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Nick Moreno

0 · 3,368 views · located in New York

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

Description

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Name:
Nicolas Christian Moreno

Nickname:
Nick

Age:
24

Birthday:
January 24th

Sexuality:

Heterosexual

Hometown:
Los Angeles, California (0-2 years old)
New York, New York (2 years old-Current)

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Personality:
One of Nick's most notable features is that he carries a very relaxed and chill vibe to him. He's not the kind of person who gets stressed out very easily, and he likes to take things as they come and deal with them in the moment. He isn't one to plan ahead or worry about details, and he often just feels like things work out in the end, so there's no use in planning for them or becoming anxious over every last detail. Additionally, he's also a pretty flexible person. He's not strongly opinionated on most things and he won't argue with people about anything that doesn't impact him in an extreme manner. Given that, Nick isn't a hard person to get along with. He usually doesn't bother people that don't bother him, and has a tendency to appreciate silence and solitude, so it would be a rare occasion that he would deserve to be called "annoying". He tends to live in his head a lot, and though he's quiet, he's often thinking a lot more than he's willing to vocalize. While he was always an average student and would never be called intelligent more than the next person, he's not brainless. He thinks deeply and has an appreciation for philosophy, poetry, and art. It's not something he often vocalizes, simply because he's not the type to go around talking about his hobbies and interests, but they're there nonetheless.

There are some things that will set him off, and the top one would definitely be people hurting the ones that he loves. He has thick skin and isn't easily riled up when people attack his own character, but he can't stand to see people hurt the people he prides himself in protecting. He definitely has those instincts to look out for and protect people, and once he feels like he can relate and connect with you, he likely views you as a friend. Even people he only knows through his sales are often people he would consider to be friends. He isn't the type of friend who will be calling you daily to check in, but there's still something to appreciate about someone who will comp your weed if he knows you're having a bad day, or who will beat the shit out of someone who's been messing with you. Nick's that kind of guy... the type who doesn't always make his love for people well-known in obvious senses, but does hold his close relationships with people high up on his priorities list.

To an extent, his personality can probably, at least somewhat, be attributed to how much weed he smokes. Growing up, he was always a lot more goofy and energetic. Aging probably took some of that away, but the weed also helps him maintain his more stoic and calm demeanor. It's not something that he minds, really, because he loves being high, but he also is aware that when he's sober (which isn't often, lately), he has a lot more energy and interest in actually being productive than he does high. He does feel like he's stuck in a phase, where he started using marijuana as a coping method, and has now stuck with it out of routine and convenience. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't an expensive habit and if he didn't feel like just laying around and eating for more than half of the day. Right now, Nick doesn't have the need or motivation to break the habit, but surprisingly, he does have attributions and goals underneath all of the nonchalance and carelessness. He's just not sure what those goals are, exactly, at this point, but he does feel like he has the potential to do bigger and better things, and he knows that cutting down on his smoking would be a good first step in figuring them out.

ImageHistory:
Nick was the product of a one night stand between two teenagers who barely knew each other. His mother was a high school senior and his father was the older brother of one of her friends, who happened to be at the same party as her one night. They slept together and thought that that would be it, but the summer after she graduated, she found out that she was three months pregnant. She had slept with various boys that spring, so it wasn't until Nick was born that a paternity test was conducted and his father's identity came to light. Neither his mother nor his father's family could afford to take care of another child, and it wasn't like either of the young adults wanted that responsibility, but his father's parents refused to see a grandson of theirs be dumped into the foster care system. They legally adopted him, and for most of his childhood, he actually thought that they were his parents. It wasn't until he was a pre-teen that they explained their true relationship to him, and though it was odd and startling for such a revelation to be revealed, and shake up what he thought was his reality, he wasn't incredibly bothered by it. It didn't change how much he cared for them.

Two years after he was born, his grandparents closed up the bodega that they owned in Los Angeles and reopened it in Brooklyn, New York, where they raised Nick. Nick's family was always a part of the working class, so he never had much, but it was always more than enough for him. He was never a kid who asked for much, and he was happy with the small group of friends he had. He was an average student in school and planned on going to community college after high school, but his grandparents both passed away, three months apart during his senior year of high school, and it wasn't something that he could recover from right away. It sent him into a depression, and that was when he turned to drugs as his vice to get by. One thing led to another, and the forty grand his grandparents had left him as inheritance was gone within two years of him losing them. He took up dealing drugs to keep up with his marijuana habit and make cash to get by too. He spent a while couch hopping from friends apartments, once his inheritance ran dry, and worked as a busy boy part time, too. Once he really started claiming ground with his dealing, however, he was making enough money to pay the rent, and have some spending money leftover. He currently prioritizes his drug dealing as his main way of making a living, but he does bounce around through other entry level jobs too, and is currently working in the kitchen of Olive Garden in Times Square.

So begins...

Nick Moreno's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Nick lived with Cara and Roman, and in a way, you could say that he was close with both of them, so it didn't take long for him to realize what Chanel was implying. It took just as long for him to shoot the idea of what she was saying to be valid, though. Maybe she didn't know, and maybe he had just unnecessarily made himself out to be a jerk to someone else, but he didn't think that Roman had been the one to tell Brooklyn. For one, there was no way that Roman could have found out about it. The night that he had slept with Cara, Nick had adamantly made sure that no one else was in the apartment. Even if Roman had somehow come into the apartment while he was in Cara's room, there was no way that he would have connected the noise coming from behind the door with him. More so, though, Nick trusted Roman. He was like a brother to him at this point. If Roman had suspicions of anything, Nick thought that he would have come to him first. He had to know that Nick was the more level headed of he and Brooke, and going straight to her with suspicions of that would definitely result in a war, even if those suspicions were not confirmed. Like Chanel had said, Cara and Roman hated each other too, so while it did make sense that Roman might try to use this against Cara, it also made sense that in no world would Cara ever spill something like this to him. Never. He refused to believe the claim for another minute, but supposed that it was possible that Chanel really didn't know anything about it. Although he was pretty caught up in his own thoughts at the moment, nothing about her body language or tone seemed to suggest that she was lying. "Yeah, will do," was all that he said. He was more confused now than he had been five minutes ago, but he knew that pressing Chanel on the issue wouldn't do any good, especially now that he was more uncertain on if she actually was the source or knew anything more.

As she shut her apartment door behind her, he turned towards the door across the hall, but stopped midway as he tried to fish his key out of his pocket. Did he really want to go in there? He knew that he wanted to get the drugs for Chanel, so he could make some money, and he knew that he needed to face the two blondes behind the door at some point, but now? He had a thing for putting off his problems, which was evident in more ways than one with the dilemma that he was currently facing. Although he couldn't hear anything going on from where he stood by the door, that didn't necessarily signal relief in him. For all he knew, Brooklyn had killed Cara the minute she walked in and was now silently trying to clean up the place to hide the evidence. If for no other reason, he decided to call Roman to give himself a few more minutes to collect himself before going inside. He paced down the hall a little bit, just far enough where if someone walked by, he wasn't standing directly outside of his own door. It took a moment for Roman to answer, but he eventually did.

"Hello?"

"Hey, man. Are you home?"

"Hey, mate. What? Am I home? Nope. Where are you?"

"Oh, never mind then. I'm on my way home. Look, I'll talk to you later." He hung up almost as soon as the words had escaped his mouth. It might have seemed abrupt and a strange and unnecessary phone call in general, but Nick had quickly realized that talking to Roman wasn't going to bring him any comfort either. He didn't know that Roman knew about all of this, of course, but even the idea of telling it to him himself made him feel uneasy. Because he knew he was wrong. There was no way to spin it into him being justified, and because Roman was just as close with Brooke as he was with him, he knew that the conversation would be a very awkward one. Maybe just as bad as facing the girls would be. In a moment of courage that felt displaced considering his current state, he returned to 5B's door, unlocked it, and entered. Cara and Brooklyn were standing in the kitchen, and though he had walked into silence, the way that Brooklyn's mouth had opened, and then closed when she noticed him coming in, signaled that it was just a momentary thing, and the girls were in the middle of fighting. Nick was never a wordsmith, but he felt beyond speechless as he walked in. There was nothing to say, and he didn't know who to make eye contact with as he impulsively said "I'm sorry, alright? This is my fault. Don't fight," with his hands raised halfway in surrender.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester
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Nick Moreno | Cara Forrester | Brooklyn West
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Cara was lucky that the apartment door opened after that last comment came out of her mouth. Brooklyn could feel her face growing hot, and she so badly wanted to abandon any humane instincts and just lunge at the girl for it. She didn't care about trying to seem controlled and unperturbed by the words that Cara was saying, because they did sting. Not because they were incredibly icy or well played, but because a part of Brooklyn felt like what she said was true. Cara wasn't some five dollar whore on the corner. She was a very pretty girl who came from money, and was set for life in a way that Brooklyn would never be. A girl like Cara didn't need to weigh Nick down with responsibilities because she didn't need him to get a real job to provide for her. She could provide for herself, and probably five more generations of herselfs if she really needed to. She had things that Brooklyn didn't have, and that alone had always made Brooklyn a little bit uneasy. Finding out that she had stolen the one thing that Brooklyn had, that she didn't have, just validated every self doubt that Brooklyn had had about herself. It made her feel insufficient and useless, and she hated it. The stronger and harder side of Brooklyn knew that it was wrong to use "stolen" for what Cara did, because Nick was not a victim in all of this. He couldn't be stolen unless he wanted to stray too, and as she had reminded herself before, it was Nick who owed her his loyalty, not Cara. If it hadn't been Cara who he cheated with, it would have been someone else, and Brooklyn was positive about that. It didn't make her hate Cara any less, and it took a lot of strength not to ignore the sound of someone coming in in favor of tearing the girl's hair out, but she managed. It wasn't like seeing Nick helped to suppress her rage, but it at least gave her a chance to redirect it towards him. "Of course it's your fault. Does that even need to be said? And we're not fighting. Not anymore, at least. I'm not wasting my time on either of you anymore."

"Good, because you're going to need as much time as you can to start packing. You can both show yourself out by the end of the day, and take your little buddy with you. Ryan and I don't need to be living with garbage."

"That's funny, because that's not what your brother said last night." She didn't care that Nick was standing right there. She didn't outright repeat that she had slept with him, but only because she was just refusing to acknowledge Nick in the moment. She wasn't going to hide that she had slept with Ryan, because she had done it as an act of vengance towards Nick too. He just wasn't relevant enough in the moment for her to want to rub it in. For now, she just needed to take care of Cara, because like Ryan had said, they weren't going to be forced out just because Cara was a bitch. Maybe Nick would be, but not her and Roman. She still despised Cara, but she did want to laugh at how easy she was making this. Establishing that she wanted both of them out meant that her night with Nick meant little to her. Nick had lost a loyal girlfriend and a house, all for a one night fling. For nothing. It shouldn't have made her happy, but it did, because at least now she knew it wasn't worth it. "I'll move into his room. Nick and Roman can find their own place." She wouldn't actually let Cara kick Roman out either, but she needed to establish that she was very willing to settle down in Cara's brother's room if that's the level of pettiness she wanted to play at.

Call it oblivious, but despite what Brooklyn was saying, Nick didn't even fathom that there was a possibility that Brooklyn had slept with Ryan. She wasn't being direct enough, and in his mind, Ryan was too young and innocent to be getting girls, nonetheless girls like Brooklyn. Maybe they had talked the night before, and maybe the kid was nice enough to think letting Brooklyn sleep in Roman's bed would fix their problems, but that was as far as Nick was thinking into it. Granted, he was in panic mode, so that probably accounted for the lack of thoroughness in his thoughts. "Come on, this isn't that deep, guys. Can we just work it out? No one has to move out over this. You can have that room, Brooke. I'll sleep on the couch. I'll sleep in the fucking bathroom. I know I'm the only one to blame here. You two don't need to go up against each other and get crazy because of this. If anything, I'll move out, but can you just consider letting it all go?"

"Those drugs are definitely catching up to you. You literally have zero brain cells." Cara felt like she was the least heated out of the three, and probably for good reason. This all mattered to her in only a superficial way of wanting to have it all. She wasn't the one losing a long time relationship, or being potentially kicked out. She was confident that she could fuck him again if she really wanted to, so she didn't mind Nick brushing off their night as being a mistake, and she knew that Ryan's word meant nothing over hers, so she only rolled her eyes at Brooklyn's claims about living with him. "The three of you have until nine tonight to get your stuff out, or you'll find it on the curb." She wasn't going to humor Nick's irrational suggestions that they all just forget about this. She had had her fun, and now that it came back to bite her, she was over it. She wasn't going to take responsibility for it because like most things in her life, she didn't have to. She flashed them both an obviously-forced smile, and returned to her bedroom without another word. She only then saw Chanel's text, and it didn't surprise her.

To: Chanel
Makayla must have told her bc I know you didn't. No one else knew. Oh well. I had to kick them out. Life goes on but Makayla's dead to me.

To: Ryan
you're absolutely dead for sleeping with her, ryan. good luck getting rid of all of the stds she gave you. and i'm telling dad you slept with a stripper btw

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester
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Cara's statement, about them needing to move out, was one that should have been expected, but still made Nick's stomach knot up as she left the room. Since moving to New York, this apartment was the first real, stable and livable place he had to reside in. The basement he had stayed in before had been stable and long term, but it wasn't actual conditions that most people would deem livable. This apartment was nice enough, and had enough amenities for a simple person like him to be happy, and apparently, enough for Brooke to be happy as well, since she had seen it as an upgrade from their last home as well. And yeah, while he couldn't imagine himself residing in the same space as Brooklyn and Cara anymore, nonetheless sharing a room with Brooklyn when she wanted to murder him, he also couldn't imagine moving out. Not over something that he still insisted was just a stupid, stupid mistake. "Don't worry, I'll fix this. I'll talk to her. She'll change her mind," Nick said, as if the thought of him having some sort of influential power over Cara would be seen in a good way by Brooklyn. There was a small part of him that believed that maybe he could change Cara's mind, though. He knew he would just get himself into more trouble by telling her that he had feelings for her, or something of that sort, where there was a possibility that she would feel the same way and then feel inclined to succumb to his pleas to allow them to stay, but maybe it was the only option. Maybe instead of trying to blame other people for this, he could attempt to take responsibility for this, or at least make things right, even if it was in a risky way, that would likely end up backfiring on him anyway. All that he knew was that he didn't want Roman and Brooklyn to be kicked out because of his stupid mistake, and he wasn't eager to start couch surfing until he could find an affordable place of his own either.

"I'm not worrying about anything. I don't know if you're really dumb enough to think that I'm still relying on you for anything, but I've got my own living situation handled. You should start moving your stuff out, though." She feigned a smile, though it was clearly an ill-intended one, as she met his gaze.

"Ryan's not gonna be able to magically change her mind, Brooke."

She didn't like how Nick said that. He really didn't have a condescending tone when the words came out, but he set himself up for her response. If he thought his connection with Cara was somehow incredibly magical and strong, after sleeping together once, than her connection with Ryan would be just as useful here. "If I sleep with him again, I'm sure he'll manage to, but that's none of your business now. You should get the address to the closest Salvation Army before you leave. Maybe they'll take you in."

"You're joking, right?" Her silence was the only answer he needed. "Are you fucking serious, Brooke? Tell me you're bullshitting." Was she out of her mind? Ryan? Ryan-fucking-Forrester? Rage was definitely the new emotion of the day, because his fists clenched hard enough to make his knuckles turn white. The reasoning made no sense outside of his own head, but somehow, it was more insulting that Brooklyn would turn to some scrawny kid, who Nick never would have suspected would have the balls to engage in something like that, like Ryan, over anyone else.

"I only did it after I found out about you and her. I figured that there had to be something alluring about the Forresters to get you in bed with her, and I actually wasn't disappointed. At least I know someone like Ryan won't cheat on me." After saying that, she was bothered with herself for even trying to justify what she did, because she owed him no explanation. She didn't owe him an explanation, loyalty... nothing. Not only did she sleep with Ryan after Nick had slept with Cara, but it was also after Brooklyn had revealed that she knew about them, which was essentially breaking up with him. Both parties knew that the relationship was over, so she was still sure that she was completely in the right by doing what she did.

"I'm gonna kill him."

"Why? Because I'm 'only yours' when you want me? When you're not too busy fucking someone else and trying to hide it?" She shook her head, a signal to herself and him that this conversation was pointless, and there was no use in letting herself grow heated any longer. "Look, Nick. You can save this hero act for someone else, okay? You betrayed me, and I'm over it. I'm over you. Don't look at him, don't talk to him, and don't touch him, or I'll be the first one to call the police." There was nothing else that Nick could say that would be worth her time, so with that, she pushed off of the counter she was leaning against and headed out of the kitchen, and down the hall to her bedroom. Roman and Ryan's door was closed across the hall, and though she considered knocking on it, she didn't. She needed to talk to Ryan, but the last thing that she needed was Nick thinking he could be some macho man and break down the door or something, if he thought she was in there for certain reasons. Instead, after entering her bedroom, she texted Ryan, saying, "hey, i need to talk to you."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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(Not sure why my post ended up here and not in another thread's OOC....)

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers
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He didn't want to leave the apartment permanently like Cara wanted them to do, but he wanted to leave temporarily now. He needed to smoke, and badly, and at this point, he was willing to just light up in the hallway of the building if that was what it was going to take to calm his nerves. He doubted that there was any shot at him being able to do it in their apartment now. Not only would it probably be a perfect excuse for Cara to call the police and personally escort him out of the apartment in handcuffs, but he didn't even think he was going to be able to stay in his bedroom, since Brooklyn was in there now, and he knew he'd be stupid to try and hang out in there too. Plus, now he knew that Roman wasn't home, which meant he couldn't even hotbox he and Ryan's bedroom. Normally, it wasn't something that he would ever consider doing since he really did try to respect Ryan's space, as a thank you for him being tolerant of them moving into his space, but right now, Nick wanted to kill him. To an extent, literally. Nick really did do his best to keep himself from being some crazy, overprotective boyfriend. Brooklyn was a gorgeous girl and was complimented all of the time, and she deserved it. Nick was used to people lusting over his girl, and he had been forced to come to terms with that because of her occupation, but there was a difference between guys fantasizing about sleeping with her, and actually doing it. He had definitely taken what he had for granted, and he knew that he had no right to be angered over her and Ryan, considering what he had done first, but it didn't stop him from wanting to kill the boy.

Chanel wanted weed, and he knew that it was rude of him to be keeping her this long, but obviously, he wasn't just blowing her off for no reason. Despite knowing he had a valid reason to tell her that he was unable to get it to her, Nick wanted to make the deal. He didn't need her finding a new dealer, even if she wasn't a very frequent customer. Besides, he supposed that maybe she'd be cool with him lighting up with her, or maybe he would even run into Makayla while over there, and be able to coerce her into letting him smoke in her bedroom, for some free weed. He knew it wasn't a smart move for him business wise, to be so ready to hand out the drug for free, but at this point, all he cared about was getting high. A minute after Brooklyn left him in the kitchen with parting words that were too true for him to argue with, even if she had given him the chance, he texted Chanel, saying, "Two minutes, sorry for the holdup". After it was sent, he took a minute to recuperate, and toss the whiskey bottle that still had some contents into the trash, before heading down the hall and towards his bedroom. He was grateful that Brooklyn had not locked herself in, because judging by the glare she gave him when he opened the door, he doubted she would have opened it had he had to knock. "Don't worry, I'm not trying to stick around. I just need to grab a few things and then I'll be out of your way," he said, his hands raised in surrender. She didn't reply, her eyes only returning to her computer screen midway through his explanation as if she didn't care what he had to say. That was fine with him for now. He didn't need any more fighting, and he wasn't dumb enough to think that they were suddenly going to be able to work things out.

Like he promised Brooklyn, he was in and out of the bedroom in only the short span of time that it took for him to weigh Chanel's weed, and bag another portion that consisted of about two thick joints' worth of weed and grab his bowl and lighter. The extra weed was for himself, and potentially Makayla, if she let him smoke there. While he was close enough with Chanel to deal with her, he didn't want to invite himself to smoke with her, especially if he was charging her. And with the prospect of having to move out that night still existing as a reality, he didn't think there was any way that he could not charge her. As he headed back out of his bedroom, he sent Chanel a text saying that he was there, which wasn't much of a lie since his apartment was only seconds worth of a walk away from hers. He didn't have to wait long before she opened the door, with a smile that he had no reason to assume was anything but genuine.

To say that Cara's words didn't sting, even just a tiny bit, would be an ill-attempted lie. Chanel continued to stare at the door with a disgusted snarl on her face before scoffing to herself, a minute peeved grin coming into place. This bitch, she thought to herself. What was more frustrating was that it wasn't anything surprising. She knew the way Cara worked, or at least liked to think so. And Cara had only proven that whatever friendship they were pretending to have wasn't a real one. They had both been using each other for different gains, and it bothered Chanel that it now seemed to be blowing up in her face. It would have been very easy to deal Cara's cards back to her. To show her a different side of Chanel, but to do that would essentially be forfeiting the fight. Something, she reminded herself as she flopped on her bed, she wouldn't partake in. As much as she wanted to, she wasn't going to get into a cat fight with Cara. But she would still shame her name while she screamed into her pillowcase. When she felt her phone vibrate minutes later, she saw it was from Nick--two actually. She'd missed his previous text saying he'd be there shortly, and so as she read his most recent one announcing his arrival, she quickly got up. Thank fucking god. When she opened the door, she tried greeting him with a warm smile, but she was tired, annoyed, and just wanted to time out for the rest of the day. "Hey," she said. "Thought you went to Vegas or something."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he responded to her remark about him taking so long. He felt like saying that "her girl" kicked him out, so he had a lot on his plate at the moment, but despite his conversation with her earlier, Nick really wasn't the type of person to try and spread his business around like that. Plus, he wasn't trying to start any more drama up, and that went without him even knowing about Chanel and Cara's fight minutes before. "So this is yours," he said, handing her the bag of weed. He was too drained to even try to be discrete about it, but being halfway through her door made it less necessary than if they were in public anyway. "Just twenty for that, and I swear it's some good shit too," he said. Twenty for a gram was pretty standard in New York for regulars. Tourists could easily be ripped off in midtown, where it was easier to charge steep prices, but Nick did his best to remain consistent in his pricing for people he actually knew. "Is Makayla home?," he followed up with, not deep enough in the apartment to see or hear for himself. "I wanted to see if she wanted to light up."

"Thanks, dude," she said as she took the bag. She had no reason to distrust Nick when it came to weed. He'd been supplying her for some months now, so she knew that she didn't have anything to worry about. When he brought up wanting to smoke with Makayla, she nearly invited herself, just out of habit, before reeling herself in. She had to remind herself that she didn't really want a social gathering right now, and if anything just wanted to talk mad shit about Cara until she the good Lord himself struck her down. Plus, if he said yes and then Makayla wasn't able to join, it'd be awkward, just the two of them. Chanel normally didn't register what would be to most an uncomfortable situation, but today she was more aware of her own moments of social lacking and wanted to avoid that possible scenario. It might have been less weird had there not been the tie up with Cara, but she wasn't going to test that. "Uh, yeah. She's in here. Full house actually. I don't know if her and Holly are about to be busy though. You can come in if you want, and I'll go grab the money. We have food too, and some Tupperware containers if you want to take something to go," she said, and before considering the weight of her words, continue with, "Cara told me about her little tantrum. Couldn't talk her out of giving you guys the boot, but take however much food you want. I guess that's the least I can do." After the words escaped her mouth, she rolled her eyes deeply, demonstrating she knew just how much she'd messed up. She really needed to learn how to stop talking. "Sorry, that was super inappro-pro. I'm gonna go get the money and you can just forget I said anything."

Somehow, Nick managed to conjure up a close-to-genuine smirk at Chanel's comment and then her quick apology. He didn't know her incredibly well, but she was definitely likeable, even coming off a moment where Nick had surely suspected she had been at the root of Brooklyn finding out about all of this. "Don't sweat it... and thanks," he said with a reassuring smile as he stepped into her apartment. He was hungry, but he didn't want to help himself to her food, even if the offer had been extended. He wasn't that desperate, and more-so, he didn't want to do that now, if there was a chance that he was going to get high and then want that food in twenty minutes. Throwing discretion to the wind, because again, he wasn't in a state to give a shit about much of anything, he approached the kitchen and when he caught Makayla's eye, held up the bag of weed he had brought for them. Kacey, Colton and Holly were all right there, but he didn't try to hide the drug, and went so far as to say, "I know you said you were trying to stay away earlier, but I'm hoping you've changed your mind? It's on me if you'll host," with a bit of a pleading smile.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers Character Portrait: Colton King
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Had Makayla not skillfully and quickly directed the conversation to another topic, Holly would have lingered on why she thought Cara could still take her to the movies. Cara never acted offended or bothered by Holly asking if they could partake in certain activities, such as going to the movies or stopping in a store that had something in the window that caught Holly's eye. Growing up in a household where money was scarce, and then being taken in by Makayla, Holly knew what the value of a dollar was to an extent, and that she couldn't get everything she wanted, but that principal didn't seem - or need - to exist when she was with Cara. The blonde didn't splurge tremendously on Holly, but she never objected to simple requests that Holly made, for things that would be luxuries if Makayla was the one paying for it.

"I did tell you about what me and Cara did! Maybe you weren't listening," Holly objected, a slight frown falling in place before quickly disappearing when she began to talk again. "But I can tell you again!" she exclaimed, because it was nearly impossible for her to turn down an opportunity to tell a story, especially when it had actually been requested. "At night time, after you came back home, I wanted to come home too but Cara said that I couldn't, so I stayed at her house and watched TV, and then I fell asleep, and then in the morning I woke up and I woke Cara up too because I didn't know what to do, because at our house I always wake you up in the morning too when I wake up, right? And I was going to wake up Brooklyn and Nick and Roman and Ryan too, because they all live at Cara's house too, but I decided to only wake her up, and then she let me watch TV again and she went back to sleep because she needs so much sleep, and then after that, a little bit later, she woke up again, and we went and we got breakfast at a restaurant. I got pancakes with sugar on them, because that's something you can get at the restaurant we went to, and then we went to the store and bought all of the stuff I showed you, remember? My chips and all of my stuff. Then we came back here and Chanel was here but then she left to go to the spa with Cara, and then you got to be with me again." The recollection took less than a minute to tell, but Holly had become engulfed in it enough that she had missed Cara leaving the apartment in a hurry. She was going to continue, and remind Makayla of everything that the two of them had done this morning together, just in case her memory had been erased for that part of the day too, but she opted against it in favor of agreeing with Colton, who had come over midway through her response to her sister. "Yeah, people with tattoos can't be boring. You're not boring and Kay's not boring and Roman, the boy with the tattoos, is not boring either. He got me lemonade yesterday because he's really nice and not boring." Kacey addressed her after she finished with that comment, or at least, Holly thought that she was addressing her, despite her eyes being on Makayla. She was the only one with a plate left on the table, and though there was still a piece or two of turkey left, she wasn't going to eat it. She picked the pieces off, placed them on the bare table in front of Makayla, and jumped out of her chair to hand the plate to Kacey, who stood over the dishwasher. "Do you love doing the dishes so much?" Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Chanel heading towards the front door of the apartment, but her mind was still moving too fast for her to switch tasks and address that immediately. Instead, she followed up her first question with another. "Wanna make your cinnamon rolls now? I'll help you while Makayla does our laundry," she offered, in a way that was more like insisting than actually neutrally offering.

When Nick appeared in the kitchen, Holly's first thought wasn't to comment on the bag of drugs in his hand, but on the fact that she had forgotten to include him in her list of people who had tattoos. She spun around to look at Colton, and pointed towards Nick eagerly. "And I totally forgot, but Nick has tattoos too and he's not boring, even though he's quiet sometimes and doesn't like it when you make Brooklyn angry." With that off of her mind, she was able to process why Nick was standing there, and her frown quickly returned. "Makayla doesn't do drugs," she answered for her sister in a defensive manner. Holly was ignorant to a lot of things, but she had grown up around drugs for far too long to not know what they were, and be able to identify the major ones. She knew that Makayla drank, but whenever she identified the smell of weed on Makayla, her sister claimed that it was just air freshener that she was smelling, and by now, Holly just related the smell to being air freshener. However, even if she had been tricked into not being able to identify it by smell, she could tell what it was that Nick was holding in a visual respect, and she knew it was something that was bad.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers
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By now, Makayla was more than used to Holly's version of storytelling. It usually began in the right direction, as if she were going to actually answer what Makayla had asked, and then would quickly spiral into a completely different conversation since her sister had a tendency to focus on minute details that would seem irrelevant to anyone else. She would get fixated on things, and though sometimes they were harmless things, like seeing a dog that looked similar to one she had seen the day before and talking about it for the next five days, they were sometimes more detrimental... or at least detrimental to Makayla's mental health. Sometimes even those things would seem trivial to other people, like Holly constantly bringing up the fact that she was one of the few kids her age that didn't have a phone, or that she wished that they lived somewhere with a pool. To an extent, they were still harmless comments, but they got under Makayla's skin after hearing about it day in and day out. She knew Holly didn't mean it this way, but after a while, she was able to convince herself into feeling like the girl was ungrateful. Did she not realize that Makayla had dropped out of college for her? That, in itself, was a huge deal, since Makayla grew up in an area where a lot of kids didn't finish high school... nonetheless "beat the odds" and go on to college, and actually want to be there. Was Holly uncaring towards Makayla working herself in a mental state of despair to try to keep both of them afloat, when it seemed like the world was working against them? Did she not realize that not only did Makayla have to sacrifice much of her own childhood to grow up and play mom and dad to Holly, but now she was having to sacrifice her young adult like too? The years that were supposed to be "the best of her life"?

Always, after all of these questions played through her mind, Makayla had to remind herself that no, Holly didn't realize that. It was as simple as that. The girl was oblivious and ignorant and all of that was okay and excusable, because she didn't mean to be that way. She didn't want to be that way. It wasn't the child's fault that she had been brought up in a hellish environment, where the learning and emotional disabilities she was born with were worsened to an extreme due to the treatment she received there. That wasn't her fault, and though Makayla knew that it wasn't her fault either, she also knew that she would never be able to go through with the thoughts that sometimes filled her mind, about just finally breaking free from this life, leaving Holly with protective services, and "doing herself". She would never let herself live it down, and if she thought she had a problem with alcohol and marijuana now, she knew it would only take days after going through with that plan for her to overdose. Whether she just had too big of a conscience, loved Holly too much, or couldn't let someone else go through life knowing that they were abandoned the way that her mother had done to her, she knew that this was her life, and Holly's quirks were all things she had to take in stride.

Coming to terms that this was her "usual" didn't mean that she was comfortable with it though. Anyone in her position would attest to how taxing it was, and how easy it was to get exhausted when every five minutes she had to redirect Holly back to whatever they were doing. Sometimes, the easiest thing to do was to ask her to talk, like she had done now, with the recollection of what she had done with Cara. At least she knew that for those thirty seconds, she wasn't infringing upon anyone else's personal space, she wasn't getting into things that didn't belong to them, and she wasn't running out of sight. Today, after those thirty seconds were up, Makayla struggled to muster up more strength to redirect Holly's focus back to her when she shot over to Kacey to give her the plate, and then started talking to Colton. The last thing that she wanted to deal with was Nick coming in and putting her in that situation. Not only did it bother her in the obvious way, since Holly knowing that she smoked a lot was something that she did her best to conceal (and Nick knew that), but that he was saying it right in front of her new roommate, and Colton, as well. She knew that there were a lot of people nowadays who weren't against the drug, but it just went back to the same reason she had for a lot of things, that she didn't want to be "that" roommate. For one, she didn't really want people to know any more about her than necessary, and two, she didn't need any more reasons for people to dislike her, when she had a preconceived notion that Holly would find a way to get them on people's bad sides before long.

She stood up quickly upon Holly's defensive comment and wrapped an arm around her shoulder to usher her back towards their bedroom, knowing that now, they definitely needed to go. "I said I'm good today," she said, glancing at Nick, clearly annoyed, because at this point, she really didn't have the strength to hide it. What point of "no" didn't he understand? "Not today, no thanks," she followed up with a beat later, an attempt at partly trying to seem more polite, and also trying to solidify that she wasn't in the mood to be persuaded into saying yes. He had just given her one more reason for her head to ache, on top of the thousand she already had, and though smoking sounded great at the moment, she couldn't do it for more than one reason. "Come on, Holly," she said, nudging her towards the hallway. "We're going to go do that laundry." She looked back, only for a second, to offer Kacey a smile. "Thanks again for the food." Although she didn't want to touch on the subject of the drugs any more than was necessary, she knew Holly, and she knew that if she didn't bring it up, Holly would. "I don't know why he said that, Holl. You know how I always say boys are dumb, right? He was probably just being dumb and trying to make a joke." She didn't want to give Holly a chance to linger on it, so she kept talking, hoping to direct her attention elsewhere as they entered their bedroom. "Grab the bag over by the window with our clothes in it. It's not too heavy, do you want to hold it while we walk? I have to make sure we have enough change." While some of the laundromats in the city were upgraded to a point where you could use a prepaid card or in some, even a credit card, to pay for laundry, the one that was closest to them still only offered the traditional quarter option. It was a nuisance only because she always seemed to have no change on her on her laundry days, but she preferred that struggle over going to a more expensive one that had more modern machines.

She grabbed her purse, and also Holly's backpack, since she knew that she needed to have something on hand to occupy her for the hour that they would be waiting for the laundry, and without wasting much time, led her back out of the bedroom. "Come on, we don't want to get there too late and have all of the machines be taken," she said as they neared the main area of the apartment, hoping that comment would be enough to herd her out without any unnecessary conversation with those still in the kitchen. As they left, she tossed Holly's backpack over her shoulder and rummaged through her bag for the change she needed. As she was doing so, she got a text, and thinking it was from Cara, she opened it right away, only to find that it wasn't from that blonde, but another. Brooklyn. It read, "Hey, random text, ik but just wanted you to know that Nick and I are done. Spoke w Cara too. I didn't mention your name so you shouldn't have any problems but just wanted you to know what's up." She was still typing as Makayla finished reading that one, and a second later, another message popped up. "And since it's gonna bother me if I feel like I'm in debt too you, I can get you a job where I work if you still need something. I can bring you tonight around 8 to meet my boss if you want." Makayla didn't let herself process how random the text was since she and Brooklyn were not friends, or what implications Nick and Cara knowing might mean for her, especially with Cara still not having answered her. All she could focus on was the second text, and how badly she actually did need money right now, and her answer was a very quick, "yeah, that'd be great. thanks!"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers Character Portrait: Colton King
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"See, Kace, I'm not boring. This girl seems like she knows what's boring and what's not, so her word stands," Colton insisted, moving over to the counter beside the dishwasher and leaning against it as he spoke to Kacey. He liked egging Holly on on this matter, only because he could feel the tension eradiating from Kacey. That was one of her flaws, or so he liked to tell her so - she was too easy to read, and therefore, too easy to have her buttons pushed.

"I don't think anyone 'loves doing dishes," Kacey responded, a bit of a curious expression left on her face - or forced onto her face - since it seemed better to look perplexed as to why anyone would ask that, than annoyed at the question. She took Holly's plate nonetheless, and placed it into the dishwasher along with the rest of the dirty plates and utensils from the sink. As she closed it up and turned it on, Chanel and Nick entered the main area of the apartment. Kacey hadn't seen Nick the night before, since he was already out by the time she had gotten to Cara's, so she wasn't sure who he was, and figured he was a friend of Chanel's. Maybe a boyfriend, and if that was the case, Kacey could not blame her. Her preference definitely was heavily favoring females nowadays, and when it came to men, she liked them dark, but that didn't mean that she couldn't acknowledge that Nick was a good looking guy. A little thin for her tastes, but standing beside Chanel, she noted that they were a cute couple. Something about his appearance made it unsurprising that he proposed smoking to Makayla, who seemed bothered by the inquiry and shut it down quickly, although she didn't actually shut the idea of her being a smoker down entirely. Which was interesting. For no reason, really, but it was just one more thing that Kacey learned about the girl today. Being pro-weed wasn't a bad thing in her book. She would smoke occasionally, in a recreational manner, so she didn't frown upon it, but she just hadn't pinned Makayla as being a marijuana enthusiast. However, it wasn't like she could blame her. Kacey hadn't known Holly for a day, and was craving a nice, serene, high.

"Damn, this is the apartment with the good food and the 4/20-friendly motto? I should have taken you up on the offer to switch rooms when it was still on the table," Colton said to Kacey, though loudly enough for it to be directed at the group as a whole. He too, noticed Chanel letting Nick in, and instantly, he wanted to associate that with why she had ditched him, and hadn't seemed as into him as he was hoping. Nick was probably her boyfriend. It made sense that a girl like her wasn't going to be single anyway, now that he thought about it. "I don't think we met. I'm Colton," he said, trying out this friendly personality and being "extra", as Kacey would put it. He gave the guy a greeting sort-of nod, wanting to ask what he was to Chanel, but knowing that would be inappropriate and weird, given the circumstances. Instead, he turned back to Kacey. "Wanna wrap me up a piece of that so I don't starve come dinner time, or should I just come back here and keep you company? What do you say, six o'clock sound good?" She had her back to Colton now as she began to transfer the lasagna into a container to be refrigerated, but rolled her eyes at him nonetheless. "Nah, I'm finally getting rid of you, and your leeching ways. You've gotta learn how to cook something besides those nasty microwavable mac and cheese cups anyway. Now's a good time for you to start," she said, sealing the lid on the container as a sign that she really wasn't going to give him any. It was petty, maybe, considering that she did have more than enough to share, but she had already shared with him, and she didn't just slave away over the stove for that long, just to give it all away. She wanted this to last her for a few days, at least, and she had a feeling (or maybe a hope) that she would be sharing with Makayla and Holly again soon anyway.

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Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Nick had paused in his day drinking only for a few hours, part of that being while he smoked with Chanel, and then the rest being as he moved his things from his room in Cara's apartment, into the living room of Chanel's apartment. Some of Makayla and Holly's things had still been in his new room, or else he would have moved them in right away, but he was too impatient to stick around and wait for that. Even after a pretty decent smoking session with Chanel, he was feeling anxious. The depression and regret were present too, but what was more agitating were those feelings of restlessness, where he didn't know what he wanted to do to make himself feel better. He didn't know if he wanted to spend the entire day smoking, or maybe go for a run, or even be productive and make some sales on the other side of the city. He would get himself ready for one of the activities, even on just a mental level, but couldn't actually go through with it, and so, that led him to leaving the apartment building and walking. At first, it had been aimless. He didn't bring weed along, so he knew he wasn't en route to make any money, but he didn't have any specific destination in mind. It was only after passing five or six bars that he decided to turn into one, and unfortunately for his liver, it took a good few hours for him to exit it.

By the time he left, if you had asked him a question about Brooklyn, he would have responded with, "Brooklyn who?". Maybe that didn't seem exceptionally out of character for Nick, who wasn't emotional in most sense of the word, but hours before, she had been the one who had instilled that restless feeling in him. It wasn't so much the process of moving out that got to him, but that he wasn't going to be living with her anymore. It was all his fault, and again, he knew that very well, but he knew it was going to hit him soon, that he had really, really fucked up. If he thought his mindset was screwed up now, he knew it was only going to get worse as time went on. He would have to adjust to sleeping alone, and not being woken up at five in the morning on the nights that she worked, to the smell of her perfume mixed with alcohol, and her lips pressing against his neck. He would have to relearn what it was like to not have "your other half", someone who you could tell anything too. There would be no more lowkey date nights, and in turn, no more complaints about how he needed to get his act together because she wasn't going to live off of cheap pizza forever. She was gone, and she deserved to be free of him, but man, did it suck. Or at least it would suck, when Nick was sober again. For now, all he could do was smile in a nearly goofy manner as he headed out of the bar and began his walk home. The blonde that had made his days better for so long wasn't occupying an inch of his mind, and all that he could focus on was the way his head felt lighter now, and how he could really go for some pizza. After buying pitcher after pitcher of beer at the bar, he knew his wallet wouldn't thank him for indulging in a pizza too, but when he passed a pizzeria, he indulged and ordered a pie. It took five minutes for it to come out, and though he wanted to start eating it there, he didn't, only since there weren't any free tables. Thankfully, he was only a few minutes away from his building, and his stomach was willing to wait that long. Before he left the pizzeria, he texted Roman, saying "Bro i just got the sickest pizza wya".

Drunk and so used to his routine, Nick headed straight for the door of Cara's apartment when he reached the fifth floor. With only one hand free, he rummaged through his pockets for a minute before deciding that he must have left his key somewhere. In the moment, he didn't recall that he had turned the key in to Cara hours before, and though this would probably all click in his mind in a few minutes, he knocked on the door a few times, hoping one of "his" roommates would be home to let him in.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers
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Roman wasn't sure if he was tired or fatigued. After a while, the two bled together and were essentially indistinguishable most of the time. He couldn't recall the last time he was really well rested, and at this point had just gotten used to the feeling. He also could have just been feeling lazy, not wanting to set up his room again. Granted, he didn't have too many things and he was being more dramatic than he needed to be, but he had something to whine over, and so that's what he was going to do. In all actuality, he didn't mind the task too much. It was just all the moving that accompanied it. The cold made his bones ache more, made him sleepier, and so any physical effort was a chore on its own. He did, however, want to be done with this, and he couldn't bring himself to sleep if his side of the room wasn't as it should be. It was an odd, unexpected obsession, to need his room to be kept a certain way, especially when the rest of his life was essentially in shambles compared to what it could have been. During this, he received the text from Brooke and, again, grinned unwillingly. He'd been in need of money for time but hadn't actively sought out a solution. Whatever he needed to make up for he did in matches.

To: Brooke

you dont die from a broken skull but yea i'm interested. thanks for being useful for once

Not too long after, he received another text. He figured it was from Brooke, responding with some reciprocated kind of banter, so he didn't look right away, especially since he was busy trying to figure out what was missing. He hadn't yet made his bed because everything wasn't put away, but he just had a feeling that something wasn't there. Frustrated that this was taking longer than it should have, he sat on his bed and checked his phone, only to frown seconds afterwards. Free pizza was a god send any day, especially when a food break would likely ease the annoyance he felt, but he had food, plus he still didn't really want to see Nick. He was convinced that it would just be awkward from then on out, and he wasn't looking forward to that, so without response, he stood and entered the kitchen where he found Chanel standing in the dark.

Chanel winced and squeezed her eyes when a whiteness washed over the room. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw Roman standing near the light switch, giving her a look that clearly translated to, "What the hell are you doing just standing in the dark?" But then again, his face always looked like that. She forced an honest smile to her lips, and she wasn't sure if she imagined the small recoil of his body. What is this dude's deal? "Hey, she said as he moved across the kitchen. He didn't necessarily ignore her, but instead gave her the slightest brow raise in greeting. She blinked, but moved past this. "Sorry I've mostly been in my room all day. It's just one of those days, y'know."

"Yeah," he said, and for her, this was an accomplishment in an abysmally sub par conversation this was turning out to be. She pursed her lips in thought as she watched him look through the fridge. A few seconds later, he was frowning into it, clearly confused. "You can help yourself to anything in there. It's a lot of leftover right now. Way too much for just me. Well, probably not, but I don't want to be--"

"It's fine," he interjected, causing Chanel to catch her words in her throat. For a person who liked talking and thrived on people treating her like the light in the room, she found it incredibly rude to be cut off, especially when it wasn't even for something interest. Especially when she was just being a nice fucking person. Roman glanced back at her, only partially, as if it was too much work to just turn around and look at her. "I thought I brought my stuff over. Guess it's still at Cara's." He tossed the door close. So this is why Cara doesn't like you... "Cool tattoos," she blurted in a desperate effort to make this conversation not be the second worst thing about her day. She took things like this personally, of all things, which only went to show how out of line her priorities really were. Roman glanced around the room, and she caught him eye Makayla and Holly's bedroom. Old bedroom, she reminded herself. "Are you shy? I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I feel like I'm making you uncomfortable."

"No," Roman said bluntly, seemingly offended by her question. "You just talk a lot."

Sorry I don't have the social skills of a crab, asshole

Roman had narrowly escaped back into his new room, but when he did, he collapsed on the bed, convinced that he wouldn't leave again. He'd just take a quick shower and stay in for the rest of the night. If he was lucky, he might even go to sleep at a decent hour. This was one of the reasons he wasn't thrilled about the current living situation. Anyone who could tolerate Cara clearly had some things to work out, and he wanted nothing to do with them. Of course, if he was being fair, from the times he had interacted with her, she didn't seem as malicious as Cara. In fact, sometimes he even questioned how they could be friends when Chanel seemed genuinely nice, but that was her problem. It was just that she was overwhelmingly there. Not too long after searching for his bathroom items, he realized what it was he was missing. Bloody Christ, he thought. His hunger was making him crankier, and even more so because he wasn't sure why he denied the food Chanel offered. Well, he told himself, it was probably because she was being so persistent. He wasn't excited about having to go back over to Cara's, but she was somehow more tolerable than Chanel at the moment. This time when he headed out, he saw a girl with Chanel. She looked vaguely familiar, and then he placed as being the new roommate Chanel had introduced. Without word, he slipped through the door and headed to 5C.

In a new found mood to beat someone's ass, Chanel poured herself some wine and made a plate of leftovers even though she wasn't quite hungry. She just wanted to eat simply because she could. It was a new habit she'd picked up since coming to move on her own. For her parents, the worst thing besides talking back was being wasteful. They were snacks in the house of course, but her and her brothers almost always had to do it discreetly. It wasn't so much that they weren't allowed to eat them, but her parents, for whatever reason, just thought that it was fruitless binging. And in this instance, it was. A smile came to her face and her stomach clenched, but not from hunger. When Kacey entered the room, Chanel grinned and waved. "Hi," she said. Looking at Kacey, she was just realizing how pretty she was. "Oh, uh, Roman and Nick are our roommates," she said just as Roman came out of his room. "Speak of the devil. Yeah, they switched with Holly and Makayla because..." she began, now sure how much information was too much information. "Cara's offering them free rent," she finally settled with, but when Roman had finally gone just seconds after entering the kitchen, she turned back to Kacey. "There was some altercation so they didn't have a place to stay, and after Makayla told me Cara was letting them stay for free, I told Nick they could crash here. I hope that's okay. I didn't think to consult you. I'm sorry. Oh," she said a moment later as she noticed Kacey was getting ready to prepare something. "What are you making? And you're really pretty by the way."

Roman had heard the last bit of Chanel's words. Not the part where she admitted to Kacey what was going on, but the part about Cara offering Makayla and Holly free rent. So now, apart from getting the rest of his things, he was also going to demand that she give him his portion of this month's rent since she clearly didn't need, and likely didn't need any of it to begin with. He was growing more heated thinking about it. So what the hell was she doing with our money if she didn't even need it? Before he could get too caught up in the notion, he was distracted by the sight an intoxicated Nick standing out of Cara's apartment with a pizza in hands. It was too late to turn around, and even if it wasn't, he wouldn't have because he needed to see Cara. Nick, on the other hand, didn't have any reason to be out here. From the way he looked, which wasn't entirely there or cognizant, Roman could infer that he'd just stupidly gone to the wrong apartment. Or, if he wanted to give Nick more credit than he was worth, was there for other reasons. Maybe he decided to bring it to share with Cara since Roman hadn't answered, but if that was the case, then Nick really was dumb because Roman would be damned if Cara had ever eaten anything that wasn't personally served to her or from some elitist restaurant. He knew he was being unnecessarily harsh, and it alarmed him just how quickly and easily it had snuck up on him, which was the exact reason why he was trying to avoid Nick. It was too late for that now, though, so he walked over, not hiding the judgment from his face as he banged on the door, purposely unnecessarily hard. "The hell are you doing here? Are you drunk?"

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Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Cara didn't even know why she had started to darken Holly's image of Chanel. As it always was, Holly wasn't someone that Cara wanted to corrupt. She didn't think of herself, and she wouldn't even fully acknowledge that everything she was saying was 100% pure pettiness, but she still knew that it wasn't right of her to have even brought this up. Not only in a moral aspect, but also in the sense that it was probably going to come back to bite her. She should have known that Holly wouldn't let it go that easily, especially when up until this very moment, Chanel was probably one of her favorite people. As far as Cara knew, outside of Makayla, she didn't have many, if any, close family members, and again, from what she knew, she didn't have many friends at school either. Therefore, aside from Makayla, it was the people she interacted with in the building who she probably thought of as friends. While Cara would pride herself in being the "best" friend (and yeah, even she realized how stupid that thought, of vying for a sixteen-year-old's best friend position was), she knew that Chanel was probably a close second. She was the person who actually lived with Holly, after all, and with the way that Chanel was so friendly (albeit, a fake form of friendliness), it made sense that Holly would like Chanel. Even if she didn't, Cara had to have known that what made things worse here was that she wasn't trying to convince Holly not to like Chanel alone, but that Chanel actually didn't like her. That was where she went wrong, she knew. "I think she does like you guys. Don't worry about it, Holly. Like, it's not even a big deal."

It was a big deal to Holly, though. Cara couldn't just claim that Chanel didn't like them and then say that she did. That didn't make sense. Everyone knew that Holly struggled with focusing on most things, but she wasn't always aggravatingly flighty. It still probably was equally aggravating, considering what she liked to focus on, but if the stars aligned, she wasn't as horrible at following a concept and using reasoning skills as she was pinned as being. Granted, it being night time, and her energy level to be rambunctious was lower, so that definitely played a role in her capability to be more serious now too. "Remember yesterday when Makayla said that you thought I was stupid?"

"I don't think you're stupid. You're the only person that I know who knows almost all of the words to all of the High School Musical movies." And she didn't think that Holly was stupid. She was ignorant and naive, and Cara attempting to sway the conversation in a lighter direction probably attested to how she didn't think that Holly was incredibly competent, but she didn't think that she was stupid. Not in a bad way, like that.

"Yeah, I do," Holly perked up momentarily, but was surprisingly able to maintain her focus as she redirected herself back to what she was trying to get at. "But do you think that Chanel thinks that I'm stupid and that's why she doesn't want us to stay in the room next to her?"

"No one thinks you're stupid. You're not stupid."

"I'm not smart," she countered, and she wasn't saying it in a manner of self-pitying. As a child, "stupid" was one of the most common insults that her mother and mother's boyfriend flung at her. She was stupid for doing poorly in school, but she was also stupid for thinking that Santa was real when she was five, and for walking in front of the television during a boxing match. She was an assortment of other, less PG-rated names as well, but stupid was one that always stuck with her. In elementary school, she was called it a lot by her peers as well, and it was an insult that resonated with her, especially as she grew up and realized that getting poor grades was what stupid was. She got bad grades and she was in the classes for kids who required extra help and attention so reasonably speaking, that meant that she was stupid. "That's why Brooklyn doesn't like me, and that's why Chanel wanted me and Makayla to leave." Cara had disagreed with her being stupid, but Holly knew that she was, so she concluded that that must have been the reason for Chanel wanting them out.

"You are smart, Holly. Look, Chanel does like you. She thinks you're nice and smart and all of that." Ugh, of course this is what I get for trying to reasonably get someone on my side. It was almost instinctual for Cara to want to victimize herself here, as if it wasn't her fault now, that things were backfiring on her. She felt bad for making Holly upset, she really did, but she also didn't really want to deal with it since she knew that if she really wanted to fix this, she would have to take responsibility for lying and trying to diminish Chanel's character unfairly, and she didn't want to do that. "What did you wa--" She made an attempt at ending that conversation right there, in place of asking Holly what she wanted to watch on television, when there was a loud and abrupt knock on the door.

It was unreasonable, given the fact that their neighborhood was pretty safe, but coming from the Upper East Side where every building had a doorman and an impeccable security system, Cara always felt like their apartment building now was abhorrently unsafe. The lack of a doorman, the tenants (who in Cara's mind, were almost all termed as being "sketchy" looking, most for no real reason at all), and the fact that these walls were far thinner than the ones at home, and every night she felt like she heard cop and ambulance sirens, left her on edge. It was the reason why in addition to the normal lock on the door, she had a chain lock installed too, just for the added protection. With Makayla and Brooklyn gone, presumably for the night, Cara had no idea who was knocking, and so loudly at that. If Holly wasn't sitting there and she was home alone, she probably would have called the building manager one hundred times until he answered, when she would demand that he come up and investigate before she open the door. Actually, had this happened a mere twenty-four hours ago, she would have just called Chanel and asked her to see who was outside. That bridge had been burned, though, and with a desire to not make Holly any more uneasy, she got up after handing her the remote and saying, "Let me go get that. You pick something good for us to watch."

"Who is it?" she called out, though she didn't really wait for an answer before proceeding. She made sure that the chain lock was linked in place, but unlocked the bottom lock and pulled the door open just as much as the chain lock, that was still locked, allowed. It gave her about two inches of space between the door frame and the door, and just enough space to see Roman and Nick on the other side. "Can I help you?" she demanded impatiently. They were the absolute last people she wanted to see.

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Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Roman showed up by his side a moment after Nick knocked on the door, and though the sudden presence by his side caught him off guard momentarily, he was too intoxicated to really react to the surprise. With his back to the other side of the hall, he didn't see Roman come out of their new apartment, and even if he had, it still probably would not have clicked yet that that was where they lived now. "It's a Friday night. Of-fucking-course I'm drunk," he answered, as if they were college frat kids and being drunk on a Friday night wasn't something that even needed to be confirmed. Nick did drink pretty regularly, but he didn't usually do it to get wasted, and especially compared to Brooklyn, his habits were pretty normal. Today was an exception, of course, but normally, he would probably consume a couple of beers a night if he had them on hand, and maybe a little bit of liquor on the weekends, but nothing crazy. Marijuana was his preferred vice because not only did he prefer that sort of buzz, but he had easier access to that than alcohol. When he smoked his own supply, it was still costing him money, but it seemed like it did in a lesser extent since it was all paid for in advance, compared to how he had to dish out cash every time he wanted alcohol from a store. "I got pizza," he said, stating the obvious, as he raised the box slightly. "Want some? I'm about to have like, five of these slices, if you want the other three." Roman had banged on the door in a noticeably harder manner than Nick had, and his knock garnered a faster response too, because a few seconds later, Cara's voice was audible asking who was there. Nick would have answered, identifying himself and stating that he had lost his key, had she not pulled the door open slightly before he could.

He wasn't experiencing amnesia and wasn't completely disassociated with what had went on earlier, but he had numbed out most of the bad parts, so seeing part of Cara's face through the cracked door didn't suddenly bring him back to reality. In fact, seeing Cara did nothing short of turn him on. He had forgotten Brooklyn for a while in his quest to get drunk, but now she was back on his mind. Not in a good way, where he wanted to play the role of the knight in shining armor and do something romantic and worthy of winning her back, but in a way where he was thinking "fuck her". Fuck her for always putting him down, for being hypocritical and unsupportive. Yeah, he fucked up by cheating on her, but now she was gone, and Nick was drunk and in the mindset where he wasn't going to waste time chasing someone who didn't like him. Instead, he would chase someone who was equally anti-him, far out of his league, blonde and bitchy, but wore a different name tag, and a different expectation in terms of relationships. "Let us in, Caraline," he said, her full name coming out teasingly. "We come bearing pizza."

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Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Roman had half a mind to take a picture of Nick and send it to Brooke saying, "Your doing." Nick had always been a pretty chill guy, and they'd gone through a lot together, like living in a basement up until the other year, which was probably why he wasn't particularly phased by Nick's out of character drinking. He would be honest with himself by saying that he was also just deflecting, since the information he had in possession really only posed Nick as the bad guy. It was likely his own fault that he didn't assume there was something more to Brooke's story, especially since she didn't take blame anything half the time, but he'd genuinely felt bad for her when they were at the park. She just seemed different, so he didn't even think to question it, and besides, what kind of friend would he have been to even make an accusation about her doing in the situation? If he somehow knew that she'd slept with Ryan, he'd give up on the entire ordeal and say to hell with the both of them and they fucked up relationship problems. The current reality, though, wasn't as messy as the actual truth, so his annoyance was still warranted in his opinion.

He'd been too busy staring at Nick with abysmal apathy and disinterest to hear Cara come to the door. Even when she opened it, he had to only roll his eyes towards her as a reaction to the both of them: Nick being pathetic (and for what?) and Cara being Cara by being dramatic and not opening the door all the way. "You shut the fuck up. Nobody wants your bloody pizza," Roman said to Nick, but his voice wasn't as cruel as his words were. He saved that for Cara as he turned his attention to her. "And you," he said before shoving the door so that it forced against the chain lock. "Open the fucking door." Had he known Holly was inside, his behavior would have been altered. Roman could be an ass a lot of the time to a lot of people, but he tended to keep it in check, or at least try to when she was around. Regardless, in the grand scheme of things, he had no reason to be acting the way he was, but for him, it was completely justified. He didn't owe Cara shit and he was already in a bad mood and facing the consequences from something he didn't do. Never mind that him and Cara had always had their problems and he probably would have gotten kicked out on his own accord at some point, even though he tried to censor himself most of the time while he was still living with her. Now that they weren't roommates anymore and she didn't pose a threat to him in the slightest, especially not with the way she was cowering behind the door, he had no reason to filter himself. With the way he was feeling, he thought his behavior was already being contained. He wasn't yelling or doing anything, but, he told himself, that would quickly change if need be.

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Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Nick was incredibly annoying, as he was the whole reason why she was dealing with all of today's stress, but strangely, his presence didn't irritate her half as much as Roman's did. Maybe it was because he was so much more rude in this present moment, or maybe it was just that generally, he was incredibly more easy to dislike than Nick. In her opinion, at least. He wasn't as good looking, he wasn't as polite, and he wasn't as grateful. Cara knew it was wrong to expect people to be showering her in "thank you's", especially when they had been paying their own way, but she felt like Roman took her kindness for granted. He had seen today, that she was the one with the power, at least, and that his bad attitude only made him that much easier to kick out. Out of himself, Brooklyn and Nick, he had technically been the only one who had no involvement in this little love triangle thing. Brooklyn was the "other woman" and Nick was the one she was engaging with, but Roman was just the friend. Technically, he should have been safe from being kicked out, even if he likely would have left anyway since Brooklyn and Nick were his friends, but his abhorrent personality made Cara all the more eager to give him the boot too.

There were no attractive qualities to him, and just the way that he was so willing to talk that way in the hallway instilled that her dislike for him had been well-founded. Anyone would have found the way he spoke to Cara to be rude, but for Cara, who refused to acknowledge her part in creating that sour relationship, she felt like it was exceptionally unacceptable. No one had the right to talk to her the way that Roman did, and he was absolutely out of his mind if she thought that she was going to open the door up for these two criminals! Now that they were out of her apartment and she felt like she could really sever her ties with them, they most definitely were criminals. Drug users and drug sellers, and just despicable people in general. "You two need to get away from my door or else I'm calling the police," she began, her tone slightly hushed as to not alarm Holly, who sat only feet away on the couch. "You don't live here anymore, all of your things are gone, and you have no reason to be over here. Take your pizza and go be pathetic losers in your new place, kay?"

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Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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"Shit, man. No need to fucking hate on my pizza, man," Nick said in a manner that was dramatized half on purpose, and the other half, in a genuine drunk reaction to Roman claiming that no one wanted his pizza after he had offered some to Cara. "More for me, then," he added, then with a much less caring shrug as he considered how amazing it was going to be to get high and eat an entire pizza on his own. It was only when Cara spoke to them through the door with that condescending and bitchy tone that she always had, but only usually used with Roman and Ryan, that Nick realized that he didn't live there any more. That warranted a laugh, his drunk mind told him. How could he be so stupid and forget that he had switched apartments? For some reason, after the quick chuckle to himself, it deserved an irremovable grin, too. He didn't know why Roman had come across the hall, but he also wasn't in a state of mind to be correctly processing and reasoning things, so he figured that he had just made the same mistake as him. That didn't make much sense, for more reasons than one, but the way that Roman had pushed against the barely-open door was a good indicator that he wasn't just drunk and forgetful. If anyone should have been happy about the move, Nick actually thought it should have been Roman. He had never gotten along with Cara and now he was going to get to live in a room that was just as livable, but without uptight Ryan in the bed across from him, and whiny Cara holding it over their head that she was their saving grace.

"I will go be a pathetic loser in my own place," he decided, announcing it as if it were a feat rather than an insult aimed at himself, as he turned around and took a few steps across the hall. He only turned back to lift the pizza once more as he looked at Roman. "I'll forgive you for what you said if you decide you want some food later," he said, turning around then and crossing the hall. He searched his pockets once again, only to find that again, there was no key. He must have left his new one inside somewhere. "Killens, be a gentleman and open this for me, will ya?" Pizza, weed and sex with Cara would have made this an ideal night, but Cara's tone and words had been a quick deterrent, and he had easily decided that the last of the three wasn't worth compromising the good mood he was in surrounding the first two. Especially as it began to resonate a little bit more, as to why he was now calling "across the hall" home.

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Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Nick spoke before Roman got a chance too, which was more than likely a good thing, since Roman would have only given a slur of profranities if he'd been given the opportunity. Thinking Nick had nothing left to say, he turned back to Cara and opened his mouth to speak, only for Nick to beat him to it once again. Roman glared in Nick's direction, the look intensified when Nick had only been telling him something about that same damn pizza. "Great, Nick. Thank you," he said, dismissively. He told himself that he just didn't feel like dealing with Nick, especially when he was being nothing a sorrowful drunk, but again, his misled frustration was just poorly covered hypocrisy. To feel better, he ignored how often he could be a bad friend, like he was being now. It was partially out of a defense he'd built: he cared about Brooke and Nick more than he let on, and he felt that behaving in ways like now only actualized that false reality he wanted to believe. It wasn't because he was just a cold person, or at least he hoped not. If anything, it was just to keep himself from becoming too dependent. It was for his own self-validation that he was their friend by choice, not necessity. And while that was how most friendships worked, his history told him to stay on his feet, just as a precaution against bringing up old wounds which were somehow harder to heal than the ones obtained in dark alleys.

So with now, he knew that the good friend would have given up with Cara and followed Nick, reasoned that the guy hadn't done anything to him and was clearly hurting in some way. But he wasn't the good friend. He was upset with Nick out of defense for Brooklyn, presuming he knew the entire story, and since he knew that wasn't enough, told himself that Nick's drunken state made him off-putting. Even if that were true, he'd have still been in the wrong, and he would have been a hypocrite as Roman constantly evaded any problem he had through deflective behaviors. Of course, they were hardly ever as innocent as drinking one too many beers and then just getting a pizza, but the principle was still there. And to make matters worse for his character, he knew his reckless behavior caused Nick and Brooke to genuinely worry. But that wasn't his problem, he told himself to make up for the discrepancy. No one told them to worry. Apart from that, even if he had the strongest reason to leave Nick to his own accord tonight, the sheer fact that he did the same thing should have been enough reason for him to drop the drama with Cara. But, as always, he had to prove a point to himself.

So he turned back to Cara, leaning his forearm against the door, just above her head. "If you don't open this door," he began, before Nick, for the umpteenth time, interrupted him. Roman looked physically defeated as his shoulders slumped and exhaled in distress, then rolled his eyes at the helplessness in Nick's request. "The door," he began as he took a few paces over to Nick. He turned the knob slowly for the effect of emphasizing how stupid Nick was being. "Is open, Nicolas," he said condescendingly, as though he was revealing something of more shock value than the fact that the door was unlocked. Roman nudged it open just enough for it to creak open a few inches on its own and returned back to 5C where he heard Holly's voice. He wasn't sure what she was talking about, but he heard her question. Roman pressed his hand against the door to move it back as far as the chain would allow it. As his demeanor, his voice changed as he spoke to Holly and indirectly to Cara. His forced sugary and innocent tone would likely only be registered by Cara as being patronizing, especially with how it juxtaposed to cold look he was giving her. "Holly, it's Roman. Could you be a good friend and show Cara how to open the door? I think she's forgotten," he said, and then, addressing Cara with a tight smile, "Which is odd, Cara, because you said I could come tell Holly about the dog I saw earlier since you said you guys were getting one." Despite knowing of her adoration for dogs simply from her being around Cara so much, he wondered if the mentioning of a dog was a stretch. While he didn't necessarily expect her to question why the hell anyone would come over just to say they'd seen a dog, she still seemed to be in her own realm, so he wasn't entirely sure what to expect from her, but figured it was worth a try.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers
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The thing about Chanel, the thing that she always held against herself, was that she could make people feel like crap. She could air enough esteem about herself to appear too good for what someone was saying, and for the longest time, this didn't really bother her, even when she came to New York. This was mainly a precaution against the city that she initially perceived as being filled with people much cooler than her small circle in Pennsylvania, and so this wasn't necessarily the case now since she'd lived here for time and had since actively tried getting better at coming across aloof. The first time she questioned it, though, was some years back in her seminar class. The teacher, Mr. Hopkins, was a student favorite. In the final school paper where he was announced Teacher of the Year, a student had said how 'He just makes you feel like you're someone.' Which was true, Chanel realized after reading it. She figured she just liked him because he was one of the 'cool teachers,' but that didn't give him enough credit. Sitting with her clique in the back corner of the classroom, they'd always exchange knowing, unimpressed looks whenever someone spoke in class, especially if it was someone they didn't like. Chanel found herself doing this subconsciously and wondering a few times herself why Mr. Hopkins seemed genuinely interested in what the person was saying. But that, in turn, made her feel like she was missing out, and so led her to also listen to what was being said. This was only because she valued Mr. Hopkins's opinion since he was one of those teachers who was cool because he was real. He had an arrogance about him that appealed to most people, namely those who didn't feel threatened by it. He carried himself with a humble profundity, and it was that reason that people liked him so much. Because at first he was intimating. He walked around looking of importance, like the kind of person you wanted to impress, and so when he seemed assuredly intrigued by what you were saying, you internalized that and felt like you were someone yourself.

Of course, back then Chanel just figured she liked him so much because he was kind of an ass and was able to get away with it. She didn't give her character enough credit until she was already living in New York, but once she realized that, she found that she wanted to have that same effect too. She wanted to be confident without belittling. She wanted the ability of making someone feel special, especially since she lost that chance with her brother. So as Kacey spoke, she leaned forward and nodded at what she said, giving small cues of acknowledgment and short, non-disruptive commentary such as 'Oh. Idaho. That's quaint.' While she didn't expect Kacey to start break out into song about realizing her personal value and purpose in life all because Chanel was being an active listener, she hoped that the girl could tell that she was really interested in what she was saying. The other thing about Mr. Hopkins, Chanel remembered after Kacey had returned the question about her own history, was that he was a bit self-deprecating. She supposed humble was also the word, but it seemed to go past that as he just always seemed like he was not interested in himself. He didn't talk about himself often, and when he did and the students slowly realized that he was actually pretty cool outside of school too, he just seemed underwhelmed. His blase tendency toward himself and fascination for others was probably another reason people adored him so much. What was more, and it was something new that Chanel had recognized, was that she probably appreciated him more now because she felt she could relate to him more. There was a time when he was deflecting from some huge accomplishment he'd been indirectly coerced into speaking about, and it was his tone that resonated with her. He sounded a bit embarrassed, a bit guilty, as if he was taking credit for something that he shouldn't have been. And now more than ever, Chanel felt that she was constantly in that state of mind. It probably wasn't that he disliked himself, but that to feed into people's adoration of him would be dishonest in a way, because he knew there was something more, and somehow people not seeing that only made it more visible to you.

So when Chanel had to respond, she deflected some, shrugging nonchalantly. "Nah, no. I could never be a model. That's so funny that he thinks that because I wouldn't have been surprised if it was true for him. He has really nice symmetry, and you do too actually. You're like average height, so if you just wore some heels to make yourself taller, you could probably own Top Model. Or maybe not because I think this is their last cycle, which sucks because then I basically perfected my catwalk for no reason. Sorry, sorry. I get off track. You can totally tell me to shut up. My mom does it, like, all the time and she managed to not give me up for adoption, so I know it comes from a place of love. So just be like"--she did a small jig as she finished speaking--'Hey, Chanel. You're, like, talking a whole bunch' and then I'll just be like 'Yeah, you're right. Okay.' But um, yeah. Anyways, not a model. No. And story?" She looked towards the ceiling as if her life's past would be there for her to remember. For someone who had, in her own right, overcome some things, she didn't think they equated to what most people went through. She still had it good growing up and didn't really face turmoil until a few years ago. And even if she hadn't, her honest to God story wouldn't paint her as some heroine out to conquer her dreams. It'd undo itself.

"I wasn't born there, but technically I'm from Pittsburgh. My dad was in the military so we moved around a bit until I was seven, so it wasn't even that big a deal since I was so little. Uhh...I have younger twin brothers. Like, they're younger than me and they're twins. Not like they're my twins. I rode the womb solo. I went to school for a year but then dropped it because I wasn't feeling it. I, uh, came to New York a few years ago just because I wanted to start my own life. Just wanted to get out of Pittsburgh and discover something new. And so far it's been pretty great. I've gotten to meet a lot of cool people like Makayla and Holly, and you and Colton. I mainly do some freelance graphic design and hop around jobs. I'm at this coffee shop across the street right now. Might pick up something at American Eagle for the holiday season, and I've actually started thinking about making an Etsy store because I'm into, like, DIY bath and body stuff. You'll totally have to sample my stuff if I decide to go through with it though." She took a deep, dramatic breath to signify that she had completed the laborious task of talking a mile a minute without pause. "But yeah. Nothing really that special. But if you ever want to meet some new people--" she began, her hand overturned and finger pointing her away before the door opened, seemingly on its own. She saw the back of Roman disappear as the door opened some. "Uh, hello?" she said chuckling confusedly while giving Kacey an odd look.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers
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After Roman let Nick in, his plan was no more elaborate than to go inside and eat. "Sup?" he said, nodding to greet the two girls , as he walked through the kitchen and set his pizza box down on the kitchen table. "Shit, it smells amazing in here. Your place is already an upgrade from across the hall, Chanel. Cara would lure you in with this kind of smell, thinking she baked a cake or some shit, and then by the time your mouth is watering you find out it was some shitty candle or something. Apartment 5B doesn't play games like that." The small talk was unusual for Nick, but then again, he wasn't usually this intoxicated and if he was, it was usually just with Brooklyn. It then clicked to him that he had no idea what the girl standing beside Chanel's name was. Had he met her? He wasn't sure. He recalled seeing her before, earlier in the day, but he genuinely had no idea if he had introduced himself then or not, and now, he was in the mindset where it seemed better to be more friendly, and accidentally introduce himself twice, than to come off as a rude prick, ignoring a stranger. "I don't know if I actually introduced myself earlier. I know you were chilling here with Makayla when I came in, but I'm kind of drunk right now, so I can't remember if you told me your name, so yeah... I'm Nick, and I have pizza if either of you are hungry."

He left the pizza box on the table and took a few steps towards the exit of the kitchen as soon as he finished talking, as if he had something to do that he suddenly remembered. Really, all he was planning on doing was checking to see if he had left his apartment key in his new bedroom, but he had only gotten a few steps before all of his belongings in the living room came into sight, and that basically answered his original internal question anyway. "Shit, I forgot to move my stuff in," he thought out loud as he fully exited the kitchen now and approached his things. Nick didn't possess very much. He was a simple guy, for starters, and beyond that, he didn't have the money to live lavishly and indulge in unneeded things. He had enough clothes that weekly laundromat visits got him by, some hygiene products, a couple of random possessions, and aside from that, just marijuana. That had already been moved into his new bedroom, and though he already thought of this as being more of a "chill" apartment since he didn't have to hide the weed from Cara, and didn't have to deal with Brooklyn's complaints about its potency, he still planned on keeping it wrapped tightly, stored in multiple layers of containers, underneath his bed. If for no other reason, than just to keep it safe. Even with few possessions, he knew that moving his stuff in, especially while intoxicated, was going to be a pain in the ass. And that was not something that he wanted to deal with right now. No way.

He turned away from the pile of things almost as quickly as he had approached it and returned to the kitchen where the two girls still stood. "Chanel," he began, as he approached the girls once more. "Do you have cups and shit that I can use? We just used Cara's when we were over there, so I don't know if you want me and Roman to hit up Home Goods, or wherever the fuck you buy that kind of stuff, in the morning, or... what?" It was a random, and probably unnecessary question, but it was the first thing that he had thought of when he opened his pizza box and knew that he was going to be thirsty and want a drink while eating it. Brooklyn bought most of the food and drinks that they would eat, but they had always just used Cara's plates and utensils for it, so now, he was curious as to what the formalities would be regarding that here.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers Character Portrait: Dinah Jane Johnson
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This girl was weird, Kacey decided, as she listened to Chanel speak, but a weird that was a good kind of weird. Quirkiness, maybe, was a better word for it, because while she seemed a little bit overly-friendly, it was in an endearing sort of way. Chanel even admitted right then that she had a tendency to talk a lot, but it wasn't annoying and it wasn't even "too much". It was simply different than what Kacey was used to, since having Colton as a roommate for a year meant that aside from the occasional banter, there wasn't too much interaction. The last few days didn't really reflect it, but on a normal day a few weeks ago, Kacey and Colton would maybe have a couple exchanges, if that, and would be on their ways. "Nah, don't sweat it," she laughed lightly, in response to Chanel saying that she could tell her to stop talking, "You're good." The girl's description of her life confirmed the idea that she was normal, and just really friendly, or at least it seemed that way. The whole "coming to New York to find yourself" concept was something that Kacey was familiar with herself, so that alone made her feel a bit more connected to Chanel than before, and knowing that she was sort of on the same tier as her, in the field of job prestige made her more comfortable as well. The freelance graphic design stuff sounded complicated, but the retail and coffee shop work made her seem like someone who actually fell in her league when it came to possible friendships and similarities.

When Chanel stopped midway through her sentence to address the now-partly open door, Kacey peered in that direction as well, but quickly diverted her attention to her phone, seeing it as a good opportunity to email back the girl from Craigslist. She read the email once, and then once again. For someone who had never lived a luxurious life, the idea of having a roommate was bothering her more than it should have. It wasn't like she hadn't lived comfortably, because she had, but she just wasn't so privileged that the idea of a roommate should have bothered her so much. It probably wasn't the idea of having a roommate, so much as to why she had to have a roommate. Needing a roommate meant that she was broke, and being broke meant that her career aspirations were becoming more and more fantasy-like, over realistic. After reading the email for a third time, she responded with her phone number and a message that read:

"Hey Dinah,

Yeah, I'm free tomorrow between 8 AM and 11 AM if you want to stop by. The address is 314 W 14th. Text me what time would be good for you.

Kacey"


After sending it, she returned her attention to what was now going on, which entailed the guy from earlier, who Kacey recalled being addressed as Nick, coming in with a box of pizza in his hand. Since Kacey didn't know him, the way he was acting now didn't seem any more out of character than him asking Makayla to smoke with him earlier, so she didn't know that he was drunk right off the bat. "Kacey," she stated, a minimal smile reaching her face as he questioned her name, though it faded quickly. Not for any real reason. She wasn't particularly offended by Nick not knowing her name, mostly because she had no grounds to be. She hadn't been formally introduced to Nick. They had not crossed paths during the short span of time that Kacey spent across the hall the night before, and though she had seen him this afternoon, when he tried to get Makayla to smoke with him, they hadn't actually interacted. Makayla had seemed perturbed by him and abruptly left with Holly, and he went off with Chanel to her room. Kacey left the apartment soon after for her second audition of the day, so she had not had a chance to get a good opinion on the guy. He seemed to be a friend of Chanel's, and maybe more, as she had guessed that afternoon. Since Nick admitted to being drunk, Kacey felt more at ease with joking around and being a bit bolder, since he was the one who was already more likely to make a fool out of himself. "And I'm not hungry, but thanks," she said, responding to his offer of the pizza. It did smell good, and with how Kacey's cravings were sneaking up on her today, she was half-tempted to go for it, but there was no need. She had lasagna she could heat up if she was really hungry, and she wasn't. These cinnamon buns were only a decoy, a way for her to eat her feelings, and she didn't need to do that through them and a slice of greasy pizza. When he stepped into the living room for a second, she looked at Chanel with a more playful expression and said, "This your boo?", only allowing the smirk to drop when Nick reappeared and began to question Chanel about whether he could use her tableware.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Kacey Rogers
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Momentarily, she was taken aback when Nick came inside, but then she reminded herself that this would be normal now. She wasn't sure for how long, but hoped it wasn't any time when her parents came to visit her. She was now starting to regret pushing away their offers to come see her because each time they only pressed harder, and if they knew she was living with two guys, especially two guys like Nick and Roman, then there'd be problems. She guessed that if Roman wasn't there at the time that it wouldn't be as much of a problem only because Nick was far more harmless looking, and she thought he acted that way too. She only interacted with him occasionally and he seemed to give off a similar--albeit friendlier--vibe as Roman. They were both pretty chill from what she had gathered, but Nick had a natural charm about him, at least Chanel thought so. Or it could have been she was telling herself this to mask the mainly superficial reasons for why she liked him. She was really only fond of him because she thought he was attractive and he wasn't an asshole. Seeing him moping on the steps earlier was a bit of a turn off, just because it was kind of pathetic, but now it was a bit endearing. She suppressed a laugh at him announcing his intoxication, only feeling bad some time later when she realized why he was probably drunk, which likely the same reason he was this afternoon. This time was different, she figured, because he was being social and funny. To her, there was nothing wrong with being drunk, just be a fun drunk. Not the kind that ruined parties.

She'd watched him leave the kitchen, now intrigued by this peculiar side of Nick, before turning back to Kacey. At her question, Chanel quickly shook her head, twisting her face in objection. If it wasn't known that she actually had nothing against Nick himself, she probably would have come across as seeming repulsed by the idea of someone thinking they were together. In reality, though, for once, she was trying to stay out of the mess. She didn't know Brooklyn too well, but she figured it was best if she didn't come to know her through some mix up like thinking her and Nick were a thing. Then throw Cara into the situation? Things would just be even messier. No. Nick was off limits, at least until Chanel felt petty enough to toss her morals aside, but for that to happen, she'd have to be incredibly mad and incredibly provoked. Or lightly intoxicated, she thought when Nick came over and addressed her. "I do have cups and shit that you can use, Nick," she said, hopping off the counter. "Nothing's off limits, except for my wine glasses. Anything else, you can use. The cups are here," she said, opening the respective cabinet and pulling one out, figuring he wanted one and that was the reason he'd ask. "And plates are over here." She moved to the plate cabinet and pulled out a paper one. "I have regular plates too, but I got paper for last night's dinner and still have some leftovers, so yeah. Just use these until we run out. Speaking of leftovers, there's some in the fridge, but you're already taken care of, so." She nodded towards the pizza. Chanel would have taken him up on his offer, but she'd just eaten and was definitely taking Kacey up on her cinnamon rolls offer. She was now starting to see--or rather smell--what Nick had been talking about earlier. The cinnamon rolls were starting to make her mouth water, and she wondered how much longer they would take, but didn't want to ask out of fear of seeming greedy. Figuring she'd be nice and offer him one, despite them not being hers to share, she opened her mouth to tell Nick that he could have one too, but before she did, Roman came through the door. After heading straight to his room, he came back out, his hands now empty.

"Well, looks like everyone is here." Chanel smiled, unsure as to why this pleased her. "Roman, this is Kacey. She's really nice," Chanel added despite the fact that she hardly even knew the girl. "And you, of course, already know Nick," she said, smiling in each of their direction. Roman moved to the island where the pizza was, helping himself to a slice without asking. "Unfortunately," he said, giving Nick a lightly annoyed look, but she could hear in his voice a lightness to it, as if he was teasing him. He seemed far less cold to Nick than he had been to her earlier, which Chanel took as a good sign. Chanel glanced across the kitchen quickly, feeling somewhat responsible over the situation, like a hostess as a party. She wanted to make sure everyone was having a good time, even though a quarter of the party was already drunk and the second quarter seemed abysmally disinterested. She liked groups of people, and whenever she was in the loop, felt a need to take control of it. She just automatically assumed that when people came together, it was for a reason, and you wanted to keep said people together for as long as possible, even if it was clear that there was nothing more to the situation than an alignment of schedules. Chanel still wanted to prolong this interaction, likely because she wasn't close with any of them and would retreat to her room once again if everyone dispersed. "It's so cool that everyone's already here. I had one roommate who I, like, hardly ever saw," she said. "Oh, and I forgot to welcome you guys as my new roommates. I know it was kind of short notice, but still. I'm happy you're here." She wasn't exactly telling the truth, but she also wasn't lying so she figured there wasn't too much harm in the statement. That was, until Roman decided to open his mouth and ruin the moment. "Well, let's just hope that Nick doesn't get me kicked out this time." His tone was oddly cheery and noticeably tight. "Kacey," Chanel said quickly. "I think I have ice cream for those cinnamon rolls." She moved towards the fridge, glancing back at the boys. "Do you guys want any ice cream?"