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Chanel Owens

0 · 3,836 views · located in New York

a character in “A New York Life”, as played by predictmeifyoucan

Description

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Birth Name:
Chanel Owens

Nicknames:
Nelly
Chachi

Age:
22

Date Of Birth
June 11

Sexuality:
Heterosexual

Occupation:
Freelancer
Barista

Origin:
Oahu, Hawaii [0-1]
Austin, Texas [1-2]
Newark, New Jersey [2-4]
Raleigh, North Carolina [4-5]
Orlando, Florida [5-7]
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania [7-20]
New York City, New York [20-present]




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Personality:
| Kind | Manipulative | Selfish | Carefree | Indulgent | Curious | Materialistic |
Chanel does her best to be as nice to people as she can. The majority of the time, she's wearing a smile or is laughing. She tries to see the good in people and situations and is all around just trying to live life with as few restrictions as possible. This makes her come off as immature to some as she's already 22 and doesn't have a clear projection for the future, but to others she is seen as very free spirited and relaxed. She's always ready to do something fun, almost too much to the point that it actually inhibits are ability to get things done. She would much rather go to a concert or walk through Soho instead of doing actual work. To quench her extrovertism and need to do right by the world, she occupies a good chunk of her free time with social activism. In this way she can still interact with people while actually being productive. Her carefree nature can be charming, but also reckless. She likes to pretend the rules don't apply to her since growing up she was used to always getting things to go her way. She doesn't like being told that she can't do something, and if that something is even as trivial as her buying something she doesn't need to buy, she'll still ignore what she should do in place of whatever satisfies her in that given moment.

While she is an agreeable person, this isn't how she is by nature. Even as a child she has always been very manipulative and calculating, determined to get what she wanted. Because she also incredibly charismatic, her ways were mostly ignored, or completely masked for what they really were. She loves gossip and drama and always being in the know whether that involves having knowledge she shouldn't or following the latest trends. She feels the need to have the best and be the best because at her core she is very competitive. She's what most would call incredibly fake, and she was honest enough with herself to admit that such was probably true. Her cold nature comes through projecting her own insecurities in the disguise of confidence and aggression. She's always forced her ideas and personality onto people in a way that made it hard to resist, partially because she was intriguing, but also because she was intimidating. None of this changed until her brother's suicide attempt when she was eighteen. After that she was consumed with guilt because it was the people like her that almost took her brother from her, and even now she accepts some responsibility for his attempt. Her kindness and activism, then, is more so out of a need to make herself feel whole again and distract from the guilt she still feels over her brother's suicide attempt. Deep down she knows that this friendly persona isn't who she truly is and so she tries harder if not to convince others, then to convince herself.

Likes:
| Shopping | Novelty | Oranges | Candles | Organic | Collectibles |
Chanel loves buying things and acquiring new items. She's always up for trying new things and indulging herself. Much of her recklessness comes from little luxuries that add up. Although she is the exact opposite of a Type A personality, she likes to give off that aesthetic so that other people know as well. So she'll waste money on expensive organic juices, a multitude of curly hair products, pricey items from so called 'boho' stores, and expensive gym memberships. Her finances don't allow for it, but she chooses to ignore this and does as she pleases. Of all things, she has a guilty pleasure of buying authentic jewelry and pieces of art with lots of cultural backstory. Her dresser, if not her body, is an array of trinkets and bracelets that she 'just had to have.' She's also very big on music and loves going to concerts, even if that means going out of state to see someone live. Because she gets bored easily, she likes discovering new things. This is where her excessive shopping habit comes in, but also her tendency to scope out new restaurants and places she's never been before.

Dislikes:
| Settling | Work | Her Guilt | Restrictions | Familiarity | Pumpkin anything |
Nelly hates feeling tied down which is the main reason she hasn't found stability in the two years since moving away from home. Although she is trying to be a better person, she's used to being spoiled and thinking that only the rules she likes actually apply to her. Sitting for too long makes her anxious and as though she's not doing enough which in turn opens the door to her closeted guilt. She busies herself not only because she physically cannot sit down but for so long, but because she needs a distraction from her own self.




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Background:
Born to a veteran and a dance instructor, Nelly lived a relatively modest life. Before second grade, her family moved around a lot due to her father working in the military and within that time her younger twin brothers were born. Once her father finally retired, the family settled down in Pittsburgh where they carried an average but fulfilling life. Her childhood was a good one what with memories of the smell of Moroccan cuisine and the familiar, nostalgic sound of Arabic spoken by her father. Things were relatively simple and happy. One of the earliest turbulent moments that ever happened to her was when she was 10 years old. Her mother had gotten into a brutal car accident that reared her unable to to teach dance anymore. Similar to Nelly, her mother was unable to sit still for too long, her mother went to school for two years to get an associates in Nursing and has since stayed with that.

Apart from that, she would say she really enjoyed growing up in Pittsburgh where everything seemed to go according to plan. Her home life was good, as was school which was never problematic for her especially since she never had problems with fitting in. This lack of issue didn't stem from her simply not being concerned with the peer pressure that came with growing up. In fact, the opposite was true. Out of fear of being left out, she was very dominating over everything and formed her own rules and cliques, always being the ring leader of whatever she did. Her teachers dubbed her a leader because of her vivaciousness and willingness to take charge, but to others she was intimidating and even somewhat of a bully. However, due to her charm and discreet manipulative nature, she was able to keep friends and was well-liked among the majority of the peers.

Even though this was true, it could also be said that most liked her only on the surface, and didn't really enjoy her for what she truly represented. Such caused a lot of drama and tension when she entered high school. Chanel always found herself entangled in some form of drama and her cattiness only got worse as her need to be a part of something intensified. While her flaws were a driving force in the way she acted, it was never conspicuous enough in the presence of her persuasiveness and natural charisma for people to totally exile her. People knew that she was, for lack of a better term, fake. She would use people and tear them down and seemed to play games with people, just to prove that she could. Nevertheless, there were still many who would say that they didn't necessarily dislike her, but that there was something about her that made them wary of her true intentions.

By the time high school graduation came around, she was sick of all of her classmates, and they felt the same towards her. She'd lost most of her 'friends,' but didn't seem bothered by it all too much. So while she got through school mostly unscathed and used to being in control of everything, it wasn't until after she got her diploma that she started to experience the exact opposite. Chanel had decided to take a gap year before going to school, just working and enjoying life. Unlike her, one of her brother's had always struggled in school both academically and socially. It had been an issue for so long that Chanel pretty much ignored it, even as it worsened through middle school and into high school for him. She was at a party when she got a call from her mother, frantic and in tears, telling her that her brother was being rushed to the hospital after trying to kill himself.

To think about life before that moment is odd her now. To be able to fathom that her life was so normal before it happened feels almost surreal. After her brother's attempt, everything at home changed. With all of the stress that was now put on the family, her parents began fighting more, her brother declined mentally, and Nelly became consumed with guilt. She didn't understand the exact extent to her brother's bullying, but it was because she chose ignorance over action. Not only that, but she felt responsible because she was one of the types of people who drove her brother to suicide. Even with everything going on at home, she attended university the following year as planned.

At first it was a relief, a good distraction from her problems--from her guilt. She went in with the intent on being a graphic designer, but after just a semester she was convinced that college wasn't for her. She stayed another semester before dropping out and moving back in with her parents. She busied herself with working and tried to mend relations with her family. While things had improved over the past two years, she still couldn't look her brother in the eye without feeling guilty. Eventually, it became too much to handle and she left for New York City. The reason she gave her parents was that she didn't want to be a burden and wanted to go and start her own life, but in reality it was for far more selfish reasons.

While at first the idea of moving to the city was thought to be temporary, she has since stayed and tried to reinvent herself in different ways. She became more involved in social issues and now will sometimes write for different papers or websites if she is able to find a gig. Outside of that, she hasn't really settled down like she told her parents she would. Instead she had been doing many small jobs and typically only long enough to get her to the next paycheck before she gets bored and quits. As her interests continue to vary in this phase of reinvention, she completely thrusts all of her energy into a hobby and will try to find a job that correlates. Since she quickly bores, though, she never really sticks with anything and so has only really gotten her feet wet in the past two years since being in New York. To make her lack of security seem like less of what it is, she calls herself a freelancer, which isn't necessarily false. While the types of jobs she'll freelance varies, she has consistently stuck with social awareness writing and jobs that involve graphic design of some point, mostly for small companies. As of now, she's still all over the place but relies heavily on freelancing as a means of making money. This is harder, though, because she does not have a college degree and most clients are looking for someone with more qualifications. When finances become too tight, like now, she will get a more stable job, and so currently she works part time as a barista at a small coffee shop, but she's already considering quitting.




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ImageHeight:
5'10

Weight:
123 lbs

Face Claim:
Imaan Hammam

Hex code:
#c7256e

So begins...

Chanel Owens's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers Character Portrait: Colton King
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He'd be lying if he said he wasn't surprised, even if just a little, that Cara actually gave him twenty dollars. Roman only glanced at it on the counter for a second, having to look twice to confirm what he thought he'd just been imagining, but it was in fact a twenty. "Rehab from your smart ass mouth?" he said a he took it and held it up in the air, squinting at it. It mostly had to do with the fact that he was now, and unjustly so, twenty dollars richer, but he decided he'd back off. Just a little. Again, he was bored and no one was around, so it didn't really matter what he said so long as he didn't touch her. "But hey, with my new found riches, I could probably get us both our own needle if you ever wanna, you know." He pat the pit of his elbow and winked. Roman was well aware that Cara thought he did every single drug that was out there, including heroin, and while it annoyed the living shit out of him, he figured he'd play into it now. As he stuffed the twenty into his wallet, he glanced at her after looking around the kitchen. "You know, Cara," he began slowly, his tone softer than it had been seconds prior. He took his time to finish his sentence, first by putting his wallet in his pocket and then by looking for a fork. "I do have to give credit where credit is due though." When he finally found one, he stabbed it into the mac and cheese container and took a bite. He continued thoughtfully, purposefully. "You probably are one of the rudest people I've ever met." Clearly the backing off was short lived, if lived at all. As he finished chewing, he pulled the lemonade towards him, figuring he'd make a little concoction. "But at least you look nice tonight," he said without attempting to hide him look at her before turning his eyes away and shrugging nonchalantly. "And the food isn't shit."

Roman knew good and well that Cara hadn't lifted a thumb in the preparation or making of the food, but he decided against making some unnecessary comment about her cook had done a good job or something. The pies did look a little bit professional, but he was trying to eat them, so he wouldn't bite the hand that was feeding him until he'd actually eaten. Well, he wouldn't bite it as much. He knew he was just being a nuisance at this point, but he decided that he'd just blame it on the alcohol that couldn't possibly have anything to do with his actions since he'd only had a single beer. The assortment of food and dessert, while impressive and appealing, did look juxtaposed to the nearly vacant room. Holly and Isaac in the living room and then Makayla at the table. There weren't that many people to begin with, even though it did feel crowded earlier, but this was kind of sad. "Don't tell me you ran everyone out while Nick and I were gone," he said, and then, trying to deflect from his continued jabs, "Do you know where they went?" Just as he was finishing the rest of his sentence, the front door opened. He recognized Chanel's voice, and normally wouldn't have looked over, but he'd done so instinctively. Chanel wasn't alone though. Doing so before reminding himself not to, he furrowed his brows in confusion at the two new people behind her.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers
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Chanel dug into her pocket, forgetting at that moment that not only was the door unlocked, but that she didn't live there and so wouldn't have a key to even use. It was probably because she was too wrapped up in talking to the other two, and the fact that she was intoxicated and still a bit on edge with Kacey's sudden arrival. Her name was Kacey, right? She'd forgotten to repeat when the girl said her name. Her father had always told her to do that, as it was 'good business practice,' not that he'd ever owned his own business. He was one of those people who liked reading self help books on how to become a millionaire by thirty. "They won't," she said, still fumbling for which pocket her key was in. "But if you are nervous, Kacey, about coming in, you really don't have anything to worry about. I mean if you really want I could totally bring you a plate. I'm just realizing how in your face I'm being. Sorry about that. I kinda just talk without thinking sometimes. But I promise you that it's okay. We have so much food to spare, you'd be doing us a favor honestly." She smiled before scoffing at herself. "Where is this damn--ugh God. I'm so dumb." She turned the knob and opened it, rolling her eyes at herself, but in their direction. "Disclaimer, I'm kind of drunk too."

She opened the door and stepped out of the way, still holding it for them to come through before finally closing it behind them and locking it. "Heyyy, everyone," she said with a wide smile. She locked eyes with Cara first in order to nonverbally communicate to her to not freak out and to just go along with it. She was hoping that if she caught Cara's attention soon, that the girl couldn't make Colton and Kacey feel unwelcomed too soon. "This is Colton, and this is Kacey," she said gesturing to each one of them respectively. "Kacey's my new roommate and Colton's her friend. I invited them over and stuff. This is Makayla, Holly, Isaac, Cara, and Roman," she said as she pointed to everyone. "Aaaand the food's over there, guys. So help yourself." She went over to Cara, not acknowledging the perturbed glances from Roman who was standing close enough to Cara to suggest that they had actually been communicating, but that couldn't have been possible since neither of them had had their throats slit by the other. She hugged Cara lightly from the side with one arm. Her voice was tight with anxiousness, hoping that Cara wouldn't be too upset that Chanel came back with more people. "The desserts look great!" she said, although they looked about the same as they had before she left, just placed a bit differently. "Also, oh my god, you're so pretty up close. Most people are hella ugly, but you're actually so pretty."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers
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Cara had glanced over at him when he had made a rebuttal about him needing rehab from her, but when she caught him examining the bill as if to make sure it wasn't fake, she scoffed, and refused to look up from the desserts until he began to speak about buying them needles. It was a comment that was so disgusting to her, that she refused to hide it in her expression as she glared about him. "You are absolutely despicable. Don't even look at me," she said after he had complimented her on the attire, and possibly the food. Claiming that it didn't taste like shit wasn't a compliment in her book, and actually, nothing he said would count as a compliment because she refused to consider his opinions as being valuable. The only reason why she felt her cheeks grow red was because he had caught her off guard with the compliment, and because he was pissing her off, she told her self. She knew that he was just trying to get under her skin, but joking or not, she would take his drug related comments as more evidence that she had been right all along about him. "I would take the money back, because I don't want to be contributing to your illness, but maybe I'll get lucky and the hit you buy with that will do the trick and kill you." A satisfied smile accompanied the dig, but it had taken her longer than she wanted to come up with it, so she had to respond to his earlier asked questions about the others after she had said it. "And please, the only person running anyone off is you and how disgusting you are," she said. She had only realized then that he had brazenly begun to eat macaroni right out of the serving dish, so her glare intensified as she leaned over to snatch the fork from his hands. Yup, disgusting was the perfect word. That, and annoying, unnecessary, classless, and irritating.

Chanel's voice was her saving grace... or so she thought. She broke her glare at Roman to offer the girl a relieved smile, only to find her coming in with two other people. One was easily recognizable as the boy who had come over looking for Isaac earlier, but the female was someone who Cara had never seen before. The girl being there caught her off guard, but she could have brushed off Colton being there as Chanel just actually being drunk enough to be trying to make a move on the guy she had been gushing about earlier. Cara then remembered that the only reason why Chanel had left was to see her new roommate, so this was probably her. She looked normal enough, and just because Chanel had been the one to bring her over, and it wasn't Ryan inviting his weird friends, Cara decided to play nice for the moment and smile as Chanel introduced them, confirming it was the new roommate. "Hey," she said with the smile, mentally patting herself on the back for being what she felt like was unnecessarily friendly to these strangers. Luckily for them, I love Chanel... and I owe her after today... Well, now we're actually even.

She continued to hover by the desserts, doing nothing really, until Chanel was by her side. Even though Chanel was always energetic, Cara was sure that a lot of her personality tonight was being amplified by the alcohol. She didn't mind it. Makayla was actually being quieter than Chanel at the moment, but Chanel's intoxication level felt controlled and like that of a normal person. It was the kind of drunk that Cara could have fun with, even though she felt like her buzz wasn't comparing to Chanel's at all. "I love you," she said in response to the compliment, wrapping both of her arms around Chanel for a quick squeeze, that she held for long enough to say, "but if you brought him back over here to fuck him in my room, I will kill you." She pulled away just in time to hear Holly calling her, and she gave Chanel a pointed look that meant "I mean it", before continuing over to Holly. "What will you like?" she repeated, contemplating the question as she looked over the desserts. "Well, two cupcakes looks like more than enough, so why don't you just start with that for now? We have so much that everything will still be here by the time you're done with that."

"Okay, but make sure no one eats it all, okay?" Holly said, seemingly unsure that Cara was being honest that it would all be there as Cara led Holly to the table that Makayla sat at.

"I promise it'll all still be there, Holl. Here, let's sit and eat at the table." As she got close enough, it was impossible to ignore the bottle of whiskey that hadn't been sitting in front of Makayla five minutes ago. She wanted to cringe at the sight. It was bad enough that Makayla was already this drunk, but drinking what Cara guessed was straight whiskey on top of that, was only going to make things worse. She had never seen Makayla like this to begin with, so she already thought this was as drunk as she could get. Any more drunk, and Cara was sure she would be passed out on her kitchen floor. She was used to taking care of Holly and it was something that came naturally to her, so Cara definitely possessed a compassionate side that some people didn't see, but she also didn't know how to take care of someone who always took care of themselves. It would have been different if this was Chanel on the verge of blacking out, but Makayla felt so much older to her. She just had always seemed so mature and capable and responsible, that it felt odd trying to look after her. She felt even more uncomfortable doing it with Holly standing right there, since she doubted Holly had even noticed anything was off with Makayla so far. After catching Chanel's gaze and giving her a "what the fuck?" look, she turned back to the girl seated at the table. "Makayla..." she began, unsure of where she wanted to take the conversation as she reached over and pushed the bottle of whiskey to the other side of the table. She didn't lunge for the cup Makayla had, but she felt like she should have too. "You can't keep drinking. You're already really out of it, girl. Seriously, I've never seen you like this before. Why don't you go back to your apartment and try to sleep for a little while? We can bring Holly and all of her dessert in, and we'll put a movie on for her since she doesn't seem as... ready for bed... as you are."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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#, as written by Bandit
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Makayla Wright

Holly Maddon

Cara Forrester

Chanel Owens

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Holly's going to go watch her movie, you're going to sit so we can chat about your crush, everyone will be fine. Thanksgiving..." she didn't know where she was going with that, so she cut herself off to drink the rest of the Fireball in her cup. "Let's just all be friends, okay?" She didn't notice the slur in her speech or how what Cara was saying was a clear social cue to leave. Normally, Makayla would never have been someone to overstay her welcome. For one, she never got like this, where her presence was actually a burden on other people, but just in general, she always was scared that she was bothering people. A lot of the time, it wasn't her, so much as it was Holly, but Holly was her responsibility, so it did make her anxious that Holly bothered people too much and that they overstayed their welcome. It was why Makayla always tried to over Cara money whenever she watched Holly or took her out to dinner or bought her something. She didn't want to be a charity case or someone who people put up with just because they felt bad for her. She didn't want or need people's pity.

"I got you a cupcake, Makayla. I had to get you a vanilla one, because remember we only got vanilla frosting at the store and not chocolate?" She was very much oblivious to the change in the mood as she took her own cupcake off of the plate and pushed the leftover cupcake on the plate towards her sister. The only part of the cupcake that she really like was the frosting, so her way of eating the cupcake mostly just consisted of licking that off of the cake and then throwing out the rest.

It was only a matter of time before Makayla said something about her "sleeping around" again, or said something about Nick, and Cara didn't want to deal with that to begin with, but especially not in front of Holly. Part of her cared about Holly and Makayla enough that she didn't want Holly to see Makayla as out of control as she now definitely seemed to be. Her speech was slurred, her body movements seemed slower and more erratic, and she just didn't seem present. She didn't know if it would scare Holly or just confuse her, but she didn't want it to affect the way that Holly looked up to Makayla, and she knew she would be doing Makayla a favor in the morning, by nipping the amount of questions Holly would have about her behavior. Also, though, she knew that if Makayla said something about Nick in front of Holly, it would take only a matter of minutes for everyone in the apartment to know, and Holly would never let it go. "Holl, why don't you go eat that by the TV, actually? I think another good movie came on." Cara suggested. She placed her hands on Holly's shoulders and gave the girl a gentle nudge away from the table. "I'll be right over, okay?" she said, her voice raising an octave, as she grew a bit more stressed. She was definitely wishing that she had kept up with Chanel's pace with the alcohol at this point.

"Friends don't steal other people's fucking alcohol," Makayla snapped when she tipped her cup over and realized that it was empty, and then noticed the bottle of Fireball was out of her reach. "You're an alcohol and boyfriend stealing bitch." Her voice, usually soft and gentle, was now harsh and angry. She stood up to lean across the table to grab the bottle, but she ended up stumbling a few steps to the side and was lucky that the empty chair beside her caught her fall.

Chanel was now regretting bringing Colton and Kacey over. She figured this was her punishment for overstepping her boundaries by inviting people without even asking for the host's permission. She stayed in the kitchen after Cara's warning about Colton, which she did have to smile at, although that definitely wasn't the case. As she stood near Roman who was making some sort of mixed drink, she watched Cara go over to Makayla who really only looked worse for wear. If Kacey already had an abysmal introduction to Makayla earlier, this definitely wasn't helping. Yeah, she thought to herself. This wasn't the best idea. From the looks of it, Cara seemed to have it handled, and so Chanel decided she would grab a cupcake and then go talk to Colton and Kacey in an attempt to normalize how bizarre this dinner was becoming. Before she could get to that though, she heard bits and pieces of Makayla snapping at Cara. By the time she looked over, the girl was catching herself on a chair next to her. "Ooookay!" Chanel said with a wide grin that didn't have an ounce of her characteristic charm in it. Her voice was tight and slightly higher pitched as she moved over and helped Makayla sit up. She laughed nervously as she did so. "Let's use nice words and not curse at our friends. How about we go back to the apartment, yeah?" She couldn't think quick enough to formulate another solution, but she was sure no other would be as beneficial at getting Makayla out of here. She definitely didn't need more alcohol, and she definitely wasn't getting any. She lowered her voice some, the stress still evident in it. "And maybe keep our voices down too so our neighbors don't think we're totally psycho?"

Holly was beyond confused when her sister first, didn't acknowledge her cupcake, and then seemed to grow really angry in a matter of seconds. She ignored Cara's insistence that she go back over to the living room and watch television, because she was too captivated and confused by Makayla's behavior. The way that she lunged across the table for what Holly now knew was alcohol, and the way she called Cara a bitch seemed bizarre. Cara wasn't a bitch. She was their friend. And what was that about being a boyfriend stealer? Holly was struggling to follow what Makayla meant with her words, but the way that she couldn't keep her balance for more than a second when she stood up was startling enough to make Holly back up a few steps as Cara and Chanel moved closer. "Why are you mad again?" she said, though it was barely audible as it was something she had meant to think more than say.

Cara was glad that she wasn't in Chanel's position. They both had to deal with Makayla now, but at least Cara wasn't doing it in front of someone she thought was attractive, and someone who she was now going to be living with. Cara could never see or talk to Kacey or Colton again if she felt like it, so the embarrassment of the situation didn't even cross her mind as she attempted to help Chanel keep Makayla balanced in her new chair. At the same time, what Makayla said had her face heating up. She had to remind herself that this wasn't the real Makayla, and it was only the alcohol or whatever was in her that was making her so volatile and aggressive. Still, she couldn't help but to regret ever thinking it was a good idea to confide in Makayla about Nick. She had thought that Makayla would be the last person who could judge her for doing something promiscuous, but clearly, that wasn't the case. Had it been anyone else, or even maybe if Holly still hadn't been standing right there, Cara would have grown colder too. Maybe she would have returned the comment about Makayla being the bitch and telling her to get out of her apartment, but she couldn't do that. The night was already clearly a fail, and she didn't want to make it worse. Someone had to preserve the dignity, and since it was more than apparent that Makayla couldn't, Cara knew she had to. "Yeah, great idea, Chanel. Let's go back to your apartment. The party's just about over here anyway. We'll calm down and go back to your apartment, okay, Makayla?" It took a lot to still keep a sweet voice on as she held onto one of Makayla's arms and attempted to pull her to her feet. With everything going on in her head, she had time to tell herself that she was somehow going to have to find a way to blame Ryan for this, though.

Makayla really didn't know what was going on. One minute she felt barely buzzed, and then she couldn't even lean over without stumbling. The next minute, Cara was accusing her of being drunk, Chanel was calling her a psycho, and apparently, they weren't welcome at the party anymore. "Woooooooow, alright," Makayla began, smacking her hand on the table top. "So just because I state a fact that you're trying to fuck every guy in this building, you wanna kick me out now? Fucked up, Cara. Whatever." She shook Chanel and Cara's hands off of her, convinced that she didn't need their help or pity. "Holly, grab your bags," she said as she got to her feet, surprisingly without tumbling back over. Holly hadn't brought a bag over and neither had she, but the line just came out anyway. "We're clearly not wanted here. They think I'm drunk and you're stupid, so let's fucking go." Standing up was one thing, but being able to walk normally was proving to be a little bit more challenging. Makayla was sure that once she got her footing down, she would be fine, but she grabbed onto the back of Holly's sweater for the extra support.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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Makayla Wright

Holly Maddon

Cara Forrester

Chanel Owens

It was dizzying how suddenly the night had taken a turn for the worse. She was mentally smacking herself for a multitude of things as she watched Makayla stumble and slur about. Chanel was disoriented at how quickly Makayla had turned from quietly drunk to a violent one. Considering she had no idea that her taking drugs was involved, Chanel could hardly imagine how much alcohol Makayla had to drink to get like this. And then when she took into account how small Makayla was, she knew the effects were only that more potent. It was hard to think straight and not want to break down and cry from the overwhelming situation at hand. The alcohol in her made her looser in a time that she wanted more control, but it also made her more sensitive to outside stimuli. Chanel grabbed at Makayla as she began stumbling onto Holly, but she had to work at it a couple of times as her own coordination wasn't at its optimal level. "Makayla, please. Come on. Holly can stay here and I'll just go with you back to the apartment. We're about to clean up anyway. It's not that big a deal."

Holly's confusion only grew as Chanel and Cara seemed to be being their normal, nice selves, and Makayla continued to lash back out at them. She was cursing, saying that they were being kicked out, and that they thought Holly was stupid. She believed the last part automatically, even though she had been standing there for the duration of the conversation and knew no one had said that about her. She had struggled enough academically throughout her life that it had been a common taunt from peers, and no matter how optimistic and positive she could be, her intelligence was something that bothered her. She recognized that she wasn't as good at math or reading or writing as other people in her class, and it made her insecure. It was the only reason she didn't like school, really. The socialization, the free lunch, and the change of scenery from their apartment was welcomed, but knowing that she was stupid compared to everyone else made her hate being there. Since she felt like she was stupid, it was easy to believe that other people would think that and call her it too, even if those other people were Cara and Chanel, two people would she really liked. Makayla was saying a lot and getting up in a short period of time, so Holly didn't know what to respond to. She had set her cupcake down in the midst of everything, only getting a few good licks of icing off before then, and when Makayla stumbled over to her and grabbed onto her sweater, she knew guessed that meant they really were leaving. "Why is she mad again?" she repeated, this time looking at Cara and Chanel because she had realized by now that not everything Makayla was saying was normal to her sister's normal character. "I want to go back too," she added uncertainly. She didn't want to leave her cupcakes and she was kind of scared of this version of Makayla, but she also felt uncomfortable entirely now, and wasn't sure if staying here would make her feel any less anxious.

"It's okay, she's fine," Cara said quickly, and more sharply than she intended it to come out as. She wasn't good under pressure and Holly still being there meant that she had to be more gentle and careful of how they interacted with Makayla. If she was still captivated by the movie, it would have been easier for them to just grab Makayla and force her back to their apartment. She was clearly feistier than Cara had given her credit for, but she was also a good eight or nine inches shorter than she and Chanel, and Cara was sure that that gave them some sort of physical advantage. "She's going to go back with Chanel right now, and then me and you will go over in a minute. I need you to help me pack up some desserts to bring back to your apartment, okay? Sound good?" She felt the tension that Chanel was giving off too, and she wished that she could have at least managed to put on a visibly-fake smile like Chanel did. She felt too frantic and uptight and now, most definitely, just wanted this night to be over. Part of her just wanted to say "k bye" and let Makayla leave with Holly, but she was positive that if she did that, Makayla would end up pulling Holly with her when she fell down the flight of stairs, or something, and they would both die, and Cara would have that blood on her hands. "Right Chanel? You'll take Makayla back and then Holly and I will be over in a minute?" she looked towards her friend, a frantic look on her face as she tried to gauge whether Chanel would be capable of handling Makayla on her own. She was her roommate.

"Yeah, fuck it. Let's go. Make sure you take back our alcohol too." She switched her grip on Holly for one onto Chanel when she suddenly decided that Chanel was on her team, and what she was saying was just as anti-Cara as the mood that Makayla was in. See, Cara could kick her out, but at least Chanel knew what was good, and that the party was so lame that she, too, was ready to leave. "I swear, Cara is so drunk," she claimed as she began to walk towards the front of the apartment, her fingers still digging into Chanel's arm. She wasn't processing most of her surroundings, how the roommate from earlier was there with a boy, or how Nick, Ryan and Brooklyn had been gone for a while. There wasn't much of anything at all on her mind. Everything seemed slower and blurred together, and it was probably in everyone's best interest that she go back home.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Isaac Rankin
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Isaac was actually having a pretty decent time, which honestly surprised him a little bit. He'd walked into 5B expected to be plastered, fairly insulted, and kicked out within ten or so minutes. None of those things had happened. Granted, he'd spent most of his time glued to the television and of anyone's radar, which seemed to help.

He was really thankful for Holly, who made that possible. She was good company - didn't talk through the whole movie, only asked questions when they were important. She kept him from feeling lonely, even if they only happened to be sitting in the same room and not much else.

He kept his phone out, but Roman never did text him back. Normally that would have bothered him just a little bit, but he was well distracted, and anyway he guy came walking through the front door within the next few minutes. He went straight to the kitchen though, so Isaac didn't even bother to look away from his movie.

A few moments later Cara was there, nudging at Holly and saying something about lemonade in a cheerful, but slightly bothered tone. Isaac kind of had a feeling Roman had been pushing her buttons, but he didn't care enough to ask. He tilted his head back to look up at her, just in time for her to address him. It wasn't the same tone she used when speaking to Holly, but it wasn't cruel either, so Isaac found himself nodding in response. Granted, he wasn't really sure if 'take some' meant he could have some there, or he could take some and get out of her apartment. The latter would probably make her happier.

He didn't think on it for very long before he returned to the movie. It was finishing up, and once the credits started up Holly mentioned wanting to go there. Isaac laughed and nodded in agreement, promising her that if he ever got a reservation, he'd take her with him. Then she was gone, lured in by the promise of cupcakes, and Isaac had to admit desserts sounded pretty good to him to.

He hadn't eaten much, he never did, but he cleared his plate enough to be polite, so he did't let the idea of moving on bother him. He was just standing up to retreat to the kitchen himself when he realized Chanel had appeared with Colton and some girl he didn't know. He nodded in greeting as he went to throw his plate away, and sipped absently at his drink. It was watered down some, which was a very rare occurrence, so he shifted his way through the small crowd in order to top it off.

It took him a moment to notice the back and forth that was going on between most of the girls and Makayla who was sitting at the table, but once he did he found himself oddly interested. She was obviously worse off than she had been earlier, and Isaac could easily recognize the 'Cut-Off' stance Cara had adapted. Which was fine, it was her apartment, but Isaac wasn't sure he would label Makayla a Problem Case yet.

Figuring things would only get better, Isaac quickly fixed himself a plate of fancy looking cookies and leaned back on the wall, trying to get a good view without being obvious. Makayla would probably be just fine if they would leave her alone, but apparently Cara wasn't having it. Which just made the other girl unruly and a little angry.

Or a lot angry, Isaac thought when Makayla flat out called Cara a bitch and accused her of being a boyfriend stealer, which Isaac personalty considered worse. He almost chocked on the chocolate chip cookie he was eating, and decided to it was probably a better idea to set the other half back down on his plate for now.

Of course Chanel, being the absolute sweetheart that she was, decided to get involved and try to keep the situation under control. Isaac shook his head slightly, because obviously neither one of them knew how to handle this, and his point was only proven when Cara tried to help Makayla out of her seat.

Makayla wasn't having that unsurprisingly, and Isaac winced at the harsh words that came out of his mouth. Sometimes he forgot how mean girls were, since he obviously made a point to stay out of their way. He really felt bad for Holly, and part of him wanted to step in, pull her away and start another movie, but it certainly wasn't his place at all to do so, so he stayed put.

In the end, Makayla obviously decided she waned to be in control of the situation, so she made leaving sound like her idea and took off with Chanel. Isaac hummed and picked his cookie back up. "And this kids, is why we don't wash our pills down with alcohol. And then go to a Thanksgiving party," Isaac muttered under his breath.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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{Collaboration with Bandit}


Chanel was thankful to be wearing a sweater because she could still feel the seeping from Makayla's strong grip. If her arms were bare, it'd only be more painful, and she was already struggling with keeping Makayla holding on. She bit her lip some, and squeezed Makayla's hand reassuringly. "Well, we won't have to worry about that anymore," Chanel said in response to Makayla, trying to disregard her comment about Cara. Chanel knew Cara had been drinking the majority of the evening, but Chanel was more intoxicated than she was. "The apartment will be way better." As they entered the hallway, she felt herself supporting Makayla's body weight more and more. She looked at her and she reached in her pocket for her key, awkwardly trying to keep Makayla upright as it seemed that girl was using her legs less. "You okay?" she said a bit shakily. She was worried again, as she wasn't how to interpret Makayla's swift mood swings. There was that and the fact that she was trying to remain calm and not reveal how upset with Makayla she actually was. This entire dinner had been ruined because of her. Earlier she was wondering where it all went wrong, but now the answer was holding onto her arm. "Can you stand?"

"Of course I can stand," she said, or at least she tried to say. Her words were coming out more jumbled and slurred than they had even five minutes ago, and processing them in her head wasn't much easier. Despite making the claim, she didn't let go of Chanel, even as they stopped in front of their apartment door. Her legs felt heavy and she felt like she was wearing shoes ten times too large for her feet. She would hate herself in the morning for being so reckless to a point where not only could she not take care of Holly, but not herself either. Being out of control and irresponsible wasn't something that was in Makayla's nature. She had been forced to "grow up" when she was just a kid, so being so reckless and thoughtless was never a phase that she went through. She didn't have the luxury of growing up in a nice area, where you could stumble down the street drunk at night after a party with friends and expect to wake up alive the next morning. She didn't have parents who were concerned about her and keeping tabs on her. She had to be that adult and look out for not only herself, but Holly too, and as a teenager, she had been okay with that, only because she had goals. She needed to graduate high school, and then once she did that, the goal was to graduate college, move out of the state and get a job. Things obviously got screwed up along the way, but it wasn't like once that fell through, she could act her age either. She signed the documents to make her Holly's legal guardian, so that need to be a parental role was solidified then.

It wasn't like she wanted to rebel anyway. Tonight wasn't her one night to let loose. She had no idea that the Xanax was going to mix so poorly with the alcohol. All she wanted was to numb out the emotional pain she felt from her life, and be able to sit through the dinner for Holly's sake, without wanting to kill herself. She didn't want to kill herself, that was for sure, but she hadn't made the dinner any easier either. Luckily, the drugs and alcohol were beginning to hit her harder now, likely in part because of the Fireball, that she had downed rapidly on top of everything else. It wasn't good in the long run, but it meant that she no longer had the energy or even capability to think enough to keep her mean spirited comments alive. Now, she was saying nothing more than a few words that were slurred together enough that they couldn't even be understood remotely.

Her growing concern was only solidified when Makayla began speaking incoherently. She wasn't sure what that meant in terms of her well beings. What alcohol did this? She knew many lightweights and they were hardly ever like this. They could get to a point where they were so sloppy that they could barely do anything on her own, but her gut was telling her that there was something deeper to this, something much more serious. Looking at Makayla again, she suppressed the anger that was building up inside her, hardly without forcing herself to. She supposed it was pity, but Chanel wanted to give herself the benefit of the doubt, and for once, she actually wasn't wrong. Her nervousness was genuine and the push of her own conceitedness gave no further benefit to her. "Let's just get you inside, okay?" she said towards Makayla, but not really to her.

She decided to keep the lights off as they moved through the apartment. Chanel readjusted Makayla, wrapping her arm around her so that her grip was more stable. Before getting to Makayla's bedroom, Chanel opened the bathroom door and turned the light on, just in case Makayla needed to get up for whatever reason. Chanel didn't need her falling and hitting her head while she was out, but now she was wondering if she should even leave her alone like this. For a brief second, her fear got to a point where she wondered if she should call the hospital, but she reasoned that she was just over-reacting. "Here you go," she said, guiding her onto the bed. Chanel took Makayla's shoes off and then pulled the blankets down some. "Can you get in bed, Makayla? I'm going to get you some juice and ibuprofen so your hangover doesn't kill you." She tried to smile some as she stood up, but there was still a somberness in her tone. "Just stay here," she said before going into the kitchen.

Makayla wouldn't remember it in the morning, but she gracelessly moved with Chanel through the apartment and into her bedroom. If there was any bit of her consciousness left, it would have been cringing with shame that she was this gone. That rather than sit down on her bed, she had flopped down onto it because she couldn't even keep herself sitting up for more than a millisecond. That someone else, who she was friendly but not exceptionally close with, had basically been forced with bringing her home because she was disturbing everyone else. It was something that would mortify Makayla if she had been in her right mind. She incoherently muttered something about turkey and her phone, as if they were sensible responses when she heard Chanel's voice, telling her to stay put. There was no way that she was going anywhere, even though in the back of her mind, she still thought that she was waiting for Holly to bring over that bottle of Fireball whiskey, as if she had not already done so minutes ago.

Ultimately, Chanel decided water would have to do. Most of the drinks she had were organic, and the only juice she had was pure pressed from a juicer, so it'd likely spoil outside of a chill environment. Makayla was already in a shitty state and she didn't need to make that any worse. After pouring some from the Brita water pitcher she'd bought some time ago, Chanel went into the bathroom to get some ibuprofen. She glanced towards Makayla's room, having not heard a peep out of her since then. After shaking two onto her hand, she tossed her head back and swallowed them. She'd need to do some damage control for herself too. Chanel stood there silently for a minute or two before realizing she had done so. It was still early in the night, but it felt like it was one in the morning. The weight from Makayla's burden had lifted, but it was replaced with a disappointment. A disappointment that this had gone down the drain. She wondered what she could've done to prevent it, although she was more so just pitying herself at this point. The alcohol had settled comfortably in her bloodstream and not she was too fatigued--more so from the stresses of the day--to really fight it anymore.

Chanel took two more pills and returned to Makayla's bedroom, finding her asleep. Chanel placed the medicine and glass of water near the bed before leaning towards Makayla's mouth to hear her breathing. She left the door open and headed for the front one before ultimately deciding against it. She couldn't just leave Makayla like this, even if she was sleeping, it still felt wrong to go back and try to have fun after this odd turn of events. Maybe if Chanel knew what was really happening it'd have been easier, but the unknown coupled with the uncertainty about it caused her to sit on the couch, the dimly lit hallway behind providing a helpful luminescence until she turned her phone on. She'd forgotten that she'd turn it off and briefly wondered why before she saw the notification about seven missed calls and three voicemails. Chanel didn't bother to check them and instead drunkenly sent Cara a text.

To: Cara

I think I'm going to stay here with Makayla. That'd be better, right? Idk I'm just worried. And I don't wanna mess up. but omg that was soooooooo weird. And I'm so ducking tired. I dunno. Sorry this dinner was ruined ugh how stupid. Thanksgiving is sooooooooo stupid. Fuck turkey.

To: Cara
Don't be mad at me :(

To: Cara
fr fr fr fr fr fr fr. Like fr fr. I can't deal with anymore peopl bean mad at e

Setting

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester
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The way that this night had gone was comical. It really made Cara think that she had done something horrific in her last life, to leave her in this predicament. Thinking that she had to have been a mass murderer to deserve this was just a tad bit dramatic, but really, she hadn't thought that things would go this badly. If anything, she had imagined that it would have been one of Isaac's friends who would have ruined the party, but it wasn't. It was one of the people who Cara had initially invited, and even if she wanted to blame her brother, he was suddenly no where in sight for her to do that. He would have even just been useful to use as someone to distract Holly while Cara went back to help Chanel with Makayla, but of course, he just had to be that much more useless. She still felt compelled to help Chanel, since Makayla's condition had seemed to deteriorate even in just the minute it took to get her out the door, but she had Holly here, so she couldn't. The girl already seemed startled by the scene Makayla had caused, and bringing her over to see Makayla claw Chanel's eyes out wouldn't make the situation any better.

Normally, Cara didn't mind being tasked with Holly. She found her energy and charisma to be refreshing, and liked the idea that she was being helpful to someone. It was out of pity, too, though, that she was always okay with looking after Holly when Makayla needed to go out. Part of her pitied Makayla and her situation, how she was sure that Makayla was going to be "one of those people" who spent the rest of their lives on welfare. She pitied Holly too, because it was apparent that the girl had emotional issues that had never been addressed that made her this way, and at sixteen years old, it was safe to say that she honestly just wasn't a normal teenager. She pitied their situation as a whole too, and how if Cara didn't offer to look after Holly, Makayla would have to pay someone money she didn't have to watch her, and risk that person possibly not being as tolerant of Holly's personality as Cara was, or she would have to leave Holly at home alone. Any normal sixteen year old could deal with that, but everyone knew that Holly didn't fall into that category. It was possible that she would be fine a few times, but Cara knew how easy it would be for Holly to decide to try to cook something on the stove and accidentally set the entire building on fire, or decide to take a walk outside and somehow end up on a train to New Jersey within minutes. Basically, leaving her home alone wasn't an option. While Cara didn't mind hanging out with her most of the time, tonight she was finding it hard to be very enthusiastic about it though. Maybe it was because it was a holiday, and even though it had went far from perfectly, she wanted to spend the last few hours of it relaxing. She was a little bit bitter too, that Makayla had not only ruined the party with her antics, but had been so disrespectful to her too, and yet here she was, taking care of her little sister. She had to remind herself again that Makayla didn't mean what she had said, but it was probably more true that she might have meant it, but wouldn't have said it if she wasn't under the influence. Which was fine. Cara had a lot of not-so-nice things to say about Makayla too, if she really wanted to.

Though she was tired and irritated and not really in the mood to entertain Holly for the next few hours, she supposed that she was going to have to. If in a little while, Chanel said that things at her apartment had quieted down, she would see if she thought it was a good idea to bring Holly back. Since she and Makayla shared a bedroom, she knew that might be more difficult, though. The last thing they needed was Makayla waking Holly up at three in the morning getting sick from the alcohol, or even just waking up in the middle of the night still acting drunk and crazy. If it came down to Holly staying at their apartment for the night, she would bring blankets and pillows over to the couch and let her fall asleep to a movie, or even let her sleep in her room with her. She had a queen bed, so it wouldn't be detrimental. "Kay just had a little bit too much to drink and she was tired too, I think, so don't worry about her, Holl. Chanel's going to make sure that she gets to bed early so she'll be ready to do stuff with you tomorrow." She looked back towards the kitchen where the dishes were, considering making a suggestion that she and Holly should put together a plate of desserts to give to Makayla when she was feeling better, but Roman was there. She didn't know what he was doing, but like him, right now, she was too exhausted to fight, or as she would say, she had "a lot more important things to worry about than some washed up drug addict". Not wanting to deal with that, she picked Holly's partially eaten cupcake off of the counter and handed it back to her. "Let's find a good movie to watch on Netflix. Do you think we can start watching Christmas movies now that Thanksgiving's almost over?" She tried to sound upbeat as she spoke and took a few steps towards the living room, but her attention shifted to her phone when Chanel texted her, in an understandably drunk manner. She sent out a series of texts to her friend in response, and then one to her brother.

To: Chanel
Soooooooooo overrated

To: Chanel
Ugh i would be so pissed if I were you about your train ticket thing! Your thanksgiving didn't need to suck

To: Chanel
But nooo i'm not mad. yeah i guess it's better to be there with Makayla but if she's like passed out just leave her. like oh well honestly. Not like it's any more fun over here tbh. Idk where Nick, Brooklyn and Ryan went, and your roommate and lover just left sooooooo hopefully holly falls asleep soon so i can go to bed too. grace switched our appointment to 12 tomorrow, so make sure you set your alarm since you're prob gonna be hungover and dying! We should leave by like 11:30!

To: Chanel
Thank god we're going tomorrow. Literally would die without it after this night

To: Chanel
Should I keep holly here overnight? Easier for everyone? Or would she be fine with Makayla in that room?

To: Ryan
Are you kidding me that you're going to leave just when it's time to clean everything up? Absolutely ridiculous that I have to do everything in this apartment on my own.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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Normally she'd be too disgusted from the thought of tap water to actually consume it, but these were abnormal circumstances. Her barriers were down, as were her first world precautionary standards. The water felt colder than it typically did as it ran down the side of her cheek. She was crouched under the faucet in the sink, having just finished washing her hands so she could take her makeup off. She was drunk, but Chanel was still cognizant enough to remember to take her makeup off. Tonight she was only half-assing it, though. She had a complete regimen under her belt and the bathroom sink could attest to that, but she wasn't doing that now. Instead she glided a Burt's Bees moist towelette over her eyelids, mouth, and face. Remnants of pastels, golden browns, and red embellished the wipe when she was done. Her face still felt heavy and burdened with all the leftovers she missed, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She could barely even manage taking her shoes off when the time came to it, and she ultimately wound up toppling onto her bed, not bothering to try and brace herself for the fall.

She would have fallen asleep just like, fully clothed and with only her upper body sprawled across the mattress, but a discomfort underneath her caused her to wiggle around and feel for it. She pulled out her phone, the bright screen feeding back to her that she had texts from Cara. She read them, only half understanding them, and giggled as she read them. She'd actually forgotten Makayla was in the other room until she read the texts. So much for responsible. "Who cares," she muttered. Chanel audibly gasped when she got to the text about going to the spa. This, too, seemed like brand new information, and so she was more excited about it than she should have.

To: Cara
I'm going to need to detoxigy for like five yeaaaaaars omg.

To: Cara
I 100 100 100 forgot about M. Holly can def come over. It's all good in the hood. Nothing but love over here.

To: Cara
It can be a sleepover! Except I'm going to pass out in .5 seconds starting now

To: Cara
Omg also please fuck Nick for me. I know I'm drunk as hell, but i mean that in the most soberest way possible

To: Cara
If you doooo bring baby holly over pleeeaaasssseeeee be quiet. if you don't i will literally cry all over the place. also p.s. i miss you and i love you even though the dinner was literally the saddest thing that ever happened to me

Chanel had all intentions to keep spamming Cara until her mind forced her body to shut down, but while typing the next message, the phone flipped out of her hand. It was within reach, but to her it seemed too far away, and so she gave up on the idea of texting Cara anymore. The next morning, after reading everything she sent, she'd regret sending that last text that pretty much confirmed how horrific the dinner had turned out to be. Chanel knew how stressed Cara had been about it, and how the girl was already convinced that it would be downhill battle after Ryan invited people Cara didn't want. And while Chanel had tried to prevent that from happening, and ultimately failed, she couldn't deny the truth and the truth was that it wasn't the smoothest event. Sober Chanel would never actually admit to that, because that would mean assuming some responsibility for its failure. If she did say anything, it definitely wouldn't be as blunt as she had been. She'd likely make some joke or try to advert the direction to something more positive like all the things that did go well, or simply call Cara pretty a million and one times. Drunk Chanel didn't have any social inhibitions though. In fact, she'd all but forgotten even texting Cara as she slugged up the bed and under the covers, falling asleep just before her head hit the pillow.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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Despite having to deal with a rough hangover the following morning, her sleep had been completely undisturbed, and even quite peaceful. The ibuprofen she'd taken as a way to lighten the after effects of the prior night had proven beneficial, but her head still ached and she still felt a need to purge. It was ten o' clock when she woke up, and not be her own accord. She felt a vibration at her foot. And then another. And another. And another until she finally opened her eyes, the bridge of her nose wrinkled in frustration. It was her youngest brother texting her. "What do you want?" she said through the phone after he answered. His most recent message had been about her calling him. There was more attitude in her voice than was really warranted, and in actuality she was grateful that he had woken her up because she hadn't set an alarm or anything and so it was a given that she would have overslept and missed Cara. "I'll take a rain check on the attitude actually. Thanks though," Daniel said from the other end. Chanel didn't bother to suppress a scoff as she rolled over and buried her face deeper into her pillow. "God, you're so obnoxious."

"Yeah," he said. "And you're hungover as fuck. I knew you were lying about work."

"I'm going to repeat myself: what do you want?"

"Just had to make sure you're alive since you freaked out on Dad last night and then decided to go a-wall. Figured you'd answer me since I'm your favorite and all." Chanel only grunted in response. She wasn't trying to talk about her parents right now. Or anything family related for that matter. And Daniel was partially right. She wouldn't say he was her favorite, but she was sensitive to her brothers and it was a wise decision on her parents' part to have him call. "Look, I'm trying to be a good brother and make sure you're okay because you're pissing me off ruining the family dinner and stuff. So are you okay or not?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Be for real."

"Daniel, I'm fine. I wish people would quit asking me that," Chanel said. Then after a minute, with a smirk growing on her face, "If you missed me, you could've just said so."

"Fine," he said. "I miss you. Are you coming home for Christmas? Or are you going to keep dodging us?"

"I dunno, Daniel."

"Well, what if we come visit you or something?"

"I don't think so."

Daniel was quiet on the other end. Chanel didn't realize she had begun to doze off until she heard him sigh loudly, seemingly peeved. "Just stay in New York then."

"Daniel. Come on."

"Just forget it. I'll tell Mom and Dad you're alive. Bye."

He hung up before she could say anything to stop him. She considered calling back, especially since she hadn't gotten the chance to ask how her other brother, Devin, was doing. Chanel dropped her phone beside as she pulled herself up. Today was a mental health day off from anything and everything family related. The next hour or so was spent getting ready. After checking on Makayla, who was still sleeping, she puked, felt a bit better, and had a small breakfast consisting of oatmeal and strawberries before jumping into the shower. She made sure to exfoliate in the shower since she still had some makeup on, but when she looked in the mirror, to her, she still looked terrible. She took two more ibuprofen pills to deal with the aching in her temples and decided she'd start trying to positive. Well, the shower cap actually worked for once, she thought to herself. Least your hair's still straight. She actually wasn't sure what she was getting done today, even though chances were it consisted of some type of facial. Chanel wasn't sure just how in depth this spa day was going to be, so she'd have to ask Cara when she saw her. Though the chances were high that she would have something done to her face, she still put makeup on, knowing it was essentially futile. She couldn't bare leaving the house looking like the wreck she perceived herself to be this morning. Chanel also felt a subtle pressure to look better since she was going to be around not just strangers, but Cara's friends. She'd always had a fear of not being accepting, and she had an even greater fear or portraying that. The makeup that managed to hide her eyebags and deadened face gave her the boost of confidence she needed, so she didn't really regret looking like she was going to SoHo instead of the spa. Especially when she subconsciously acknowledged that she also needed to look as though nothing were wrong. It seemed that all communication she had with her family put her in a terrible mood, and she didn't want that showing on her face. When she glanced at herself in the mirror after finishing putting on her highlighter, she nodded in approval. She almost had herself fooled.

Chanel had just finished getting dressed and was going over pieces of her hair again with the flat iron when she heard the doorbell ring. She checked her phone to see that it was 11:30, so she suspected that it was Cara. "Hey, you guys!" She beamed when she opened the door. "Come on in. I was just finishing up. I need to get my purse together, and finish doing my hair, but then I'll be ready. You can get something to eat or chill in my room. Makayla's still sleeping."

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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Makayla knew what hangovers felt like, so that wasn't what startled her when she woke up at almost eleven thirty, after sleeping fifteen hours straight. The headache and the way that her head felt like it weighed 5,000 pounds wasn't anything knew. Her stomach wasn't bothering her that badly, which was probably due to the fact that she didn't actually drink that much, at least compared to how much she normally could drink before reaching this point when she wasn't mixing it with prescription pills. The ringing in her head and the way that her eyes burned when she tried to allow them to adjust to the light wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't new or catastrophic either. What made her feel ten times more sick was that she was feeling extremely disoriented. She could barely remember anything about the past night. It took her a minute to realize that yesterday was Thanksgiving, and she knew that she had Holly had went over to Cara's after Makayla managed to "pay" their rent with the building manager. She had been in a horrible mood and she took the Xanax, and then after that... she didn't know what happened. At all. She was sure she had went back to Cara's, probably ate and had dessert and then brought Holly back home before she had bothered too many people. That was all, she tried to tell herself. The Xanax had probably just fucked up her recollection of the night, or was making it hard for her to actually feel awake and think straight. She felt that it wasn't that simple, but with the way her head was pounding, she wanted to believe that the night had went that innocently. Noticing the glass of water and ibuprofen pills next to her bed, she decided that that wasn't such an unrealistic plan for the night. She had clearly been coherent enough to know to give herself water and ibuprofen, so maybe she had just had enough liquor to justify this headache, but definitely not enough to justify a blackout if she had been that responsible. With the thought of responsible, she glanced at the empty bed beside her. "Fuck!"

With enough quickness and agility to put last night's stumbling version of her to shame, she leaped out of her bed and left her bedroom. The physical effects of this hangover sucked, but the mental ones were what worried her. Neither, however, were debilitating enough today for her to want to lay in bed while she imagined Holly was probably pestering Chanel. She had no recollection of the new roommate, that Holly had not slept in the apartment last night, or of Chanel helping her after the scene she made at Cara's, so right now, running into Holly talking Chanel's ear off was the only thing she thought she would have to apologize for. She checked the bathroom which was empty, and standing by the entrance of Chanel's bedroom, the silence she heard made it clear that it was either empty, or at least Holly wasn't in there either. "There you are," she sighed when she found Holly standing by the doorway of the front of the apartment with Cara and Chanel. "Give Cara her stuff back, Holl," she said, noticing the bags in her hand, and assuming that Cara had just walked in with them and Holly had seized them in curiosity. "Sorry, I hope she wasn't bothering you all morning," she said, looking at Chanel with an apologetic smile, unaware that "sorry for bothering you all night" was the more needed apology.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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While Holly had had an ideal morning with Cara, the previous night's events still bothered her. She had asked Cara countless times why Makayla had seemed so angry and why she had decided to drink "a little bit too much", since that was Cara's reasoning behind it all. She insisted that Makayla had never been that mean before, and wanted to know what she meant when she called Cara a "boyfriend stealer". It bothered her too, that Makayla had seemed so physically different as well. By the time she left Cara's apartment, she could barely stand up on her own. It was safe to say that Makayla was more than just a sister to Holly in a lot of ways, so seeing her in a state where she couldn't take care of herself was confusing to say the least. "Yeah, I know," Holly answered quickly and enthusiastically when Cara explained that she had to be extra helpful today since Makayla still wasn't feeling well. It was still a little unsettling, but having it be spun so that she thought of herself as being useful and important to take care of Makayla kept her mind too busy to worry about her sister's actual well being.

When Chanel opened the door and said that Makayla was still sleeping, Holly was going to bypass Chanel's comment about the things she needed to do so she could leave with Cara, to show her everything that she and Cara had purchased. However, Makayla appeared just a few seconds later, so she didn't need to keep Chanel to show her. Instead, she would just show her sister, who was already addressing the shopping bags before Holly even had a chance to speak. "Cara got them for me when me and her went shopping. Want to see what I got?" She carried the bags over to the kitchen table and dumped them out impetuously. "We got you a red Gatorade in case you still feel sick, I got a new brush for my hair, I got a new toothbrush, I got the toothpaste that tastes like bubblegum, I got new pencils for school, and not the regular kind, see?" She leaned across the table and scrambled to find the package of mechanical pencils in the pile of things. Finding them, she held them up to show Makayla. "These ones are the clicky kind and there's a blue one and a purple one, and a pink one, and a green one, and a black one, but they all write in the regular black color that pencils write in." She set the pencils down and paused for a moment as she tried to figure out what she hadn't described yet. "And then I also got chips in case I get hungry, and red gloves to match my hair for when it's cold outside, and a night light with the boy from Frozen on it in case our apartment gets really dark one day. Well, he's not really a boy because he's actually a snowman, but I think he really is a boy too, so where do you want to put it?" All of her purchases had distracted her from what had kept her anxious on their way back to the apartment. Plus, Makayla seemed completely normal. Holly didn't notice right away that she looked like she had just rolled out of bed, or what Makayla not knowing that she wasn't in the apartment all morning meant. Hearing her talk in a normal tone of voice, and walking without someone needing to partially carry her was the only reassurance that she needed to think Makayla was fine for now.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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Chanel might not have felt great, but Cara didn't notice it when she opened the door for them. It was probably just because she was used to herself looking absolutely putrid when she was coping with a bad hangover, and since she still thought Chanel looked pretty, she assumed she probably wasn't that hungover either. "Okay, but be quick. Our car is supposed to be here any minute and you know how bad traffic gets at this time of day." Traffic in Manhattan was bad at any hour of the day, so it wasn't much of an argument, but Cara knew that her friends would be annoyed if they showed up late. Their appointment was at twelve and it would take fifteen minutes or so to get there, so Cara knew that they did have a couple of minutes before they were definitely going to be late.

Grace and Cassandra were already at The Plaza finishing up lunch, so Cara knew that they would be especially annoying if she were even a moment late. Up until now, she hadn't been worried about Chanel meeting them. She still wasn't exactly worried but she was unsure about the whole thing. While she had decided a while ago that Chanel was completely normal, hence the continuation of their friendship, she wasn't completely identical to most of the girls that Cara had grown up with. It wasn't just the money thing, since Chanel always seemed to have money, or at least enough money to keep up with Cara, but it was just... she didn't know how to put it into words, because she didn't know what distinguished the girls she grew up with from Chanel. Being raised in such an elitism community made it difficult to relate to most people, and while Chanel was extremely friendly and relatable, Cara was scared that her friends wouldn't be as open to a new person as she was. As bizarre as it sounded, Cara felt like she was the most accepting one out of the friend group. She thought that she had went "off the grid" basically, by moving into a more "average" area of the city, and therefore, she was exceeding diverse and open minded compared to the other girls. It wasn't true, and both of the girls they were going to be meeting up with had went off to colleges where they had to have met many more people, in many more different situations, than Cara had living in the apartment building, but it didn't stop her from thinking this way. Even if it weren't her girl friends disliking Chanel, there was a chance that Chanel might not like them either. Again, Cara felt like she was a watered down version of the snobby, Upper East Side girl that she had grown up being, but it was hard not to revert to being that way when she was around those friends.

She waved Chanel away, as if telling her to stop wasting time, and pushed her own worries out of her mind as she watched as Holly explain their purchases to Makayla. "Yeah, we had breakfast earlier and then she said she needed a few things from the store," she explained, an amused laugh following it as she looked at the things that Holly had managed to get into their basket. She had not paid it much mind at the store, but it was definitely an interesting assortment of things. "I hope you're feeling better than you were last night, though," she said, a tad quieter now as she looked at Makayla. That petty, bitchy side of Cara threatened to come out with a remark about how Makayla must have been surprised that a good for nothing boyfriend stealer had the decency to look after her little sister all night and morning, but she kept her mouth shut. Cara was a non-confrontational person for the most part. Unless it was Ryan, or someone she was really comfortable with, she rarely ever started fights with people. She would gossip and complain about her problems with people to other people, but unless it was really necessary, she wouldn't address those problems with the people involved. Plus, she knew that the Makayla she dealt with last night was a completely different person that who Makayla really was, or at least, how the real Makayla acted to her face. It was apparent that she had just woken up and by what she said, might not have even known that Holly hadn't spent the night in the apartment with her.

She heard her phone vibrating against something in her bag, and was sure it was one of the girls. Though she thought that she should talk to Makayla at some point about the night before, she decided that now wasn't the time. As long as Makayla was alive and capable of taking care of Holly, Cara's responsibilities ended there, and she had a spa day to attend. "My car is here, so would you mind telling Chanel that I'll be waiting downstairs when she comes out? I'll see you guys later." She waved goodbye to the pair and left the apartment shortly after, but texted Chanel on her way downstairs to tell her that she was waiting downstairs and to hurry up too.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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After straightening the thin pieces of hair near her ear and packing makeup removing wipes in her bag, Chanel was ready to go. It had hardly taken her five minutes, she was already near completely finished, but when she saw the text from Cara saying that she was heading downstairs, she did feel rushed. She checked the time instinctively, the way one does when they think they're going to be late, as if validating how early or late they're going to be really changes anything. For Chanel, she felt like it did as she leaped from where she sat and made her way into the kitchen. She slowed as she passed Holly and Makayla. A gnawing weight bit at her sides. Was it wrong to not say anything? Well, it wasn't like she planned on keeping it a secret, and maybe Makayla did know what happened last night. Or part of it. She knew she was being a bit ambitious in that regard, but it was what she needed to tell herself to get out the door. They could talk later. "Hey, Makayla, if you need anything while I'm out, let me know," she said before she left. It wasn't at all uncommon for Chanel to extend an invitation for picking things up. She did it so often that it hardly carried much weight, and sometimes she wondered why she always offered. It gave the illusion that she had enough money to just take care of everybody, which wasn't really the case, although she was no where near as financially troubled as Makayla was. Her family did help her out, so she wasn't completely on her own. There were times when she couldn't pay the rent because she was too stubborn to get a stable job for a few weeks, even during dry spells when she couldn't find a freelancing gig. People tended to be more attracted to credentials when it came to designing websites or creating databases for businesses owners that demonstrated clientele needs. Not some early twenty-something who couldn't even stay in college for a year.

She still had to remind herself how fortunate she was, though, although being around Cara a lot of the time made it quite easy to get into the habit of wanting, wanting, and wanting. Her friendship with Cara definitely fed into her greedy nature, but it was a personal indulgence she allowed herself, that and many more 'mental health splurges' that all seemed to be as important to her in the moment as they were unnecessary. Like this spa day. She didn't truly need it, but she wanted to hang out, and it sounded fun. She didn't think until now about actually paying for it. It crossed her mind briefly, but she just defaulted to the presumption that Cara would pay. What was the name of the spa again? She shook her head. It didn't really matter what it was called. She knew it would be expensive as hell. Normally it wouldn't have bothered her so much--especially when she didn't know just how expensive the place actually was--but she was going to be around Cara's friends. As if fate were trying to make fun of her, when the thought crossed her mind, she stumbled down two or three steps, but managed to catch herself on the railing before she broke her neck. It was too late now to bail, she decided as she muscled her arm through her coat a bit more upon being greeted by the chill from outside. Her nerves were now starting to kiss her stomach, leaving remnants of butterflies there. It wasn't just the fact that she was nervous about Cara's friends simply because they were Cara's friends. Insanely rich girls who would probably look down on her, who never felt struggle outside of whatever family turmoil resulted from their father sleeping with his secretary. That played a big role in her jitters now, but the foundation of her anxiety was nothing fresh. She'd always had a fear of being rejected, which was the main, and possibly only, reason she was so headstrong and charismatic. She felt a need to win people over, to be liked, because she, for whatever reason, needed other people's validations to justify her own self worth.

This'll be fine, though, she told herself as she slipped into the car beside Cara. She'd gotten through high school with fake friends, so she could manage an hour or however long they'd be out with girls who reminded her of them. The only other dilemma she faced was having to expose her other side. She didn't want to have to demonstrate how much of a bitch she could really be, but as she fastened her seat belt, she braced for that being a possibility. Her dramatics aside, she forced her hair out from under the belt strap so it didn't pull at her locks any longer. "You almost left me!" She gave Cara a light slap on the arm, her eyes and mouth wide in mock, but amused, disbelief. "Now I know this isn't a question you're used to asking, but look at it from poor Chanel's point of view, okay? How expensive is this place? Like how many dollar signs are we talking?" She spoke with her hands, spreading her fingers out to emphasize what she was saying, but also to be theatrical. Her face was void of any smile, her brow raised high as though this was the most serious question there was to be answered. Innately, her voice and demeanor were still light and characteristically buoyant, which probably only made everything she said seem humorous. And to be fair, part of her was trying to be in order to deflect from the fact that she was actually quite concerned about all of what she was talking about. "Also, are your friends one hundred percent okay with me coming? Because I don't want to infiltrate your girl group or anything, even though it would be a literal honor to be breached my presence, but that's asides the point. Also also, we need to talk about Makayla, and also also also, are you wearing mascara? Your eyelashes are literally reaching towards the sky right now and it's giving me so much life."

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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After her short conversation with Ryan on the stairs, Cara made it to the car. She only had to wait a few minutes for Chanel, but she was getting close to wanting to leave her, though she adamantly shook her head when Chanel got in the car and playfully accused her of it. The car pulled off from the side of the street and as Cara texted the girls that they were on their way, she listened to Chanel's words. "I honestly don't even know. I don't think it's ever been that much," she answered when Chanel questioned her about the spa's prices. A usual trip for Cara cost between five and seven hundred dollars, but she wasn't even completely lying when she said she wasn't sure. Cara really had no idea what the specific prices of the treatments she usually got were, which was kind of sad, considering that she had went nearly on a weekly basis as a teenager. She could probably guesstimate them, if she really wanted to, but even then they probably wouldn't have been very accurate. No matter what she was buying, it was almost always paid for in credit, and she always handed over her card without listening to the price the cashier read out. Between that tendency, and the fact that she had never paid a single bill in her life, so she never saw her own credit card statements, prices just... didn't matter to her. They weren't relevant, almost as if they didn't exist. If she wanted something, she was going to have it whether it cost one dollar or one hundred dollars. "But it doesn't matter, it's my treat. You were the one who had to deal with Makayla last night, so I owe you." Technically, it was her dad's treat, but that didn't even need to be said at this point. Chanel bringing up Makayla made it a good excuse to dismiss the money talk, though.

She knew that Chanel wasn't bringing up money to guilt her into paying, but she also knew that as shallow as it was, she didn't want her friends to think of Chanel as "poor Chanel". By now, she had convinced herself that her worries about the girls not liking Chanel were unfounded and not worth worrying about. Cara wasn't the Queen Bee of her friend group or anything, because they were all mostly equals, but she knew that her friends would think that if she liked Chanel, it automatically meant that she was cool too. It probably wouldn't take much talk about being poor for them to question that, though, so it only made her all the more okay with treating. "Of course they're okay with you coming. Grace is so nice, you'll definitely love her, and Cassie's nice too. I mean, she's actually kind of annoying and I was so close to dropping her from my group in high school, but she's fine now. She's kind of a know-it-all, so be prepared for that, but no matter what she says, don't believe that she was really smart enough to get into Brown on her own. Her uncle is the dean of admissions, and her dad basically paid for their gymnasium renovation a few years ago. Obviously don't tell them I told you that though, like, no one is supposed to know." It was easy for her to fall back into her gossipy, mean girl side, even towards girls who were actually her friends, but she also knew Chanel could keep up with that side of hers. Maybe she didn't share the girls' financial backgrounds, but she could be just as much as a good girl friend when it came to talking about drama and gossip. Chanel's support for her relationship with Nick yesterday only proved that further. "But back to Makayla, I agree. I think you need to talk with her since you're the one who lives with her. I mean, really, can you believe that she had the audacity to say that stuff about me? In my own house? With all that I do for her? What a bitch. I've just been trying to tell myself that she was drunk, and like, it's fine if she thinks that stuff, because her opinion doesn't even matter. No offense since I know you like her or whatever, but she's a nobody, so why should I let her of all people, challenge my morals? As if what she does is any better?" Cara caught herself rambling and stopped herself when she realized that she was just trying to justify what she did with Nick by bashing Makayla. It wasn't something that she needed to justify to anyone, and definitely not Makayla of all people.

"Was she up all night though? Like sick? She didn't seem like she remembered anything. I'm sure your new roommate was totally freaked out. I would have moved out in the middle of the night if I were her." She tried to bring the conversation back to where it should have been, and not on her and Nick. After barely speaking to him at all the previous day, she was trying not to stress out over him today. Today was a total "me" day. "I got good karma for letting Ryan's weird friend come over because Holly slept until like six, and then let me sleep for a few more hours while she watched a movie. You don't look gross though. I'm surprised, considering how drunk you seemed." The last two sentences came out teasingly, and Cara's own way of addressing Chanel's comment about her eyelashes and appearance.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon
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"Yeah, I feel fine, thanks," she answered Cara. The way that Cara spoke and looked at her as she had made the comment worried Makayla because it seemed like Cara knew more than she knew. Well, Makayla knew that Cara knew more than she did because she didn't remember anything, but it felt like Cara was hinting at something more than her just feeling well physically. Makayla wanted to believe that all she had done was pass out at the end of the night. That was the best case scenario. Worst case scenario... she didn't even know. She couldn't fathom what she could have possibly done, but she didn't think it could have been that bad. She had no visible injuries, her room wasn't torn to pieces, and she didn't feel too sick to her stomach where she definitely had been chugging bottles of alcohol. Chanel seemed to be acting normally towards her and Cara seemed normal enough too. She knew it would be a lot easier to just end the wondering and ask Chanel or Cara what had happened directly, but she also didn't really want to know. If she had done something beyond just passing out after a few drinks, she would be mortified. She already wasn't a very social person, so she wouldn't need to sever any major relationships, but she would hate herself for whatever she had done to allow herself to seem as out of control as she felt.

When Cara and Chanel left, she decided that it would probably be easiest to get some sort of answer out of Holly. Even though it was now apparent that she had either slept at Cara's or woken up this morning and went out with Cara to breakfast and to shop, Makayla thought her sister would have at least some recollection of what happened the night before. She just had to be tactful about how to ask because she didn't want Holly thinking that she didn't remember it herself. Sitting down on one of the chairs at the table, she put on a smile as she looked at the mess of things that Holly had been talking about. Juices like Gatorade usually gave her headaches, but right now, Makayla didn't think she had much of a choice but to drink it. It would help with the hangover, even if the physical effects of that still weren't what were really making her feel sick. She twisted off the cap and took a gulp, wishing she had brought the Ibuprofen pills in from her room, but also not feeling energetic enough to go back in and get them now. "We can find a spot for it in our room. Don't you have an outlet next to your bed? I hope you said thank you to Cara for buying you all of this too. What did you guys eat for breakfast?" She wasn't hungry, despite barely eating anything over the past day. It just reminded her though, that she couldn't even recall if she had consumed anything at Cara's, and what she had consumed if anything. It was a horrible feeling, one that Kay would readily replace with just the horrible physical symptoms of a hangover.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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A large reason that Chanel moved from Pittsburgh to New York was so that she could be someone else. Her whole life was back in Pittsburgh, along with her troubles and past, all of which were easier to handle when she pretended they didn't exist. And it was much easier to do that when they were miles away from where she lived as an anonymous face in the crowds of a large city. It made the transition and the pretending all the more easier, because it was far less difficult to fool strangers than people who had known her her entire life. Not only that, but it was almost impossible for her to not be her old self when she was back home. She'd gone home plenty of times since moving out, and it seemed to take only a matter of minutes before she regressed to her old self. Chanel would always chastise herself after she left, telling herself that she wasn't making any progress, but today she smiled gleefully at Cara's words. When she talked about her friend Cassie it was easy to laugh about it, but when Cara badmouthed Makayla, it was a different rush. A rush that came when there was a possibility of getting caught and actually facing consequences. She didn't know or care about Cassie, so there was no risk or moral compass connected to that, but Makayla was her roommate and someone she did like, so it complicated things. But that was exactly what fueled her smile and caused her to cover her mouth in surprise, laughing behind her fingers. "Cara, noooooooooo. Don't drag her like that! She was drunk!"

Chanel reasoned that she could get away with some gossiping, and usually her mode of action was to not really offer original input, but not to reject the gossip she received. And if she did have anything she wanted to say, she wouldn't address her anger directly, as in the way Cara was doing. Instead she'd be a bit more subtle, like now. "She was really off the wall last night. I don't know what the hell happened to her. Like, how much do you have to drink to get like that? Honestly, it was kind of scary. Like, I was really worried for her but then it was just worse because I felt bad for kinda wondering what would have happened if she didn't come, you know? And what she said to you was super, super, super over the top. Like, totally unforgivable stuff, but I don't even think she remembers half of it. Or even a third of it. I kinda passed out right after she did, which was basically 0.5 seconds after we got inside. And ugh," she said, leaning her elbow against the door and pushing her hair back. "Don't even remind me of Kacey. Worst first impression ever. I think I actually said that I was shitfaced to her face. And to that guy's face. The cute one. What was his name? Colton, I think. God is just really after the both of us. We try being good Samaritans and you get your ass verbally handed to you and my reputation is slandered because my roommate decided it would be a great night to get fucked up the same night our new roommate moves in." Chanel shook her head to herself. She wasn't even ready to face Kacey, she was just so embarrassed.

"I will have to talk to Makayla though," Chanel said as she looked at Cara. "I mean, it would be shitty not to. Like, we both have a right to be annoyed with her, but then you kind of wonder what really got into her to do that, you know? Like, me and her aren't even that close, but you still kinda want to know. And like you said, I live with her, so I guess it's kind of my responsibility. I'll talk to her later, she'll probably apologize to you and stuff. I'll see what happens with Kacey, and I don't know. The rest will have to happen how it happens I guess. Also, don't let this makeup fool you. My eyes went on vacation and left their bags on my face because I looked fucked up in ten different languages, okay? I got this new foundation slash concealer from Clinique and it's literally like painting skin onto your face. It's magical. But," she began and pulled out her makeup wipes from her purse momentarily to flash them to Cara. "I'm not stupid. I'm gonna take it off when we get to the spa, but there was no way in heaven or hell that I was looking like who done it, where, and why. Nuh uh. If I pass a cute boy, and not Colton, because that possibility has been annihilated, not like it was ever going to happen, but whatever. If I pass a cute boy, my highlight cannot be on anything but fleek. Speaking of boys, you were talking about Grace's brother last night. Or were starting to, but I think that's when Makayla came back in. So tell me about him, because now I'm way more interested. Do you have any pictures, and would you happen to know his favorite sex position, or more importantly, his ATM pin code?" After a second she took Cara's hand with both of hers and shook it side to side. "Oh my god, why don't I just date you? Forget about Nick and choose me instead. You're definitely my type, financially, physically, and personality wise."

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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"Of course I said thank you! Like a million times. We had pancakes. Well, I had pancakes and Cara had something else, I forget what it was, but I had pancakes with chocolate chips in them, and whipped cream and sugar on top." Holly recalled Cara's comment about her needing to be extra helpful today because Makayla was still probably sick. She didn't look it, at least in Holly's opinion, but she would be thoughtful anyway. "Do you want to have my chips for lunch, or did you get more of our food money yet?"

"Mmmm, that sounds good," Makayla answered, doing her best to be positive and normal sounding. She was sure that they were really good too, but she was just glad that Holly had eaten a meal. It meant that she might be less hungry for lunch. While Holly loved the days she had off from school, they not only cost Makayla mentally, but financially too. Holly got free breakfast and lunch at her school so when she was off for holidays, it meant Makayla had to come up with the money for two extra meals. Two meals, especially with Holly's small appetite, wouldn't have been a big deal to most people but every little bit added up for them, especially at the end of the month when they were out of their SNAP benefits, like they were now. She had a few things left in the fridge and pantry that would get them by, but this time of the month was always stressful when it came to budgeting, and Holly being off from school only made it worse. "It's okay, save your chips for later. I'm not too hungry." She reached across the table and began to re-bag some of Holly's things as she tried to refocus on what they were going to do for the rest of the day, and not on what had or hadn't happened the night before.

Holly wasn't bothered by Makayla rejecting her offer of chips because it just meant that she would actually get to have them later, as she originally planned. She sat down on the chair opposite Makayla and opened up the night light as her sister filled one of the bags back up with her other purchases. As she tore at the paper and plastic, she said, "Cara said that later, she's going to make Ryan bring over some turkey and mashed potatoes and Thanksgiving food because she has too much left and it's making her fridge too crowded. And she's going to bring the rest of our cupcakes back too, because you never got to even have one. Why didn't you want it when I gave it to you? Were you really drunk?" After a bit of a struggle, she freed the night light from the packaging and looked over at Makayla in genuine curiosity. Brooklyn had accused her of being drunk earlier in the night, and then Cara had explained that she had had too much to drink. Thinking about it now, it did make sense. Holly knew drunk as meaning a person drank too much and then got violent, and that was the direction that it seemed like Makayla was heading in before Chanel had helped her out of the apartment.

Holly relaying that Cara was going to give them leftovers was reassuring, but the relief was short lived as Holly then jumped to asking if Makayla had been drunk the night before. She toyed with her fingers as she straightened her posture a bit and then, just decided to be honest. As honest as she could be to Holly, at least. "Yeah, I did have too much to drink, Holl. Remember what I always tell you? Alcohol can be dangerous if you don't keep track of how much you're drinking, because you'll think you're fine and keep drinking, and then it'll hit you all at once. I shouldn't have had as much as I did, because sometimes if you have too much like that, you won't even be able to remember what you did while you were drunk. It's not good."

"You called Cara a boyfriend stealer."

"Yeah, that's what I mean. Sometimes it'll make you do some not-so-nice things for no reason." Makayla tried to play it off as if she knew she had said that and it was included in her mini lecture on why alcohol wasn't good in large quantities, but the accusation was news to her. She couldn't imagine herself ever saying something like that to Cara, nonetheless in front of other people, but she must have. Cara was a "boyfriend stealer", even if it wasn't her boyfriend who had been stolen. It was true enough of a remark that Makayla guessed her highly-intoxicated mouth had said it, but it definitely made her feel horrible. If she had said that, last night wasn't just "had a few drinks and then the pill made me pass out prematurely". It had to have been, "had a few drinks on drugs, got really fucked up and started talking mad shit about people before passing out". Saying that about Cara just wasn't something that she would do sober, tipsy, or even drunk. She had to have been gone. Even if it was true, Makayla appreciated Cara too much to be that nasty to her to her face. She was already regretting getting involved in the whole thing by informing Brooklyn, but that felt like less of an offense than being so nasty to Cara's face did. She could only hope that Nick and Brooklyn hadn't been around when she had said that.

"Did she steal your boyfriend?"

"No, you know I don't have a boyfriend."

"Do you not have one because she stole him?"

"Don't be silly, Holl."

"Why did you say it then?"

The way that her sister just sounded curious and genuinely confused, not accusatory, made her feel even worse about the whole thing. She didn't want Holly getting worked up over something like this, and it was just her luck that she would hang onto this comment about Cara being a homewrecker when everything else that Makayla told her seemed to go in one ear and out the other. "I was being stupid. That's what happens when you drink too much alcohol."

"You said that Cara and Chanel and Roman and Isaac think that I'm stupid."

Makayla didn't know it was possible to feel this bad. Apparently, fucked up Makayla had no conscience. She didn't even think that she was being dramatic, because calling Holly stupid was something that she couldn't fathom saying ever. Maybe annoying or immature or clingy, but stupid was too true for it not to be a really hurtful insult to Holly. "You're not stupid. You know that. When people are drunk they say things that they don't really mean. I'm sorry if I said anything that made you upset, okay? I didn't mean it, you know that."

"Are you and Cara still friends?"

"Of course." Now, Makayla didn't even know if that was true. She and Cara were never friends in the sense that they would hang out or go grab drinks together, but Makayla had a good reason to trust and appreciate the friendship she did have with Cara over anyone else's. Cara was the only reason why Makayla was able to make any money at all, because she looked after Holly. Even when she wasn't working, there were times when Cara would be there to offer respite just so she could get an hour or two to herself. Then, there was the more direct financial benefit, of how Cara had a tendency to buy Holly things, like the things she had just put back into the Duane Reade bags. It was never anything huge, because Makayla had too much pride to let Cara buy Holly everything that Holly probably asked her to buy, but a toothbrush, a meal, and a pair of shoes here or there really did help Makayla out. Cara had been an amazing friend to her, when Makayla considered how good she was to Holly, and it only made her feel worse about the entire thing. She needed to text Cara. Had she known about all of this minutes ago, when Cara was standing right there, she would have pulled her aside to apologize, but she needed to do it now, even if to just explain that she would have done it in person, had she known it had happened. Hoping that her phone was somewhere in her room, she stood up to go check. "Come on, let's see if we can find a place that," she said, pointing to the night light in Holly's hands.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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"Um, tell me about it, Chanel. That's literally the story of my life. I try to be a good person and it backfires on me every single time, so yeah, you deal with that. I mean, I'm not going to hold it against her or anything because yeah, she definitely was beyond drunk, but like, still... rude." Being a good person and not being recognized for it wasn't really the story of Cara's life. If she was asked for another example, she wouldn't have been able to give one right away. She would try to reason that she was an amazing sister to Ryan and that he never appreciated it, but everyone knew that wasn't true. The victim mentality was just an easy fallback option, one to allow her to believe that she really had been wronged more than she had been in reality. When it came down to it, Makayla had just expedited the process of a bad night ending. She and Chanel wouldn't have marked the night down as one of the best in history had Makayla blacked out or not. If it had not happened, for all Cara knew, she would have wanted something like that to happen, because maybe then, Isaac and Roman and everyone else would have couldn't to be in her space for even longer. There was a possibility that it had been a blessing in disguise, at least for her, but she was glad that Chanel also wasn't going to acknowledge that possibility. Cara liked gossiping and because of the girls she grew up with, she just found it easy to fall back into that persona, where she could completely tear someone to shreds and then smile and act like their best friend the next time they saw each other. It was immature and wrong, but it was fun.

She scrolled through his Instagram until she found a photo that wasn't a group picture and showed his face well enough. She held her phone up for Chanel's viewing before pulling it away. "See? He's like average, I think. He's a really nice guy though, but I wouldn't know the answers to either of those questions," she said, nudging Chanel in playful disgust. "Their dad's the CEO of Bloomingdale's, so they have money I guess, if that's still what you're asking!" Though she found Chanel's bluntness to be amusing, she knew that she wouldn't blame her if it wasn't a complete joke. Cara could act like Chanel shouldn't think that was important, but if Nick wasn't broke, it would have been a lot easier for her to think of him as something more than just a bad boy to give her an adrenaline rush. It was easier to act like it didn't when you had it, but money mattered. Chanel's last comment had her shaking her head in disdain, but giggling through it. "You know, when we first moved in, before I actually knew you, I told Ryan he should try to get with you. I seriously think he might be gay though, because he rejects every girl I try to set him up with. Oh, and by the way, don't say anything about Nick to the girls. They would so judge me. What did that Colton guy actually look like, anyway? Maybe he wasn't as gross as I thought he was. I don't know, everything last night was so weird. Was he actually hot?"

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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Chanel wiggled her eyebrows at the photo of Grace's brother to signal that she was pleased with what she saw, but she was really just trying to be polite. It didn't seem like Cara was so close to these other girls to a point where Chanel felt like she had to say he was cute, but it still felt necessary. In reality, though, she was kind of underwhelmed. It wasn't that he was ugly or anything, and from a purely objective standpoint she could call him attractive, but he just didn't spark anything in her. She wasn't looking for future Mr. Owens or anything, but she had been somewhat excited for the grand reveal. "Well, if he's nice then I'll give him a ride. I mean try," she said with a wink. "He's definitely take home for Christmas material." Chanel took another look at the picture before nodding, as if to reaffirm her previous statement. Although she wasn't really being serious--especially since she wouldn't bring a booty call home to meet her family since that's all she could ever see him being--she would still consider what she'd said to be a lie.

Even if the guy turned out to be the man of her dreams, or any guy for that matter, she'd be reluctant on them meeting her family. There was way too much drama associated with her life back in Pittsburgh, and she couldn't have someone else involved with that. Someone else who could breach her confidentiality of her former self. That was why she was so quick to refuse Daniel's offer for the family to come visit her. Again, all for selfish reasons. Ironically enough, she used selfish means and reasoning in order to protect her conceited past deeds and to prevent others from knowing how selfish she could be. It would take a special kind of person for her to even consider introducing them to her parents. She wouldn't even introduce Cara. She loved Cara, but she didn't trust her enough to acquaint the girl with her life back home. But that was fine, she told herself. She didn't need a ring. Just someone to hold hands with and take Instagram pictures with. She bored, and also--something she didn't really admit to herself--lonely. The guy might have been boring, at least according to what Cara had said last night, but he seemed to be boring familiar. No surprises, something that, for once, she was okay.

"You did what?!" She slapped Cara in the arm. "Ryan's a baby! He's literally my little brothers' age." Chanel and her younger twin brothers', and so therefore Ryan too, were only a couple of years apart. To Chanel, though, they were always her baby brothers, and while she wouldn't really consider Ryan to be like a brother to her, he did still remind her of her own. Not always in personality, but there were some things that intersected between nineteen-year-old boys, and there were times when those intersections reminded her of them. Plus, with her being close to Cara, and Cara being Ryan's little brother, Ryan was definitely an untouchable in her book, and an undesirable. Not in that she found him repulsive, because he wasn't. Ryan was very cute, but by the same token, he was still 'baby Ryan.' "Even if he is gay, that'd be totally cool. Being gay is like a thing now." Chanel scrolled through Instagram, completely ignorant to just how problematic her words were. "I used to think the same thing about my youngest brother. Turns out he's just a dweeb." She laughed to herself, reminiscing. "But yeah, I won't bring up Nick. You're good, girl. I wish I'd been able to get Kacey's Instagram last night. I bet they're in a few pictures together, but he was taller than me, which is a plus. He had tattoos and I dunno. He was hot?" She laughed. "I'm so bad at describing people. You do it better than me. I think you called him a druggie or something." After a second, she repositioned where she sat in her seat, leaning back some more. "Doesn't matter though. I was drunk anyways, and I'd never go for a guy like that. My parents would literally disown me. I can just hear my dad right now." Chanel burst out laughing just thinking about and went on for a few seconds before apologizing.

"He's so annoying, God, it's honestly hilarious. But not only the fact that I couldn't date him, I'm pretty sure him and Kacey are, like, you know. A thing. When I went over there to see if she was in the apartment, they were literally in the bedroom together. And oh my god I swear to you they were getting ready to do it. Like, they were fully clothed and everything, but I feel like Kacey was giving me clues and my drunk ass just kind of ignored them. She definitely didn't want to come over. I bet Colton told her that I was totally hitting on him--which I was not. I was just being friendly and admiring his facial symmetry, because, Cara, it's honestly a sight to see. I'm telling you. Oh! And then did you notice how quickly they left? They're totally banging. I guess it's not that big a deal, but I'm totally embarrassed not only because my first impression sucked, but because I'm sure that it'll be crazy awkward. Even more awkward, I mean, since she thinks I'm after her boyfriend. Ugh. My life literally sucks. All I want is tight pores, a fast metabolism, and a stinking rich boyfriend. Is that too much to ask?"