “like that.” They say it so often it’s suspicious. They claim they’re: “just friends” “just messing around” “just competitive” “just hanging out” But their actions tell a completely different story. NON‑EXCLUSIVE RULE SHAPES THEIR RELATIONSHIP Ridge and Lucian are in a friends‑with‑benefits arrangement, but they’re not exclusive. They both still see other people — casually, lightly, playfully — because neither of them wants to admit they care enough to stop. But the fact that they can see other people doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect them. It affects them a lot.
