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Makayla Wright

0 · 2,318 views · located in New York, NY

a character in “The Lost and Found”, as played by Bandit

Description

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Full Name:
Makayla Alexis Wright

Preferred Name
She goes by Makayla, but will answer to Kayla or Kay.

Age:
21

Birthday:
July 21st

Sexuality:
Heterosexual

Hometown:
South Bronx, NY

Length of time on the street:
2 years

Role:
The Mother


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Disposition:
Makayla's personality has definitely been shaped by how her life has played out. It would be wonderful to say that she's the same lively and carefree girl when she was just five years old, or the chatterbox, boy-crazy girl she was at ten, but she's not. She grew up fast and all of those phases tended to either come and go very quickly, or be masks that she wore at school, where she didn't have many worries. She didn't have to chase after kids who always wandering too close to the kitchen "lab", or make sure that one of them didn't screech too loudly as she tried to wrestle them into the bath, and end up with the imprint of her father's belt on their back. She was and is not some extremely intelligent school, and since she never had time to study or do much homework, she was always an average student at best, but school became a safe haven for her. She was able to socialize with kids her age and be a normal child and teenager, even if it was just for a few hours a day.

Even now that she's out of school, she still knows how to turn certain aspects of her personality on and off. The kids she went to high school with would describe her as being an energetic and outgoing girl, because that was the only place she had to actually be herself and act her age. At home, she was never appreciated, despite doing more than her fair share of work, but there, she was diligent, compassionate and responsible. She learned how to keep schedules, clean the house, take care of kids that were not hers, and be a maternal figure to others, when she had never even had one herself. Her home life forced her to be selfless and put others first, not because she always wanted to, but because she had too strong of a conscience than to let those innocent kids (Holly, in particular), be beaten for just being kids.

Once she left home with Holly, she has become a little bit more reserved. She isn't unfriendly or cold, but even compared to her poor upbringing, life on the streets is hard. It's not easy to trust anyone, even the people she's been living with for a couple of years. Having Holly as extra baggage makes things even harder. She's become defensive because she knows how Holly can overstep boundaries but doesn't want anyone to point it out or try to hurt her sister, who is clearly too innocent for her own good. To some extent, she's closed off and prefers to keep to herself. She's not the only one who has trust issues and at this point, she's trying to keep herself and Holly alive, not make best friends for life. She's not someone who's actively trying to cause problems or get into fights, and she really does make an effort to be passive towards most advances or aggressive comments made towards her, especially when they're coming from Brooklyn. Overall, she's easy to get along with, but she doesn't go out of her way to befriend anyone or be overly friendly.

Likes:
Chocolate and alcohol are the keys to her heart. Red wine gets you bonus points, but she doesn't have money to buy a pair of ten dollar shoes most days, so a cheap bottle of vodka will do the trick too. Dealing with the ball of energy she calls her sister inevitably tests her patience, and, well, marijuana is the only thing that has kept her from taping Holly's mouth shut on multiple occasions. Said little sister is one of her 'likes' as well, since Kay doesn't know what her life would be like without that ray of sunshine, though. She likes money (who doesn't?!), but likes the stability that comes with it rather than the thrill of being able to splurge.

Dislikes:
She has common dislikes, like certain foods such as taffy, cinnamon flavored gum, bananas, chicken patties and chili. Even before she was homeless and it was a real burden, she was never a fan of the snow. She hates long bus rides and misplacing her metro card for the subways. She grew up around roaches and pests, but spiders still creep her out, and thanks to allergies,dislikes cats and dogs. Aside from the normal dislikes, there are a lot of times where she dislikes being responsible for Holly. The girl is her world and she loves her, but she doesn't think it's fair that at twenty-years-old, she's stuck taking care of her. She would never say it out loud, but Holly can be a burden and there are times when Kay is sure that if she didn't have to care for Holly, she might have been able to leave New York and gotten her life together somewhere else. It's so hard for her to focus on herself when she's taking care of a girl who has the attention span of a child, but at the same time, it's impossible for her to not love Holly like a sister and that dislike will never be enough for her to abandon her.

Fears:
She has no unusual phobias, but is scared of empty subway stations at night, a lot of the men she sleeps with and horror movies. She hates the idea of being helpless when Holly needs her, but at the same time, is scared that one day, she might force herself to stop caring about Holly and put herself first.

Dreams:
It's probably a common dream among the group, but Makayla desperately wants to get off the streets. She needs to give Holly a life that will actually get her somewhere, and ensure that if something happens to Makayla, Holly will be okay. In an ideal world, she would love to move out of the city and down south, get a nice little house somewhere, go to school and become some type of medical technician, and start over. For now, a tiny apartment and a job would be more than fine.


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Background:
Makayla's father was the leader of a drug ring in the Bronx. He was in his late twenties when he met her sixteen year old mother and despite their ten year age gap, they became a couple. Her mother came from a broken home and was essentially on the streets already, so she had no parents to lead her in the right direction and Makayla's father became the only support she had. Her mother lived in her father's drug house for only two months before she became pregnant with Kay. She was her mother's first child, and her father's fifth, and like three of the other four children, Makayla stayed with her father after her mother "abandoned" her at the age of two. That's the story she grew up knowing, but in reality, her father let her mother take the fall for a decent sized drug bust which landed her in a state penitentiary for eight years.

As one would imagine, growing up in your picturesque "trap house" was nothing spectacular. Roaches were a common sighting, the place reaked of smoke and marijuana, as well as other chemicals used to manufacture drugs, as childhood was never really something she got to experience. Whenever her father would knock up a new girl, or he'd start seeing a new girl with kids of her own, the trials of caring for those kids would fall upon Makayla and whatever ones of her older half-siblings were around. She learned how to be a mother to herself early on, and it came in handy when she was twelve and Holly and her mother moved in. Holly was a mischievous, loud and energetic child who always wound up getting into trouble. Trouble in their house didn't result in a stern talking to or a timeout, and it pained Kayla to see that no matter how many times Holly was physically reminded that she needed to shut up, she couldn't. It was apparent that she was a little "different" and needed extra attention, and when a nearly identical situation went down, landing Holly's mother in jail, Kay decided she needed to step up for Holly. It was a move that she would sometimes still regret, even to this day, but she knows it was worth it. It's unquestionable that without doing so, Holly would be dead or part of the human trafficking system that so many girls in their situation end up in. Living on the streets is bad, and sleeping with disgusting men is not fun, but she tries to remind herself that this is just temporary... even if temporary has already lasted two years.

Job:
Prostitution


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Height/Weight or build:
5'2 and 100 lbs

Eye color:
Brown

Hair color:
Black

Other:
Scars, piercings, tattoos, etc.

Face claim:
Jhené Aiko

So begins...

Makayla Wright's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Robbie Amello Character Portrait: Jackson King
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#, as written by Bandit
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It took Makayla a half an hour to been seen by the doctor, and only fifteen minutes for a diagnosis to be made. She was pregnant. It shouldn't have been that much of a shock to her. She and Jackson had been having unprotected sex for a good three months, but as ignorant as it was, she didn't think that she would ever wind up pregnant. He had made a big deal about how much condoms cost him, and insisted that he would pull out every time (with that almost never happening), and well, she never paid much attention in her high school health class. So much so, that she believed him when he said that she could only get pregnant on the first day of her menstrual cycle and had made sure to never sleep with him on that day. But she was pregnant, and wow, did that news hit her like a ton of bricks. The doctor wasn't an OBGYN but estimated that she was ten to twelve weeks in, and after giving her some pamphlets on abortion clinics in her areas and churches that helped new mothers, sent her on her way. He had other people to see and couldn't waste any more time on the distraught girl who have slept around and was now paying the price. And she was literally going to have to pay the price. A quick glimpse at one of the abortion clinic pamphlets informed her that it would cost $450 dollars to get the abortion in her first trimester. If she was already at twelve weeks, that meant that the window for that would be a few days at most, and after that, she would be forced to pay over an extra hundred dollars for each week! It was mind boggling, yet it seemed like such a typical display of how cruel the world could be. Whenever Makayla thought that things couldn't possibly get worse, her life plummeted even further.

Makayla had managed to keep herself composed until halfway through the subway ride back home. A young woman who couldn't have been more than two or three years older than herself was seated across from her with an infant in a sling across her chest. Maybe it was just the pregnancy hormones making her extremely emotional, but the sight of what was apparently going to be the future-her made her crack. She didn't start sobbing, and the silent tears dripped down her face in a way that went unnoticed by the other passengers who surely had their own problems to worry about. Makayla didn't necessarily want them to notice anyway, but she wanted someone to notice. She wanted someone to save her and make all of these problems go away. When she got off of the subway, she was at a point where the thought of jumping back onto the tracks crossed her mind. She didn't stand on the edge and contemplate it, nor did she jump into the busy road like she considered as she walked back to the bar. They were thoughts that crossed her mind though, and while she wasn't actively suicidal, it didn't seem like a horrible choice at this point. She was either going to have to someone muster up the cash to get an abortion and kill her unborn child or give birth to a kid that would either live a horrible and impoverished life with her, or a potentially good or potentially bad life if she put it up for adoption. But then she would have to deal with seven more months of a grueling pregnancy, all while living in the poor conditions of that basement, with Holly still as a dependent. None of the options seemed to be good ones at all, and even if she was somehow able to come up with the money for an abortion, she didn't know if she wanted to abort the baby. There was so much to think about and on top of all of the other issues that Makayla was dealing with, this was just too much. To make matters even worse, the doctor had advised her against drinking or using drugs and she had never craved a blunt half as much as she was craving one right now.

Jackson didn't know where Cara was and was too lost in his own laziness to even answer Nick when he asked about his whereabouts. Robbie had woken up moments before and asked to get food, but Jackson wasn't in the mood to socialize. He was hungry and craving Chinese food but now with two warm beers swishing around in his stomach, he didn't know if he could stomach any of the cheap crap he was normally able to eat. He pressed his eyes shut as he heard Savannah came down, and then Holly. There were times when he could be a jackass and make sarcastic quips to purposely piss off the girls in the basement, but he wasn't in that playful mood this morning. He still felt half asleep and the beer's disgusting taste that he had thought would pull him from his slumber was now only making him feel more ill.

Nick dismissed himself once Holly came downstairs and Jackson had kept his eyes glued shut for long enough to miss both Robbie leaving and Roman coming halfway in and then back out. However, when Holly's annoying voice and Savannah's oh-so-British voice were the only ones left present he decided that it was time to get food. He figured that getting some fresh air would be good for his mood. At the very least, it couldn't hurt when compared to the humid, musty air that had filled the basement since early June. He hated the harsh New York winters but the heat of this summer was starting to make him crave the cool weather already. The thought of doing what Robbie was doing and stealing some food from Finn's kitchen crossed his mind, but as much of an ass as Jackson could be, he wasn't going to do it. Finn had housed him for a couple of years and expected nothing in return and while other people's emotions weren't Jackson's top priority, he had enough respect for the bar owner to try to stay out of his hair. Jackson had become acquainted with the streets in the three years that he had been homeless, but he didn't think that he would ever be comfortable with them enough to be okay with getting kicked out. For the standards of homeless people, they were already living a pretty luxurious life down there and Jackson had to be thankful for that.

He had managed to get halfway down the street when he spotted Makayla coming towards him. At first, he had smirked. She was one of the few people that he could be playful with no matter what time it was. There was a sort of spunk in her that just wasn't comparable to anyone else, but when he got close enough to actually speak to her, the smirk dropped. She was crying? Yeah, she was crying. She wasn't making any noises, but her body was shaking and her face was stained with tears. "What's wrong?" he asked, his brows narrowing as he tried to evaluate her further. She didn't look physically hurt or anything, and he had just seen Holly in the basement, so it wasn't like she had died. What else could be bothering her?

"I- I'm pr-pregnant." Once she had opened her mouth to speak, it was impossible for her to keep the sobs inside any longer. Saying, for the first time, that she was pregnant made it even worse.

"You're... you're pregnant? Are you fucking kidding me?" In an instant, Jackson felt like he had been hit by a ton of bricks too. He wasn't speaking loudly or offensively, just in a quiet, shocked voice. "You're pregnant?" After that question rang in his head twenty more times, he reassured himself that it wasn't with his kid. Makayla slept with tens of guys a month. What were the chances that it was his kid? Probably pretty good since he had never once used a condom with her and she was adamant about using ones with the guys she prostituted herself to... but he wouldn't accept that just yet. He wouldn't bring it up now either though, because he did care about Makayla. He cared about her enough that it seemed instinctual to pull her to the side of the sidewalk and wrap his arms around her as her chest heaved with sobs.

"I can't do this anymore, Jackson. Oh my fucking god, I can't do any of this anymore."

"I know, it'll be okay though. It'll be alright, okay? Look, let's just go get something to eat and chill for a little. Holly's okay down there with Savannah, I just saw them. We can hang out for a little while and you'll see that this is all going to be fine, alright?" He was definitely not the most comforting person by nature, but Makayla also wasn't the type of person who just broke down for no reason. Jackson knew this was bad and as much as he wanted to convince himself that he had no part in this and it wasn't his fault or his kid, he knew he was in trouble too.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Jackson King
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#, as written by Bandit
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"What do you want? There's that Chinese place right around the corner... a McDonald's on the next block and I think a Burger King too... a Subway and a Chipotle up ahead and a Chipotle too... Take your pick," Jackson said, hoping that food would distract Makayla from the bomb she was hit with. He was still reeling from it to but he was also in the process of reassuring himself that there was no way that she could be pregnant with his kid. It was hard to do when he knew that neither of them had ever done anything to pregnant pregnancy when they slept together, but he couldn't begin to accept any responsibility in this.

"I don't really care," Makayla said, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she tried to catch her breath. "Chipotle is good, I guess." She needed a distraction from the news even more than Jackson did, but more than food, she was craving some weed. It was the only thing that would be able to calm her nerves right now. She knew now, more than ever, that she didn't have expendable money to spend on drugs and then that warning from the doctor about not smoking or using drugs while pregnant flooded her mind again. She didn't want to keep the baby. She didn't think she wanted to keep the baby, at least. That was only because she couldn't keep the baby, though! She could barely provide for herself and Holly. How was she supposed continue doing that and take care of a baby? She would have to pay for diapers, food, medical visits, clothes, toys, on top of an apartment. There was no way that the kid wouldn't be taken away if it was known that Makayla was homeless, and then, would she be okay with giving it up? There was so much to consider, but she was already pretty sure that she couldn't handle a child, but also couldn't handle the idea of her child being taken away from her. Abortion seemed like the best option. But where would she get the money from? And was it any better to destroy the unborn child than it was to give it away to a family who could potentially give it an amazing life? "Do you have a cigarette?"

He shouldn't have mentioned Chipotle being in the area. It was probably the most expensive of the bunch and Jackson really wasn't in the position to blow twenty dollars on a meal for the two of them. He couldn't tell her that they couldn't go, though. Not when she was emotionally broken and the last thing he wanted was for her to start bawling again. He just wouldn't get anything, he decided. On the way back he could stop at McDonald's and get something off of the dollar menu. He still wasn't going to admit this to himself, but when half of the problem growing inside of her was his fault, the least he could do was buy her an overpriced burrito. When she asked for a cigarette, he wanted to just tell her he didn't have any without even checking. If he was about to shell out money on her lunch, did he really need to give her a cigarette too? Luckily, after rummaging through his pockets, he found that he didn't have any on him and shook his head. It probably would have been polite to offer to pick some up for her on their way back but he wasn't Bill Gates and he was already stressing over the meal that he hadn't even paid for yet. "I wish I had one myself," he offered with a shrug. He wanted to say something but there was nothing to say. He had never seen Makayla in such a bad place. They normally only hung out at night when they were both lustful and a little drunk too. She was always so spunky and quick witted, and more than anything, strong. "It's gonna be weird having Brooke back, huh?" he said, clearly uncomfortable as he attempted to change the conversation to the first subject that came to mind.

Was Jackson not having a cigarette for her, and not offering to go buy some a perfect example of who he was, and who he was potentially going to be? A deadbeat? Makayla was being irrational and emotional, and she knew it. If she wasn't so exhausted and just done with her life, she would have turned her anger on him and blamed him for getting her into this mess. She didn't even acknowledge his random question about how weird it was going to be with Brooklyn back in the basement. At the moment, Brooklyn was the least of her concerns and she didn't have it in her to even humor that conversation now. Thankfully, they were approaching the Chipotle now, so her lack of response didn't lead to an extended amount of awkward silence. Like most of the chain's restaurants in the city, this one was pretty packed. Makayla could still feel the tears ready to fall, so she gave Jackson her order and opted to wait outside until he returned with a takeout bag and soda in hand. "Thanks," she said as he reemerged. She didn't go off on him, but she also was harboring enough anger with him to not offer to refund him for her meal, or even feel a hint of guilt about it probably costing more than either of them were comfortable with paying for a meal.

Jackson smiled and nodded, noting her appreciation as they headed down the street. A bare "thanks" wasn't enough to make up for the thirteen dollars he had just blown on her meal, but he wasn't going to push his luck today. Makayla hadn't answered his first attempt to make conversation so he was hesitant to try again, but after a few minutes, glanced over at her and spoke. "Do you want to head back or go eat in the park, or something?" It was selfish, but he was hoping she would opt to go back to the basement. He needed some solitary time to take in what she had told him and figure out what he was going to do, without her being there and making his conscience continue to be present as well. Jackson usually focused on himself and only himself but even for him, it was hard to be selfish with a crying girl in front of him, especially when that girl was someone who he cared about.

"The park sounds good," she responded, feeling slightly better after taking the soda from him and sipping it. Although she didn't respond to Jackson's earlier inquiry, she didn't think she could deal with being in the basement with everyone right now, especially with Brooklyn back. She was upset and wanted to be upset without having to deal with Holly pestering her and bouncing off of the walls, Lennie being her selfless and nice self (which was nothing that she could rightfully complain about), but possibly suspecting something was up and questing her about it, facing Cara after last night, dealing with Brooklyn's attitude... she needed some time out of that basement. She would eventually feel bad about leaving Savannah with Holly for longer than she promised but for a few minutes, she wanted to feel bad for herself and no one else.

Like with Chipotle, Jackson couldn't suddenly take back his offer, so he nodded and continued their silent trek a few blocks down to a small park. It wasn't grand like Central Park, but it had a small grass area that was occupied by running children, a jungle gym and some basketball courts. In a shadier areas were picnic tables and concrete chess tables circled with a couple of older men hovering over them. He headed towards the empty picnic tables and placed the bag in front of Makayla.

"You didn't get anything?" Makayla asked upon realizing that the bag only contained her food. She looked over at Jackson and before he even answered, she could tell that he hadn't bought anything for himself for money reasons. It was impossible for her to not feel a little bit bad because she had felt that way too many times before. She regretted even asking him and forcing him to make up some excuse for why he didn't buy anything.

"Nah, I'm not even really hungry," he responded, the excuse probably just as lame as Makayla expected it to be. It was even more of a lie than an excuse because he was hungry. The smell of hot food that wasn't as "questionable" as Taco Bell made his mouth water even more, but these pangs of hunger weren't the pangs of starvation that he knew and they weren't worth the money it would have cost him to get food for himself too. She frowned at him but he maintained his weak smile until she returned her attention to her food. A few minutes in, with his own unease pulling at him, he spoke again. "So, did you... you know... schedule an abortion? Or get the pills or whatever that shit is to... wash the thing out of you?" He regretted bringing the subject up again as soon as the words came out of his mouth, but if this was his kid, wasn't it reasonable for him to want to know what was going to happen?

"It's not that easy. At this point, it's going to cost me five, maybe six hundred dollars to do that. Where the fuck am I supposed to get that type of money?" She set down the small portion of the burrito that was left and wiped her hands on a napkin before meeting his gaze. "You better start saving up. It's your problem just as much as it is mine."

Six hundred dollars?! "Are you going to some spa type of abortion clinic for six hundred dollars? Six hundred dollars, Kay? I don't have that kind of money. I don't think I've ever had that kind of money on me in my life."

"And you think I have either? You make more than I do and you're only looking out for yourself. Do you know how much Holly costs me?!" She wasn't yelling but her tone was definitely getting emotional again.

He wasn't trying to get her riled up but that type of money was just out of the question, especially when she was being so direct about him needing to come up with it. "No, I know, I know. I just... you know I can't come up with that either. Can't you like... drink a lot and kill it off yourself? Isn't that what people do?" Jackson wasn't sure if that was just something his radically religious parents would tell horror stories about or if it actually worked. Compared to six hundred dollars, it was worth a shot though.

"I don't know. I guess it's possible to like force a miscarriage, but that'll probably fuck my liver up or with my luck, not even kill the thing and I'll end up having some deformed kid because of it." Makayla could only imagine that Holly's mother doing drugs and drinking excessively during her pregnancy had something to do with why Holly turned out this way. There were people who she grew up with who drank an unimaginable amount of liquor and did hard drugs while pregnant and that didn't kill their kids off. She doubted it would work with her either. "Just come up with the money now, or come up with it when the kid needs a hundred dollars a month in diapers alone."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elena Ramos Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn Archer Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Sunday, July 3rd | 10:00 PM


Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Jackson King Character Portrait: Cara Forrester Character Portrait: Savannah Stonecraft*
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#, as written by Bandit
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Makayla and Jackson had left off on Saturday on a surprisingly good note. Their conversation over lunch had started off on a rough note, but by the end of it, Jackson had not only promised that he would come up with money for the abortion, but with money to support Holly and Makayla until then too. He claimed that he didn't feel right about having her prostituting while there was a kid inside of her, and while she had been doing it for three months without the pregnancy intervening with her work, she couldn't reject an offer like that. It didn't make Makayla feel much better in the moment. It was Jackson's fault that she had a baby growing in her stomach, and the physical symptoms of it made it hard to forget. She knew it was her fault too, for not insisting he use protection but the sex was always good enough to relieve her of the unbearable amount of weight her life put on her shoulders, and that temporary relief made her careless to the consequences. Now, she was paying for them, but at the very least, Jackson's show of compassion and responsibility made her feel less hopeless about the future. It was a side of him that she rarely even saw, nonetheless any of the others, but its lack of prevalence made it more easily appreciated at a time like now.

Aborting her child wasn't going to be easy, but she knew that it would be easier than trying (and failing) to provide for it. Besides, she didn't think she could mentally handle Holly and everyone else knowing about this, especially when she didn't plan on carrying the child to term. The doctor had told her that with it being her first pregnancy, she probably wouldn't start showing until five months in, or maybe even later, so as long as Jackson came up with the money this week, only she would have to deal with the effects of it later on.

She had enjoyed her afternoon with him so much that she waited up until four in the morning when he returned to the basement. They crept upstairs to Finn's deserted bar and spend a good half an hour on the bathroom floor. It definitely was not the most desirable floor to be lying naked on, but there were too many people in the basement for them to do it down there, and Makayla didn't want Brooklyn to find them in the alley on her walk back from work. Needless to say, Saturday was a good day for the pair and by morning, the positive relationship only grew stronger. Jackson had only made forty dollars the night before and offered Makayla ten of it, with a promise that he would go ahead again on Sunday and nab some money from tourists during the day. Ten dollars was enough to provide she and Holly with at least two meals, and considering that she didn't have to fuck a stranger for it, she couldn't complain at the meager offer. Especially with Jackson's track record, the money was a big step for him and Makayla was satisfied with it.

Sunday began on a less pleasant note. She and Jackson had returned to the basement before sunrise, but Makayla was awoken around eight with the usual morning sickness. It left her choking and gagging behind the alleyway dumpster for a solid fifteen minutes before she returned to the basement, brushed her teeth, forced herself to drink some water, and managed to fall asleep for another few hours. Of course, when Holly woke up though, Makayla was forced awake too. In between getting dressed and telling Holly to leave Nick, who was still sleeping, alone, she managed to thank Savannah again for taking Holly out the afternoon before. She knew that she was going to have to make Jackson's ten dollars last, and after spending three dollars at the laundromat, she knew that she couldn't risk wasting the day away by window shopping with Holly. Instead, she agreed to go to the free public pool again and this time, Makayla put less effort into roping Holly in and tried to relax. They didn't get breakfast, with Makayla insisting that it wasn't safe to eat before they swam (but really just trying to save money), and it worked to her benefit in preventing Holly's energy from being heightened even more by a sugar high. In a twist of luck, Holly entertained herself at the pool until four o'clock and for the most part, Makayla was able to relax on a nearby chair. Holly's appetite was far smaller than Makayla's, but she knew better than to interrupt Holly when she was actually settled in an activity, especially when it would cost her money. Instead, she waited until after they had used the pool's showers and were clean and dressed before suggesting they get food.

After her subway fare, laundromat fee, and returning the last five dollars she owed to Roman, Makayla had nineteen dollars left to her name. If her stomach hadn't been aching with hunger, she would have passed on eating all together, but as soon as the smell of Wendy's hit her nose, she couldn't resist. Seven dollars and twenty minutes later, she and Holly returned to the basement, but only until seven thirty. By then, they were back on the streets and on their way to one of the free summer movie screenings that were held a couple times a week on the lawns of the city parks. They were showing The Princess and the Frog, and like most movies, Holly was able to sit through it without a single word. By ten o'clock, when they were turning back into the alley beside the bar, Makayla was sure she had tired Holly out enough to get her to bed within the next hour. She normally appreciated that just because it meant that she too, could go to sleep, but tonight she was hoping that Jackson would be around to hang out with again, before he went out looking for more money. When they stepped into the basement, she did find him, but not in a way that satisfied her.

He was sitting beside Cara, who sat crossed legged on her mattress. She was wearing a bright mini dress and heels high enough to mean that she was either looking for a "date" or going out partying. If it had been any other girl in the basement, the statistics would have pointed to the former, but this was Cara. Her feelings of irrational hatred from last night returned, and now tainted with a bit of jealousy, as she rolled her eyes at how out of touch Cara was with their reality. She was probably on her way to some club to spend a night drinking and dancing and being as carefree as carefree came, while all of them were being crushed by their problems. The smile on Jackson's face as he laughed about something with her made Makayla want to tell Cara to get the fuck back to the Upper East Side where she belonged. She couldn't do that with Holly standing there, she didn't want to seem like she was a jealous bitch, and she knew that she was going to need Cara. Those reasons kept her mouth shut, and even forced her lips into a small smile as Holly made their presence known. Makayla didn't want to reconcile with Cara, but she knew that she had no reason to actually be mad at her. Still, she didn't offer any speech as she headed over to her side of the basement, opting to wait for Cara to come to her instead of doing it herself. Cara didn't really have anything to apologize for, but Makayla didn't think she needed to apologize for anything either. Especially not when she was now feeling like Cara was coming on to Jackson too.

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn Archer Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Jackson King
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Savannah yawned a bit, as she scribbling in her notebook. Today had been nice. More than nice actually. The dinner Nick had wanted with her and Brooklyn the night before didn't go over well...as in not at all.

After Savannah told Nick about their little exchange at Forever21. She told him the truth, from beginning to end, what she said and what Brooklyn said. He seemed to be a bit shocked by her venomous words, but otherwise fine with it. During that conversation, they were at the library, Nick seemed to find more enjoyment in the air conditioning then he did with the books, but that was fine, Savannah checked her mail.

Nothing from any of the dozen or so publishing houses she'd sent her work to.

She then went to the whole thing with the man at the pizza parlor, and she told him how she thought it was scam, so she didn't take much stock into it. Though, she still for some odd reason, held on to the card.

Odd.

After that they two of them happened by a street fair. From then on, it seems they were both distracted enough with the fair, that it seemed almost like a real date albeit impromptu but nice all the same.

They went through the booths, playing games, he'd won her a cute little teddy bear key-chain with which she hooked onto her bag and by the end of it, her arm was hooked around his, and they walked around, laughing like an actual couple, and not like whatever relationship limbo they'd been in since Brooklyn's arrival.

It was wonderful.

It was a real shame it all had to end as they'd returned to the basement and was once again in limbo.
She hated it, she really did.

He was off working now, and she was stuck here. Thankfully, Makayla was home and was alright, she seemed distraught, but otherwise alright, Holly was her usual self, and things had just been civil, e.i. Brooklyn was working too and therefore not there.

That thought made Savannah reach into her bag and pull out the card. It was completely fake, it had to be but still...Something Brooklyn said- while she'll never admit it- got to her.

She was jobless, and the only one, besides Cara who evidently didn't need to. She didn't want to live down here forever, and she didn't want to rely on Nick.

She looked at the card and again and decided she'd head upstairs.

She greeted Finn who was rather busy.

"Do you mind if I use your phone?" She asked, and Finn arched an eyebrow, asking her if it was an out of town call.

"No, It's not, It's local, honest." She said, and he nodded toward the back.

She went in the back and grabbed the phone hanging on the wall. She punched in the numbers on the card and waited....

"Shh..Grindhouse Modeling, this is Rico speaking, how may I help you?"

Savannah was quiet for a moment, her heart racing. Was she really considering this?

"Hello, um, I was given a card yesterday, and I...um...was curious."

"Oh? Well, Curious about what?"

"Well...This is a modeling agency, correct?"

"Yes, it is,"

"Well, How much can I make?"

"That depends on how well the shoot goes...you said you were given a card?"

"Yes."

"Well, you'll do well..."

Savannah swallowed.

"What would I be doing exactly?"

"Just taking some photos, that's all."

Savannah was quiet again. She didn't trust this. Ever fiber of her being said this was a bad idea, but everyone else here was doing rather questionable things, so why couldn't she? Was she so proud?

It wasn't like her writing was getting her anywhere.

"Miss?"

"Oh, Sorry...um...I..."

"You're nervous, I understand that, but how about this, you come down, I'll give you the address, take a look around, see if you want to give it a shot? We won't have you signing any contracts or anything, just give it a look see? How's that sound?"

Savannah nodded. "Okay, When?"

"We are doing a shoot right now."

"At 10pm?"

"Well, It's a night shoot."

"Ah...I'll think about it."

"Alright, well, let me give you the address and when you've decided, you stop on by?"

"ALright." Savannah then grabbed a pen and paper, and jotted down the address as he gave it to her.

"What's your name?"

"Savannah, Savannah Stonecraft..."

"Alright, Well, I hope to see you soon, Savannah Stonecraft." and with that, Savannah hung up the phone.

Never before has a phone conversation caused her so much anxiety. She allow herself to breath a moment, before walking out, thanking Finn again for the use of his phone and headed back downstairs.

She found Makayla down their with Holly, Cara and Jackson, she noticed a sour look on Makalya's face and approached her.

"Makayla, Are you alright, Love?" She asked her, softly, trying not to bring attention to them. She didn't seem to be a big fan of Cara nor Brooklyn which at this point, Savannah was rather glad for, she didn't want to be the only one who disliked Brookyln. Cara was fine in her book, but only because she hasn't done anything to her.

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Brooklyn Archer Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Jackson King Character Portrait: Cara Forrester Character Portrait: Savannah Stonecraft*
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Cara did what she could to avoid being in the basement. The thought of facing Roman after their night together (and equally, the morning after) was bad enough, but on top of that, there was Makayla to deal with too. She didn't know what she was supposed to say because she still didn't think that she had done anything wrong, but Makayla had certainly seemed heated. Cara wasn't confrontational and she certainly wasn't out here looking for any bad blood, so she didn't mind apologizing to Makayla for whatever she claimed Cara had done wrong, but she didn't want to do that if Makayla was going to make it even more of a big deal. They had already made a scene in front of Roman and Cara didn't want everyone else to have to witness them fighting too. Part of her still considered running back home but after renting out the hotel night for a second night, she was already feeling too reliant on her father. She could imagine returning home now, only to be welcomed by the smug look on his wife's face and a lecture about how they had told her so. In reality, that would have been a lot less painful than the life she was choosing, but Cara felt otherwise.

She and Brooklyn had spent the night in the hotel, and though Cara didn't bring it up again, she sensed all night how bothered Brooke was by Savannah. In the beginning, she assumed that it was just Savannah's existence that bothered her, but as the night progressed, Cara was sure that it was more that Savannah had stood up to her. She was obviously going to be on Brooklyn's bad side from the mere fact that she was whatever she was with Nick, but standing up to Brooklyn when you already were on her bad side was never a good idea. Cara didn't expect Savannah to just sit down and take the punches, and maybe it was her passive tendencies speaking, but she knew that it would've been easier if Savannah had done that.

Brooklyn had to work at noon, and though Cara insisted that she wanted to get lunch at the diner, Brooklyn's threat that she would kill her if she showed up wasn't playful enough to blatantly show that Brooke was joking, and Cara decided not to test it. She was already unsure of where she stood with Makayla and didn't need one more person against her, especially when that one person had dramatically vengeful tendencies. So, left alone and with no desire to return to the basement, Cara headed to her home neighborhood. She had no specific destination in mind and for a while, roamed the quieter Upper East Side streets. When ducking into a cafe was the only thing that prevented her from running into an old friend who was hopping into a town car outside of an apartment building, Cara realized why it was better to stay away from here. She had seen a couple of high school friends since the fallout with her father but she did her best to avoid places that she knew her old girl friends frequented. Even with the cover story she had created to cover up why she had fallen off the social map, it was still going to be awkward to have to lie to explain herself. What she had done, running away from the life that they had all relished in, wasn't normal and none of her old friends would understand it. It was hard to completely avoid the Upper East Side when she still lived in Manhattan but today's afternoon reminded her that this wasn't her life anymore and it was unfair to tempt herself it.

She returned to the basement when night had set in and walking alone felt creepy and a bit lonesome. It was a relief that only Jackson and Savannah were down there at the time, since she was only looking to avoid Roman and Makayla. At first, she had settled back onto her mattress and considered going to sleep that early, but being back in the Upper East Side had given her a craving for the nightlife that she was so involved in back then. So, she put on clothes more appropriate for the club scene, straightened her hair and started drinking to get herself ready for the night. Ten minutes in, and it seemed like the alcohol she was downing had spurred Jackson's sense because he was awake and sitting on her mattress before she realized he had even woken up, or that Savannah had went upstairs. Typical to his bum ways, Jackson was trying to convince her to share her vodka when Makayla walked in.

Makayla had never said anything about her relationship with Jackson and though she felt close with Makayla, it wasn't something she ever considered asking about. Mostly because she didn't think there was anything to ask about. Whenever the two would sneak out to be alone, Cara was either asleep or with Holly. She had no reason to suspect anything so when the Makayla brought undeniable tension with her, Cara just attributed it to their fight from the other night. "You're welcome," she said, a small smirk present on her face as she tossed the bottle towards him and stood up. She didn't want to confront Makayla but she also couldn't bare the tension between them. "Hey, can we talk?" she said once she had approached Makayla. She tried to remain as quiet as possible, not wanting to give Holly any reason to think something was going on and also trying to show Makayla that she wasn't here to fight.

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Jackson King Character Portrait: Cara Forrester
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Holly was drained by the day's end. Her first stop with Makayla was to the public pool, where she spent nearly four hours in the water. Holly never got old of the pool, especially when there were kids who included her in their games. However, by the time Makayla said they were leaving, the long time in the water left her with countless questions on why her skin was suddenly wrinkly and if she was a grandma now. Makayla seemed distant and more irritable in her responses, but that had become somewhat normal over the past few weeks and Holly was largely oblivious to it. She had, however, been fairly persistent today about questioning Makayla's doctor visit. The questions had proved to be futile when Makayla insisted that she just went to get a flu shot, and even Holly asked why she hadn't gotten one as well and why she was getting one in the summer, she hadn't gotten any real answers. It was definitely for the best though, because the questions would have increased tenfold if Holly knew the truth about the visit. Maybe it was ironic considering that she acted far more childishly than a normal sixteen-year-old herself, but Holly wasn't a fan of babies. The homes that she lived in before becoming homeless always seemed to be occupied by lots of children who had probably only made it out of the whom because of the welfare check their existence promised. That put them in the same boat as Holly, where their mothers didn't have the time or desire to care for them and the responsibility was passed onto the older kids in the house. So, not only did this mean that Holly had to share Makayla's attention, but it also meant that whenever her energy and enthusiasm woke up one of the younger kids, she paid for it. To her, babies were attention-stealing responsibilities that prevented her from having fun, cried too much and got her in trouble when they woke up for no reason.

The pool was followed by a shower, Wendy's, and then a relaxing end of the day stop at a park where a movie was being shown on the lawn. Holly probably enjoyed watching movies more than she even enjoyed swimming, and sitting through a movie was probably the only thing she could do for multiple hours at a time without getting antsy. It was ten o'clock when they returned home and by then, Holly was ready to sleep. The basement wasn't very populated, with only Cara and Jackson in sight, but for ten o'clock, that wasn't unusual. "Hi Cara!" Holly beamed as she stepped to the basement floor. She opted against acknowledging Jackson since he was her least favorite person in the basement. Makayla usually told her to ignore him since Holly never sensed the sarcasm in his comments, and since she was already tired tonight, she didn't bother with Jackson. She didn't try to converse with Cara much either, and after piling up a change of clothes in her arms, she disappeared into the bathroom. Only a minute later, she reemerged in a pair of shorts and t-shirt that she wore to bed, and found Makayla and Cara standing by she and Makayla's beds. "Did you get your flu shot too, Cara?" Holly asked as she busied herself with putting her old clothes into the box that they kept their dirty laundry in. Rummaging through things, she found a couple of lollipops and though heavy, her eyes lit up. "Can I have these?" she asked, turning to Makayla. She didn't know that Robbie had left them there days before but she also didn't care who left them there. She just knew she wanted them, and had already begun to toy with the wrapper as she waited for Makayla's response.

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Jackson King Character Portrait: Cara Forrester
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Makayla wanted to believe that it was the exhaustion from the day's activities that was making her unreasonably irritable as she passed Jackson and Cara and headed towards her section of the basement. It was hard to believe, though, when the grinding of her teeth and hands balling into fists had only begun at the sight of Jackson sitting with Cara. She knew that Jackson and Cara had had a one night stand a few weeks after Cara showed up, but at that point, Makayla hadn't even slept with Jackson yet. They were definitely friendly and getting flirty when they were alone, but he wasn't her's and she had no reason to get upset at Cara for sleeping with him then. She wasn't aware of the two of them continuing those nights after Makayla started engaging with Jackson on an intimate level, but even knowing that they had slept together once made her feel on edge when the two were together. It was petty and she usually hated herself for feeling it, but since she and Cara had left off on a bad note and Jackson had screwed her over by getting her pregnant, the feelings were intensified tonight.

She tried to distract herself from the duo, who weren't even touching but were too close for comfort, by straightening out Holly's pillow and blanket and doing the same for herself. Any desire to hang out with Jackson had been crushed at the sight of him flirting with that slut and after everything that had happened this week, sleep was probably the only thing that was going to bring her any peace. She was desperately craving a joint but even more than heeding the doctor's warning, she didn't have any weed on hand and didn't have enough money to waste on some. She had barely had time to take her shoes out and sit on her mattress when Cara approached, and she was quickly contemplating whether food was actually more of a necessity than weed. Cara wanted to talk but Makayla didn't think she could talk, in a civil manner at least. She had decided earlier that she was being dramatic by snapping at Cara over the hotel but her interaction with Jackson was having her second guess whether she really was dramatic, or Cara just was a bitch. "About what?" Makayla responded, making an effort to keep her voice leveled. She didn't want to have another outburst, especially since she was exhausted tonight. Holly being in the bathroom, only feet away didn't make it any better, and before Cara could even respond, her sister was back out and Kay had even more of a reason to keep herself in line.

Makayla wanted to keep her eyes on Cara to show that she wasn't going to back down from a confrontation, even though she didn't actually have the energy for one, but Holly made that impossible. She was forced to glance over at her sister when she brought up the flu shot excuse Makayla had given her about the doctor. Makayla didn't want to linger on that topic or have Cara dismiss the idea of her getting a flu shot, so she was almost glad when Holy starting rummaging through things and then questioned her about lollipops that Makayla had never seen. If it wasn't late and Makayla wasn't desperate for her to go to bed, she probably would have said it was fine, but she didn't need Holly getting a late night sugar rush. "No," she responded bluntly as she reached over and pulled the candy from Holly's hand. She doubted that would be a good enough answer for the redhead but she was tired and didn't want to argue over something so trivial. "It's too late for candy. We're going to bed now, remember?" With a sigh, she forced herself back onto her feet and tossed the lollipops into the section over. It was Brooklyn's, but since she wasn't there, Makayla didn't worry about pissing off the blonde. She needed the candy out of her sight and as she returned her attention to Cara, she decided that she needed her gone too. "If you wanted to talk about the other night, just forget about it, okay? I'm over it, it's done." She still wasn't going to apologize, but Makayla knew that this was one of the many cases where her need for help was stronger than her pride. With her current situation, she was going to need Cara more than ever and being petty wasn't going to get her anywhere.

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Character Portrait: Elena Ramos Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn Archer Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Monday, July 4th | 11:00 AM


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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Brooklyn Archer Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Holly hadn't woken up early enough to catch Makayla's brief exit from the basement to deal with her daily dose of morning sickness, but she did wake up early enough to find the basement in a rare state of silence. It was something that some of the others would probably savor, but Holly didn't like silence. She didn't like how angry people got with her breaking it, but at the same time, she imagined that it would be impossible for her to remain quiet until everyone else woke up on their own. So, with her normal level of energy combined with over ten hours worth of sleep, Holly decided to be adventurous today. She got dressed and ready for the day, and after poking Makayla in the head, whispering that she would be right back and receiving no response from her sleeping sister, took the liberty of exiting the basement on her own.

Though she had been bold even to wander off on her own, Holly knew better than to stray far. Directions were something that fell into her vast area of weaknesses and it wasn't unusual for her to nearly get lost when she was with someone else. Venturing off too far on her own was something that even she knew was risky, so she remained on the block that Finn's bar was located on. It was off of the main roads but even so, at this hour on a holiday, it was still pretty populated. There weren't any major retail stores to window shop in and Holly knew that she needed money if she wanted to go into the deli on the corner. Being Holly though, she managed to occupy herself for an hour by simply walking up and down the street. She stopped to talk to two people walking dogs and one jogger who had one the brightest neon shirt that Holly had ever seen. She made note of a woman with hair that resembled Savannah's so much that Holly was convinced they were sisters, and a boy who's American flag t-shirt reminded her that it was the fourth of July. That revelation alone had her returning to the basement quickly. Her plan to re-enter through the alley's door was axed when she found Finn standing in front of the bar smoking. Holly was used to Makayla telling her that they couldn't go into Finn's bar this early in the morning because he was still asleep, but she didn't think to question him being awake so early.

"Smoking's bad for you, you know."

"Is it, now?"

"Yes, it's going to make your lungs die."

"Your sister know you're out here?"

"Does your sister know you're out here?" Holly retorted with a giggle.

"Get inside," Finn said after eyeing her for a few seconds. His facial expression didn't lighten but his voice did, and Holly's smile widened as she slipped through the front door that he had pushed open. The next hour was spent upstairs in Finn's apartment. He was in a good mood thinking about the prospects of making money with the bar being open earlier than normal because of the holiday and amount of drunk tourists it would bring, and seemed to be tolerating Holly much more than usual. He allowed her to watch his television while he cooked bacon and eggs downstairs and called her down twenty minutes later when it was finished. His patience seemed to finally be drawing thin when Holly had finished eating and moved on to asking him why he didn't live with a lady and why he spoke like he was from Texas, and at that point, he sent her downstairs.

By now, the sugary soda that Finn had offered her after insisting that he had no orange juice had hit her and there was no way that she was going to let everyone continue sleeping in the basement. After checking to make sure that Makayla was still asleep, she moved to Brooklyn and in the usual fashion, she sat down next to Brooklyn's head and without hesitation, pulled on her upper eyelid. "Brooklyn, wake up!" she hissed, as if she was making an attempt to be quiet.

No amount of times that Holly had woken her up in that fashion would ever prepare Brooklyn for it. She had managed to fall into a deep sleep after coming home from work around four-thirty and being woken up, especially through an invasive touch, already had her starting the day off on a bad note. She shoved the hand off of her face, rolled over, and groaned incoherently but Holly was persistent and was now nudging her back.

"I have to tell you a really funny story! Wake up!" Holly insisted. She wasn't even sure which "really funny story" she was referring to, but she wanted someone to be awake so she could talk to them and despite Brooklyn's obvious attempts and not being that person, she was always Holly's first choice. Even her two-month leave from the basement hadn't changed that.

Brooklyn was smart enough to know that Holly wasn't going to leave her alone until she was acknowledged, so she forced herself to roll back over. Her hair was a mess and the heat of the basement left some of it tangled and sticking to her damp skin. She realized that she had fallen asleep in nothing but underwear and the bra that she had worn at work the previous night and groaned at the realization that she had probably had too much to drink after the club closed. She didn't want to face a hangover today, and dealing with Holly on top of that suggested that this day was going to be painful. "Okay, tell it then," she said, forcing herself onto her side as she propped her head up on her bent arm.

"Okay, well I was just talking to Finn upstairs and he made me breakfast. We had bacon and eggs but I don't really like bacon so I just had the eggs, but he put pepper on my eggs and you know that I don't like pepper, right? But I like scrambled eggs so I had some of them anyway but I told him that next time he's not allowed to put pepper on them. Well, so after I had breakfast with him, me and Finn were talking because we're friends and stuff, and--"

Brooklyn knew that this "story" was going to take ten minutes to tell, and end up not having any point anyway, so she cut Holly off before her headache could intensify. "Wow, this sounds like a really good story, Holly. So good, that I think you should tell Roman first. He was telling me yesterday how he thinks you don't like him since you never talk to him in the morning."

"I do like Roman, though! I'm going to design his next tattoo of a dog!"

"So go tell him your story! That'll remind him how you guys are great friends!" Even in her foul mood, Brooklyn had to smirk at the thought of tossing Holly and the annoying energy that came with her on to sleeping Roman. That'll teach him for guilting me out of money.

Holly nodded, thinking Brooklyn's reasoning was good enough. She jumped up from her seat next to Brooklyn and began to wake Roman up in an identical manner to how she woke Brooklyn. She stopped after only touching his eye though, when she noticed a purple tinge to it. She frowned with confusion, considering her options before choosing the other eye to pull open. "Ro, wake up! Your BFF has a story to tell you!"

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Brooklyn Archer Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Jackson King
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Roman's response to being woken up was a typical one, and considering that he was less aggressive than Brooklyn, Holly wasn't bothered at his inability to wake up as quickly as her. "Does that mean I'm your BFFL? Because I know me and you are more than friends, Roman. Brooklyn even said so herself." Roman had rolled over to face away from her and thinking that she could tower over him and see his face, she got to her feet. She considered kicking him because it was always a surefire way to wake Makayla up, but decided against it when he stirred again and spoke.

"Yeah, Holly. Sure, whatever. What else did Brooklyn tell you?"

"That you're upset that I like to tell her my stories more than I like to tell them to you, so that's why I needed to tell you my story first today," Holly explained. She looked back at Brooklyn, who despite having closed eyes was smirking as she heard every word that was being said. Roman's discolored eye was more interesting than Brooke, who Holly thought to be sleeping again, so she remained hovering over the boy. "What happened to your eye?" Holly wasn't ignorant enough to guess that Roman had put on makeup to make the eye purple. She knew he was injured in some way, but she had known Roman for nearly two years and this wasn't the first time she had seen him bruised.

It didn't take long to realize that Holly wasn't, or couldn't, take a hint. After a theatrical sigh, he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his good eye. Killens was typically okay around Holly, but that was likely because he didn't have to deal with her one on one for more than a few minutes, and it was hardly ever first thing when he woke up. He was most irritable just after waking, and Holly standing right over him was only furthering his annoyance. "Why are you standing over me?" he said as he went through his things for some pain pills. He would have to talk to Robbie soon.

"I'm standing over you because I'm trying to tell you my story but--"

"Dammit," Makayla groaned. She had been moving in and out of sleep since waking up hours ago to deal with her morning sickness outside. Switching between the states of sleep and awake was something that she was used to by now. Months ago, she had been a fairly good sleeper, especially after a day with Holly, but now, it seemed impossible for her to get a good night's sleep and even when she did sleep for seven or eight hours, she woke up feeling drained. She hadn't heard Holly leaving the basement hours before but now with Holly bothering everyone, it was impossible for her to sleep much longer. Her body ached as she pulled herself up and after the cloud of tiredness disappeared, she made out Holly standing over Roman. "Holly, get over here right now," she ordered, doing her best to muster up strength in her voice. Instinctively, her eyes glanced towards Jackson's section and she almost smiled as her eyes fell upon his sleeping form on his mattress. After Cara had left the night before, she had a decent night with him until he left to work, and she was glad to see that he wasn't already gone. That was the last thing she needed to focus on right now, though, she reminded herself as she returned a hard gaze onto Holly.

Holly had been cut off by Makayla, and as she listened to her sister, a frown quickly emerged on her face. "Okay," she responded, but as she got closer, followed it up with, "You don't have to be mean, you know." She sat down on the edge of Makayla's mattress, and now completely forgetting the boy in the American flag shirt that had reminded her of the holiday, she questioned their day's plans as if it were any other day. "Are we going to go to the pool again today, or do you need to get another flu shot?"

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Brooklyn Archer Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Jackson King
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"You're annoying people, Holl. I'm not trying to be mean. Just stay over here for a little while, okay? It's not really morning yet, we have to go back to bed for a little while." It was worth a shot. As far as Makayla knew, Holly hadn't been out of the basement yet and the small windows in the basement barely offered enough natural light to tell whether it was night or day. She grabbed Holly's arm and tugged her towards the head of the mattress. She hoped that her response would suffice as a response to Holly's second question about their day's plans too.

"It is morning! It's already past breakfast time. Me and Finn had breakfast already and that was like ten years ago. It's probably lunch or dinner or dessert time now," Holly argued. She allowed Makayla to tug her closer to the head of the mattress but remained in a seated position and as she spoke, pulled the blanket off of Makayla. "It's July 4th, too!" she continued, finally remembering what had fascinated her this morning. "Today's the day that Roman and Savannah's mom and dad tried to kill everyone in America but we beat them all up. And Finn said it's a good thing too, because the people from England are really mean. But not Roman and--"

"Quiet, Holly. Let's be quiet for five minutes, okay? You're right that it's probably a little bit after breakfast time and it is the Fourth of July, but I'm still tired." Makayla normally would have been bothered by Holly wandering up to Finn's apartment without her, but only because it meant that she had one more person to apologize to. Right now she had bigger things to worry about. She had twelve dollars left to her name and not only did she have no energy to work, but she felt like it was messed up to do that too. It was immoral in general, and if she really needed to, Makayla knew that she would go back to work, pregnant or not, but there was a part of her hoping that Jackson would step up at least while she was carrying his child. Not only were her current finances posing a problem (when were they not?), but the fact that she was pregnant was an even bigger deal. She wanted to hang out with Jackson just because she liked him, but she also needed to hang out with him to see if he had started collecting enough money for the abortion.

"I'll get your clothes ready for you!" Holly decided, ignoring Makayla's request to settle down for a few more minutes. "Do you want to wear a dress? Do you have anything red? Or white? Or blue? Those are America's colors. Remember a long time ago when I had to go to school and I made that painting of the American flag? Remember?" Holly didn't even notice that Makayla had shut her eyes and wasn't answering. She tossed clothes from their bins in search of the perfect outfit. "After we get me new clothes we should get you new ones too. When I was with Cara and Savannah I saw a lot of clothes I'm gonna get for you for your birthday."

Makayla hoped that she would be able to fall back to sleep as Holly busied herself in their area, but when a bra landed on her face, she was forced back awake. Sending Holly to a hotel with Cara didn't seem like such a bad thing at this point. Now that she knew what was causing her to feel so ill, she wished she could just relax for one day to let that news sink in. "Sit still and don't touch anything," Makayla demanded. She didn't think she could put much effort into not being short with Holly today. Her patience was already completely worn out and she had been awake for less than a half an hour. Holly didn't move as quickly as Makayla wanted her to, so grabbing the back of her shirt and pulling her back onto the mattress was her next move. As she picked up the clothes that Holly had scattered off of the floor, she chose a white tank top and a pair of denim shorts as her outfit of the day. It was definitely going to be impossible to get any sleep, so Makayla gave Holly a stern look and tossed her one of the lollipops that she had set aside the night before. "If I give you this, it means that you aren't going to move from this spot until I get back, okay?" Holly was quick to nod and already had her hands extended before Makayla tossed it to her.

Hoping that Holly would refrain from bothering anyone else, Makayla took her close and hygiene items into the bathroom. She reemerged five minutes later dressed and as ready for the day as she could be. Her next stop wasn't back to Holly, who thankfully was still seated on the mattress, but to Jackson. He still appeared to be asleep but a rough kick to his side brought him to his senses after a few seconds. Makayla was being more brazen that she usually acted as she knelt down next to him and placed a hand on his cheek as she forced his head to face her. "Wakey, wakey. You're coming out with Holly and I today. I'm sure it'll motivate you to get the money to make sure you never have to deal with an annoying little kid of your own." Though interacting with Jackson at all probably seemed unusual, Makayla wasn't bold enough to say her words in anything more than a bare whisper. She was close enough to Jackson's head that he would undoubtedly hear, but she didn't need anyone else knowing what she said.

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Brooklyn Archer Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Jackson King
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For the first minute or so, Brooklyn had been amused at herself for sending bothersome Holly off to Roman. She got a kick out of listening to Holly pester him, but the enjoyment only lasted so long before her need for sleep started to kick in again. She was tired enough that even after being woken up once, she would probably be able to fall asleep for a few more hours, and she almost managed to when she felt something graze her face. She had rolled over to face the wall but jolted her face back towards the middle of the room at the unexpected touch. As her eyes were forced open, she found that the falling objects were twenty dollar bills and the offender of waking her up was none other than Roman. If she had enough energy, she would been petty and tried to take offense, as if he were mocking her for being a stripper. She already had that on her mind after Savannah tried to demean her for her job two days prior, and since she didn't feel like she had shut Savannah down to her fullest potential, she wanted to take that anger out on someone out. As she glared towards the boy who was now squatted down by her side, she opted against it because not only was she tired, but he didn't look himself either. "I should give you another black eye for waking me up, bitch. Get the fuck out of my face before it happens," she snapped, slapping his hand away from her face as he touched it. She gathered the six twenty dollar bills that he had tossed on her and then looked back at him with the same scowl. "You owe me ten for interest and ten for waking me up, too. I'll let you take me to lunch to pay that off, though."

"You sound like my boss. But that's what you get for being a bitch and sending Holly over to mess with me. And I'm going to lunch with or without you."

Brooklyn had pulled herself to a seated position now. She tried to run a hand through her hair but it was tangled and knotty, something that put her into an even worse mood. "Please, we all know what happens when you try to do anything without me. You either end up looking like this," she started, motioning to his injured face, "Or you come close to being the father of Cara's babies. So, get your shit together and meet me in the bar. I'm going to take a quick shower and I'll be ready in ten." Brooklyn hadn't had the opportunity to inform Roman that she knew about his night with Cara, but now seemed like the perfect time. She offered him a smile that was laced with malice before reaching next to him to collect her things for the shower. "You better keep your accent on the down -low today. I don't want to be associated with a non-American on Independence Day," she added once she had put the money he gave her away and was on her way towards the stairs.

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Character Portrait: Elena Ramos Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Jackson King
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Nick's reference to her life in California made Elena smile. If he noticed, which he probably didn't considering chaotic the city was, he probably would attribute it to her recalling good memories of that part of her life. Really, though, she was just glad that he bought the story of her living that pretend luxury life and that he cared enough to remember it. They had both been far too stoned last night to remember or process much, so him saying that meant that maybe he cared as much as she used to. "As long as you're there, I'm sure I'll be fine," she said, slipping her hand into his and swinging it playfully. Was it weird? Too much of a "move"? She didn't know but Elena was brazen enough to do it and only offer a minute giggle as an explanation. "Besides, I heard that you found yourself a white girl after... it... happened. Shouldn't you be living large by now? A cute little house in the suburbs with a brick chimney and a perfectly mowed lawn in front? Did it not work out?" She brushed a loose strand of hair back towards her pony tail as she gave him an innocent look. Nick knew that Elena was prejudiced towards white people, so the inquiry probably didn't come as much of a surprise to him. She was the type of girl who would openly admit that she didn't like the race solely for their skin color, but in her mind, it made sense. For her entire life, she had always been taught that she was less of a woman, less of a person, compared to a light skinned person. The people who were so against illegal immigrants, so again her family, were predominantly white people. When her parents were deported, it only further resonated in her that she was not seen as equally human as them, just because of the color of her skin. It was why she had such problems with Roman when he was living with them years back, and if Nick hadn't been from Spain and spoken Spanish, but instead been from any other European country, she would have had a problem with him too. It wasn't fair that Roman could get away with living in America illegally for so long, while her family who worked hard and contributed to society, had been torn apart and destroyed for the exact same reason. The only difference that Elena would acknowledge was that they were Latinos and he was European.

Nick questioned Elena holding his hand for a second before deciding that he was being too paranoid. Elena had been his friend for years, and her holding his hand was nothing more than a friendly gesture. She was probably happy to see him again, and he was happy to see her too. He did his best to shift his mindset from being so worried about what everyone would think of him bringing her back, to just being happy that his old friend was alive and well. It wasn't uncommon to die young in the life that they had both been involved in. "That would be Brooklyn," Nick saying, offering a sheepish smile to Elena's comment about the "white girl" he had apparently been rumored of dating after Miguel was killed and he detached himself from the group. The perfect life that Elena claimed was supposed to come with dating said white girl made him chuckle because perfection was the last word that he would use to describe his relationship with Brooklyn. Even knowing Elena's tendencies to mockingly put Caucasian people on a pedestal, he had to laugh at that too. When he had lived with Elena, he did speak Spanish much more and attempted to blend into the cultural identities that the others had. His grandparents were from Spain and spoke Spanish fluently at home, so he wasn't really appropriating the culture, but at least now, it was hard for him to identify with that side. "But no, I'm not living that white picket fence life. She and I were cool for a while, but yeah, I guess it just didn't work out. Lucky for you, you'll get to meet her in a minute," Nick said. He smiled playfully but the confidence he had tried to instill in himself over the walk was dropping quickly.

The front door to Finn's bar was open, which normally would have been unusual at this hour, but since it was a holiday, it made sense. Days like this, when the city was populated even more than usual with tourists came in handy for Finn's business. If Nick was alone, he would have went in and sat down for a few beers, indulging in the air conditioning and some food, but he didn't want to introduce Elena to Finn just yet. Between Savannah and Brooklyn alone, he had already heard enough relationship advice from Finn to last a lifetime. Bringing a new girl into the mix would be a guaranteed headache. Instead, he led Elena through the alley and pulled open the doors to reveal the stairway down to the basement. "Alright, so it's definitely not the most glamorous place, but at least you don't have to deal with Carlos here," he said, attempting to bring the vibes back up as he took her bag and gestured for her to go down first.

Knowing that Nick was living with his ex was a little bit disheartening, but Elena only raised an eyebrow at the revelation. She wasn't necessarily surprised that he would date someone like that. He did keep Roman around for all those years, and that had to say something about who he was attracted to. She allowed him to take her backpack and carefully made her way down the steep set of stairs. He was right. The basement certainly didn't come close to being glamorous, but in reality, there wasn't a single house that Elena had lived in that was glamorous. This certainly beat the state prison; that was for sure. She could feel Nick only a couple of steps behind her but she got a quick glimpse of the basement before he emerged at her side. There was a girl with skin colored only a couple of shades darker than her own, who was crouched down beside a person mangled in a sheet. Elena didn't have time to study he or she before looking across the room to a girl with red hair that was clearly unnatural, who sat on a mattress with a lollipop in her mouth. And then, in the far corner of the room was a white boy that even after years of being away from, and apparently many tattoos (and maybe some steroids too?) later, she quickly identified as Roman. "Dammmnn Moreno! All this time and you still kept white boy around? ¿Da buena mamadas o algo así?" she said loudly, elbowing him in the side.

Only a second in and Elena's old personality was coming to light, and with that last comment, Nick was praying that Roman hadn't brushed up on any Spanish slang lately. He decided not to address her, even as her elbows nudged his ribs, but faced the open room instead. "Hey, guys. So, this is my old friend Elena, and she's going to be staying with us for a little while." It was only awkward for him to say because he knew of Roman's past with her. On the bright side, he didn't see Brooklyn or Savannah in the basement, and the benefits of that outweighed the pissy mood Roman was sure to be in.

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Character Portrait: Elena Ramos Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Jackson King
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"Like hell I am," Jackson muttered, only refraining from twisting away because of Makayla's cold touch. It was the only relief he had felt all night from the heavy heat of the basement. He was just coming out of a deep sleep and everything around him seemed to be a blur. Even after being on the streets for a few years, it always took him a few minutes after waking up to remember where he was and what his life was like. A lot of it had to do with the amount of alcohol and marijuana he usually consumed before sleeping. They frequently caused vivid dreams of him being back with his family in his old life. While there definitely were some nightmares in there, ones involving his family's reaction to his brother John's death and other fantastical ones related to his childhood, most of them were positive. Maybe they reflected his subconscious wish to go back home and for all of his real life to be a dream. Either way, it was always hard to wake up from that, and come back into reality. Especially his reality now.

He had days to come up with more money than he normally made in a month, or he was fucked. There was no other way to describe it. He would either be stuck caring for a baby that he was sure he wanted no involvement with, or he would have to disappear one day and never come back. Even if he took the easy way out by choosing the second option, where would he go? Homeless shelters were basically all full in the city, and for the few weeks that he spent in one when he first arrived, he had vowed to never return. So, would he live on the streets? Jackson was tough, but even he knew he wouldn't last more than a few weeks like that. He could get a real job, something as entry level as a fast food or retail position. He had a high school degree and could handle the work, but even then, it would take him at least a month or two to earn enough money just to cover the deposit fee of an apartment. Then there was always the possibility of going back home. Even though the falling out between he and his parents had been pretty bad, and he was convinced that his father thought of him as an embarrassment and disgrace to the family, he knew that he would be allowed back. If he stopped drinking and smoking, promised to go to school and thoroughly explain and apologize for why he couldn't continue the family's legacy in the military, he would be permitted to stay at the family's home. His mother was too kind and sympathetic to turn away her youngest son, especially with one of the five already dead. Thinking about his mother made Jackson feel guilty for all of the pain and stress that he was sure to have caused her, but he also had to remind himself that it was she and his father who had pushed him to the point where he had to leave. He was obnoxious and rebellious, but it wasn't like they tried to make any compromises with him either.

"Yeah, like hell you are, Mr. I-hate-wearing-condoms. My entire body hurts because of you and it's going to for the next eighteen years unless you come up with that money. So get up and get your ass dressed. You have three minutes." With that, and the gentle slap to his face that she left him with, he could only groan obnoxiously and sit up. It took a few seconds to rub the sleep out of his eyes, and then another minute to trudge to the bathroom and change into a black t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. He had showered the afternoon before but with this weather, knew that he was going to have to shower again before the end of the day. It was never extremely hard to sneak into gyms in the city, so he knew he would need to add that into his day's plans at some point.

He reemerged from the bathroom just in time to hear Nick introduce the new girl that stood beside him as an old friend, Elena. Jackson took in her appearance quickly and was definitely satisfied. He headed over towards Makayla and Holly, and once she had finished speaking, he gave a small wave. If he wasn't already in hot water with Makayla, he probably would have introduced himself and been more than friendly, but he wasn't going to be that brazen just yet. "Alright, where are you dragging me to today?" he asked, a tired smirk on his face. He looked only at Makayla, because he really wasn't the biggest fan of Holly. He sometimes got a kick out of scaring her or feeding her lies or gossip that would just bother Makayla or Brooklyn or one of the others with her infinite amount of questions. Aside from that, though, it was hard to tolerate her, nonetheless actually hang out with her.

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Character Portrait: Elena Ramos Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Jackson King
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Makayla could tell that Jackson wasn't excited to spend a day with her and Holly, and she attributed that mostly to Holly being there, but she didn't care. Holly was a lot of work, but she was less work than an infant or a toddler would be and if anything could motivate him to not have to deal with a child of his own, it was to force him to spend a day with the closest thing to a child she had. She didn't feel bad for Jackson in the slightest. If anything, she felt bad for forcing Holly to spend a day with him. Makayla was always very vocal about how Jackson was mean and wasn't their friend. It was done in part to keep Holly in the dark about their relationship, because something like that would be too complicated to explain to Holly who would have a million questions about it, and would, within minutes, tell everyone else about it too. It was also done because Jackson was mean to her sometimes. Makayla understood that he was usually being sarcastic and that his tolerance for Holly was far shorter than her own, but explaining that to Holly wasn't a good option either. So, she had always just agreed with her that he was mean and not a fun person to be around. It wasn't like Jackson wasn't an asshole anyway, so she wasn't lying to her.

"Why were you talking to him?" was the first thing that Holly said since being given the lollipop minutes earlier. It was nothing nothing but a stick with a few pink, sticky remnants on it, and as soon as Makayla was in reach, Holly handed the garbage off to her.
"Can we go to the pool now? Do you think they made the water red for July 4th?"

Makayla took the lollipop stick but was close to rolling her eyes. Holly could get away with a lot of things because Makayla knew that she truly was incapable of realizing she was being annoying or childish. She understood why she had to read menus to Holly and why sending her to the corner store was a bad idea, because she would buy something worth a dollar and not understand that she had to stay there long enough to get the change. Things like picking up her clothes or throwing away her own garbage were things that Makayla knew she had to work on. It was hard to keep making excuses to herself as to why Holly couldn't do things that were so simple. Even though she was always exhausted, she knew that she had to put more effort into normalizing Holly, and while she had always been completely against the idea of asking Nick for the prescription medication he sold like Adderall or Ritalin, now she was considering it. It was hard to keep Holly on a leash on any normal day, but now when she was more stressed out than ever and was feeling more physically strained and ill than ever, it didn't seem like such a bad idea. Moral-wise, she was already game to try it, but money-wise, not so much. "We're not going to the pool, Holl. Jackson's going to hang out with us today, and he promised to be nice."


"I don't want to hang out with him. He's so ugly, Kay. I think me and you should just go to the pool and then we can see the fireworks later, right? They do fireworks on July 4th."

"He's not ugly. It'll be fun, I promise. We can watch the fireworks later and maybe we'll see if Jackson has enough money to buy us Italian ices at the pizzeria, okay?" Calling Jackson ugly had softened Makayla a little bit, but she wasn't going to let him off the hook just because Holly didn't want him there any more than he wanted to be there.


"Will we go to the pizza place that Savannah took me to? She got a whole pizza pie for just me and her and there was so much cheese on it."

"If you pay attention today to what I say, then maybe." Makayla would have warned Holly in a stricter way, but she didn't necessarily want Holly to be on her best behavior if she was trying to prove a point to Jackson. A headache would be worth watching him squirm and come up with the money. That was all she really cared about at this point.

Their conversation broke as the opening of the back door sounded and down came Nick and a girl that Makayla didn't recognize. She seemed comfortable with Nick, which was different from how most of the new people came in acting. Makayla remembered how she was absolutely terrified when she first came down to the basement. It was the only place that accepted her and Holly without even mentioning CPS or separating her and Holly, and she was so scared that Holly would do something to get them kicked out. Makayla was proficient enough in Spanish from growing up in a house that was always filled with a diverse crowd, and going to a school completely made up of minorities, to understand the trash that she was talking. Nick introduced her as Elena, and from the look of Roman's reaction to her appearance, Makayla assumed that he was the "white boy" she was referring to. Further processing her words, it seemed like she had known Nick and Roman for long enough where "for all this time" was an appropriate phrase. Makayla wasn't sure how to interpret her bold or crudeness, so she simply responded to the unexpected greeting with a smile and a, "Hey!". She was too used to Holly's normal behavior to forget to clamp her hand around her sister's thin forearm before she could get more than a step towards Elena.


"I just want to say hi!" Holly argued, looking back at Makayla with confusion. A new person was always exciting for Holly, and especially compared to the idea of hanging out with Jackson. She had so many questions to ask the girl and didn't understand why Makayla was being so restraining - and physical. Jackson must have come over in between that time, because he asked where they were "dragging" him to, before Makayla could justify her tight grip to Holly. "We're not dragging you anywhere because you're uninvited," she asserted.

"He's not uninvited. Jackson's the whole reason why we're going out today. He wants to get to know you better, Holl. Jackson wants to hang out with you, learn what it's like to take care of you." Makayla's brown eyes were focused on Jackson as she spoke, and she had to suppress a giggle at the end of the statement. She was going to put him through hell today, because he had put her through hell for two months already. "We're going to go to the park first." She had loosened her grip on Holly only for enough time to get her bag, shove the last lollipop into Holly's hand, and nudge Holly towards the staircase leading to the bar. When she saw that Holly was following direction and not attempting to reach Elena again, she looked towards Jackson and grabbed his hand. "Lead the way, daddy." She didn't even care that she was being a bit too flirtatous for friendship in front of Nick and Elena. She hoped that they were too occupied with each other to notice.

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Character Portrait: Elena Ramos Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn Archer Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Savannah had decided the night before she'd use today to do a little job hunting. She wanted that modeling place to be the last thing she needed.
Turns out, that seemed about as useful as her submitting her writings to the publishing houses. She went to the library again and check her messages, still nothing from anyone. It was discouraging, it really was. She used to win contest after contest, she was a child prodigy, but since moving here, she's done nothing financially useful with herself.

She decided, she'd go home and talk to Nick, maybe he could cheer her up, he always seemed to be able to.

She made her way home and down to the basement after a quick wave to Finn who was busy with customers, he gave her a nod as she went by. It was around this time that she saw Brooklyn and Roman, and she said not a word to either of them. It was good thing they were leaving, she didn't think she had the patience for any of their disdain today, it wasn't even noon and Savannah wanted to curl up in bed. She could hear Nick downstairs and quickened her pace.

She spotted Nick immediately and smiled, but it faded when she saw a beautiful Latina woman beside him. She missed a bit of the introduction but she saw Holly dart forward, but Makayla expertly draw her back. Savannah stepped around them as they came up the stairs and rounded to Nick and the latina girl.

"Nick, Good Morning." She greeted him first and then the girl. "I think I may have missed a bit, but hello, I'm Savannah." She said, offering her hand and smiling brightly. Nick was good for bringing in other people, so Savannah really wasn't surprised, but there was something about how comfortable to two seemed together that made her a little uneasy, it wasn't like it was with Brooklyn, but she was weary all the same.

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Character Portrait: Elena Ramos Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Savannah Stonecraft Character Portrait: Jackson King
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Elena had more time to observe the other people who were in the basement after Nick introduced her. The lump of blankets ended up being a boy who gave her a bare wave, and situated himself with the other two girls in the basement. Of the two girls, the one with the darker skin greeted her in a similar way to the boy, and the redheaded one appeared to be eager to come over but was interrupted by the other girl. Elena wasn't very worried about them but put on a friendly smile, which only grew when she watched Roman head towards the stairs moments after her arrival. He certainly wasn't the same lanky kid that he was seven years ago, but his quick departure was reassuring that she still held a little bit of power over him, even if it wasn't actually true. "No me digas que la pelirroja es tu ex novia," Elena said, playfully nudging his shoulder, once the three others started towards the stairs. The redhead was the only white girl in the basement and since Nick had said she was going to get his white ex when they got down there, it logically made sense. However, the girl didn't appear to be older than fifteen or sixteen, and that alone had Elena wanting to change his nickname from Moreno to pedófilo.

"Holly? Hell no! You'll get to know Holly pretty quickly, I bet. She's... uh, friendly. Friendly like a kid, I guess you could say." Nick was quick to defend himself against that allegation. He wouldn't badmouth Holly to Elena, because overall, he liked Holly and he knew that her tendency to be a pest wasn't even slightly intentional. Holly had better intentions than anyone he had ever known and even in an attempt to defend his decency, he wasn't going to go on and on about how Holly had the mentality and attention span of a five year old. "The girl that she was with was Makayla, and they're sisters. Not biologically, obviously, but step-sisters or something, and that guy was Jackson. He's a pretty good guy, he'd definitely be down to smoke if you ever need a stoner friend and I'm not around," he smirked, "But according to some of the others, he can be a little bit of an ass around the girls. I know that you know how to deal with that though." Nick now realized that there probably was little point in bringing Elena back now. She only had one bag of possessions so there wasn't much to move in, but she didn't have a mattress, pillow, blankets, or anything to really help her live. They were going to have to deal with that before night set in, especially with it being a holiday. Nick had enough money on him to buy her a mattress and some blankets, but his wallet wasn't fat enough where he wouldn't be taking a big hit by being generous. He knew that with tonight being a big partying night, if he went out on a few more sales, he could probably make the money back by the end of the night.

"Well, where the fuck is your girl then, Moreno? Or was she made up to make you seem cool?" Elena joked. She took in what he said about the people who had went upstairs, but she was more focused on this mystery girlfriend. There was little time to get an answer from Nick because his playful expression shifted from looking at her, to the stairs. Elena glanced that way too, and found that a dark skinned female was nearly running towards them. She thrust a hand out to Elena and introduced herself as Savannah after saying good morning to Nick. Handshakes weren't something that Elena usually attributed to meeting new people who were of her age, and in a casual setting. For a moment, she considered making a remark about how unusual it seemed, but Elena wasn't really looking to make a bad impression right now. Instead, she carefully extended a hand and loosely returned the handshake. "Hi," she offered with a smile that wasn't completely superficial. Though the accent that came out of Savannah's mouth was unexpected, it would make a good joke when she and Nick were alone and she could question if that was Roman's sister and he was just albino.

Nick should have at least been happy that it was Savannah and not Brooklyn that had showed up downstairs, but he still would have preferred neither of them. With everyone evacuating as soon as he and Elena came down, Nick had hoped that it would stay that way for a little while so he could give Elena the run down on how everything worked, and ask her to tone down the attitude with Roman. Nick knew that Roman could hold his own now, but the last thing they needed was any more drama in that basement and Nick didn't want to have to deal with Roman being angry at him for things he couldn't control. In a way, he felt the same responsibility to look out for Elena as he did, and probably still did, for Roman. If nothing else, he owed it to Miguel to take care of Elena until she could take care of herself. "Hey Savannah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck in attempt to massage away the stress he could feel coming on. "This is Elena. She's an old friend and she'll be staying us for a little while. We just came down so I could grab a few things, but we're going out to pick up some things for her while she's staying here." It wasn't a lie, because at the idea of buying Elena things, Nick had decided that making more sales were necessary. He was going to need to keep his backpack filled if he wanted to make some good sized sales during their excursion. Nick so badly wanted to leave the conversation there, fill his bag and go, but he felt compelled to offer her an invite. She was being nice to Elena, and was always a good friend to him. Even though the two of them had spent most of the day together, he decided that he needed to invite her today to. She obviously wasn't going to hang out with Roman or Brooklyn, Holly, Makayla and Jackson had already left, and Nick hadn't seen Robbie or Cara all morning. A lot of the people in the basement could spend days by themselves, and for someone living on the streets, being okay with being alone was a good thing. It was necessary, in a sense. Nick knew that Savannah was okay when she was alone for a few hours, because she regularly writing or occupying herself otherwise, but he knew that she preferred company more than most of the others (aside from Holly). His guilt made him put aside the desire to talk to and spend some time alone with Elena. "If you need to pick anything up, you're welcome to come. We're probably going to check out the Kmart around the block to see if they sell air mattresses first."

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Jackson King
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Holly was too busy racing up the flight of stairs to notice how flirtatious Makayla and Jackson were acting. She didn't like Jackson and had no reason to believe that Makayla liked him either, and for someone as blissfully ignorant as Holly, it was unlikely that she was suddenly going to become a detective and figure out that there was something else there. If anything about her sister was bothering her, it was still the doctor's visit that she had went on days before. The flu shot excuse seemed plausible but Holly didn't understand why she wouldn't have needed one either, and why it had taken Makayla so long just to get the shot. Besides, she hadn't seen any bandages on her arm. When she reached the top of the stairs, she spun around to face the pair that were a few steps behind her. "Move," she frowned at Jackson's, pushing him past her and then stopping Makayla before she could step up onto the ground level. She grabbed Makayla's arm and thrusted it towards her to examine it. "Where did you get your flu shot? I don't see any Band-Aids."

Since when had Holly become so suspicious, and dare she say it, observant? Makayla only had half a second between the moment she pulled her hand away from Jackson, and Holly spinning around and addressing them. Holly, who was usually overly pleasant, shoved Jackson out of the way to grab Makayla's arms and ask about why she didn't have any bandages from her flu shot. "They only give Band-Aids to the babies that cry," Makayla responded, a smile tugging at her lips. Behind school, needles were the next things that would guarantee waterworks from Holly. She pushed past her sister gently, but latched onto her again as soon as she saw how populated the bar was. Holly managed to find reasons to wander off when they were alone, and with so much going on here today, it was obvious that something would catch her attention. The smart part of Makayla told her that they needed to get out of there as quickly as possible to prevent Holly from offending someone with her many questions or knocking over someone's glass and having Finn on their case. As she watched Jackson remain a step ahead of them though, the devious side of her overtook that logic and she grabbed the back of his shirt to stop him. "Wait here with Holly while I go to the bathroom," she said, her smile instantly transforming into a smirk. Maybe she was having too much fun with this already, but he deserved it. The last part she was sure of, at least.

Jackson was still trying to wake up as Makayla coerced him into coming on her outing with Holly. Her bold actions and comments in front of Nick and Elena woke him up, and just out of reflex, he obliged and headed up the stairs to prevent her from saying any more. Before the pregnancy news, Jackson wasn't completely against being more obvious about his relationship with Makayla. On the plus side, if everyone knew that they messed around, Makayla could be honest with Cara about needing her to hang out with Holly so they could be together. However, if everyone knew, then Jackson also felt like it would be awkward. He would feel pressured into calling Makayla his girlfriend and even though he really hadn't been hooking up with too many girls, it would force him to stop even considering one night stands with other girls. Now, with the pregnancy news, he didn't know what to do. Again, it would make sense to come clean about it, because it would give a real reason for Cara to help Makayla more in terms of Holly, but also in terms of finances. Jackson was still considering asking her for money for the abortion. He had planned on doing it last night, but then Makayla walked in and he wasn't going to do that in front of her. He wanted it to seem like he was coming up with the money himself. He needed to get credit for something. At the same time, he feared that if he couldn't come up with the money and Makayla was forced to carry the baby to term, everyone would know it was his fault and he would be forced to take care of the child and Makayla. It wasn't a death sentence but Jackson couldn't stand the idea of not having an option in all of this.

He tried to keep his mood up for now, though. Makayla seemed to be trying to get under his skin, but she was in a good mood and he had that to be happy about. She was a smart ass but that was one of the things that he liked best about her, so it only seemed to fit her character that after Holly had consistently shown that she didn't want or like Jackson, she would abandon him with her. "No! I--" It was useless. Makayla had already darted away towards the bar's restrooms and Jackson could only sigh and turn back to Holly. "Alright, let's just wait for Makayla here. She'll only be gone a minute," he said, leaning against a wall near the bar's front door.

"I'm not friends with you so I don't have to listen to you," Holly objected, just for the sake of objecting. Between not getting to tell her story to Roman and him denying that they were best friends, Makayla dismissing her and still not being fully convinced about the flu shot story, and now having Jackson there to ruin her potentially fun day with Makayla, Holly's normal upbeat attitude seemed distant. It wasn't a usual thing for her, but every couple of months she would have an off day or an off few hours until something pleasing happened to make her forget what she was mad about. For the sake of everyone, hopefully Jackson was going to fulfill Makayla's promise of ice cream. "Me and Makayla don't like you, so can you go away?" Even in her bad moods though, Holly couldn't even come close to the levels of aggression or hatred that Brooklyn and some of the others so frequently displayed.

"If Makayla doesn't like me, then why does she always kiss me?" Oh well. Jackson tried to be nice and patient. He would claim that to Makayla when this all got back to her, anyway.

Holly was used to Jackson lying and saying things just to be mean, but this comment had her waiting a moment with a frown on her face before responding. "That's not true, Makayla thinks you're gross."

"She didn't think I was gross when she was laying on top of me last night. Naked." It was amusing watching Holly get worked up, so as he spoke, he couldn't stop himself from grinning. Holly had issues, that was common knowledge, but she was sixteen. It wasn't like he was talking about sex to someone who was actually five.

Holly was only used to Jackson pushing her buttons when Makayla was around to either stop it, or reassure her that he was just being mean. She didn't know what to say to that, so instead, she shoved him. "I'm telling Makayla you said that!" she snapped, as if it was going to do any good. She turned around, ready to burst through the bar in search of Makayla, but found her sister only a foot away. "He said you kiss him and lay on him when you're naked," she said, on the verge of tears as she clasped her hands around Makayla's arm.

Makayla had only reached the bathroom's door when the shattering of a glass immediately spun her around. Her first thought was that it was Holly. She had been trying to talk to someone who didn't want to be bothered, and had pestered them to a point where she was touching their glass and knocked it onto the floor. Makayla could imagine the customer doused in their drink and Finn ready to wring Holly's neck out. That image sent her hurrying back to where she had left Jackson and Holly, with a comment about how he clearly was not fit to be a father if he couldn't watch her for one minute, ready on her tongue. Instead, she found Holly shoving him with an distressed look on her face and before she could ask what was going on, Holly claimed that Jackson had informed her of their relationship. Makayla's eyes went wide, not only in shock from Jackson's audacity to say such a thing to anyone, but to Holly nonetheless. Jackson didn't know much about Holly's upbringing, so he couldn't necessarily be blamed for being insensitive about probably triggering memories of her five year's of sexual abuse. Still, did he always have to be such an asshole? She hadn't even come close to paying him back for getting her pregnant and yet here he was, causing even more problems for her.

Feeling like they were on the brink of causing a scene, Makayla mouthed 'fuck you' to Jackson, and silently shooed him out the front door. She stroked Holly's hair, praying that she could prevent her sister from spiraling into a breakdown today. "Don't listen to him, okay Holl? He's stupid, you just can't let him bother you. What do you say we stop and get ice cream before the park? That'll be fun, right?" Makayla didn't want to necessarily tell Holly that Jackson was lying this time. For a moment, she wondered if it would be easier to tell Holly that he was telling the truth and try to get the two of them to actually for a normal bond. Holly rarely got upset like this, though, so Makayla decided against it. When Holly stopped sniffling and nodded, she led her out of the bar to meet Jackson on the street. "We're stopping at one of the ice cream carts in the park for her," she stated, shooting him a warning look as they walked. If she didn't actually like Jackson, there was no way that she would still be up for forcing him on this outing today. More so, though, she needed him. Until the cash for the abortion was in her hands, she needed him around.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Madden Character Portrait: Jackson King
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"You can hold my hand or walk on your own but I can't move with you all over me, Holly," Makayla said, wrestling her arm out of the two-hand grip Holly was holding it with. Normally Holly was all over the place and wanting to do everything but hold her hand and stay within eye distance. Especially on days like today, where the streets were particularly crowded, it was expected that Holly would try to run off fifty times for anything from wanting to speak with a street vendor to thinking that she saw someone who looked like Cara in the crowd. Today, Makayla was experiencing the exact opposite of that. Holly wouldn't let go of her, and it wasn't just in a tight grip on her hand like Makayla frequently did to her. Holly had both of her hands clinging around Makayla's arm. Though Holly was small, so was Makayla, and the extra two inches and ten or fifteen pounds that she had on Holly didn't make it easy for her to support Holly's weight too. Because the streets were so busy, it was impossible to move with Holly all over her and after many attempts at nicely asking Holly to stop, Makayla's patience was running short.

She wasn't a psychologist and aside from one measly high school class, had very little knowledge on the topic. Being Holly's sister and having to take care of her for so many years forced Makayla into that role, though. She had learned to read Holly's body language and her words, even when they made little sense on the surface level. Right now, how clingy and silent, aside from tightening her grip on Makayla's arm, suggested that she was anxious. It had Makayla glaring at the back of Jackson's head as he walked a few steps in front of them. Just as much as she wanted to feel bad for Holly and be the nurturing sister that she tried to be, she wasn't physically feeling well and was already feeling sticky with sweat from that, and Holly being all over her was making her feel even worse. "I'm not playing today. You're going to start acting right or we're going home."

"Okay, I want to go home."

"And you'll sit down there all day. Without saying a word."

"Okay."

"And that means no fireworks or anything fun."

"Okay."

Fuck, Jackson really got to her, Makayla groaned through thought. She had no intentions on returning to the basement and was positive that Holly would have cracked at her threats, but apparently not. "No, you know what, Holly? I'm not doing this 'brat' thing today. You're going to start acting your age and aren't going to complain about it."

"I want to go home," Holly insisted, and the way that her voice sounded pleading and upset made Makayla wish that she actually was being a brat. She felt bad, but aside from this day being necessary to prove a point to Jackson, what would she do if she went back to the basement with Holly now? Sit down there, in the heavy heat, and have to deal with her touching everyone's things and upsetting people? It wasn't like she would actually go back to sleep or settle down with a quiet activity so Makayla could relax as well. It seemed to make sense in more ways than one that they remain out and about as long as possible. "We aren't going home right now. Don't bring it up again." She could tell that just as her patience was running short, Holly's was too, and Makayla just hoped that by barely acknowledging her sister's emotions, she would be less tempted to have an actual breakdown. Luckily, the park was now within distance and a minute later, they had caught up with Jackson who was standing by the fence.

"You're being really mean today." Her tone still wasn't perky, but the comment held some semblance to Holly's normal self, and Makayla was at least happy about that. She gave Holly's single hand that she now held, a gentle squeeze and tried to calm her own mood in the process. It didn't happen frequently, but whenever Makayla did try to put her own needs and wants before Holly's, she felt guilty soon after. "We're going to have fun today, Holls. I promise. Let's just try. You can get your ice cream and then we'll find the perfect spot in the shade to eat it, and we can play that game you like where we see how many dogs we can find, alright? What's our record from that game, anyway?"

"I think it was like... twenty-five. And that was the day I got the bonus points for finding the dog that looked like Chance from Homeward Bound."

"That's right! I forgot about that. Okay, our goal for today is to see more than twenty dogs. I bet we can do it." Makayla was being more attentive now than she was even on a good day, in hopes of ridding herself of this strangely clingy and upset version of Holly. She didn't give Jackson a second to even conjure a smart remark as they approached, before extending a hand and being him to speaking first. "She's getting ice cream." She waited until Jackson reluctantly handed over a few single dollar bills before turning back to Holly and handing them to her. "Okay, go pick out what you want from the cart over there and then meet us on the benches over there," Makayla said, pointing out the two locations. She waited for Holly to head towards the ice cream vendor before taking Jackson's hand and pulling him towards an empty bench a few feet into the park.

"You just love making shit more difficult for me, don't you? You fucking broke her," she hissed, slapping his shoulder as she sat down.

"More difficult? I think that's the first time that I've ever seen Holly not pissing everyone off by talking nonstop! You should be thanking me. Besides, it's not like I even did anything wrong. I told her how badly you want me, and we both know that's true," he smirked, standing in front of her.

"Okay, first of all, you're delusional, and secondly, just lay off of her today, okay? I don't have the energy. I'm too busy stressing over how you still have none of the money. Tell me I'm wrong."

"I'd be five dollars closer to having the money if you didn't force me out on this stupid trip," he reminded her as he sat down. I'll come up with it though. I mean, worst comes to worst, I'll ask Cara for the money. You know she's got it."[/color] Asking Cara for the money wasn't something that Jackson wanted to do, but only because it would be a blow to his ego. He didn't want to have a girl or a kid to support, but he didn't want to not be able to have either because he couldn't support them. However, realistically thinking, the money he needed for this abortion was an astronomical number that would take a hell of a lot of luck for him to come up with in time. Asking Cara for the money wouldn't be the worst thing he'd ever done, and being forced to live in a musty basement took a lot of pride out of people to begin with.

"No! You're not asking her for the money. I don't want anyone to know about this, Jackson!"

"I won't tell her it's for you then!"

"What are you going to tell her you need six hundred dollars cash for? Come on, Cara's stupid but she's not that stupid. If I knew she had six hundred dollars cash to give me with no strings attached, you can bet your ass I wouldn't be sitting here right now." Makayla and Cara still weren't in the best spot, but it wasn't that that was stopping her from wanting Cara's help. It was the bigger picture. This wasn't Cara's problem and Makayla wasn't going to throw her problems onto anyone else without trying out every route to solve it on her own. Jackson was the reason for this issue and Makayla wasn't going to let him get off that easy by begging to Cara on their behalf for a quick fix.

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