Setting
Default Location for A New York Life
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New York is a part of 
A New York Life.
11 Characters Here
Makayla Wright [190]
Chanel Owens [183]
Holly Maddon [180]
Roman Killens [155]
Caraline Forrester [148]
Brooklyn West [144]
Nick Moreno [110]
Kacey Rogers [89]
Colton King [74]
Aubree Wright [18]
Start Character Here »
Brooklyn finished off the slice of pizza that she had ordered as Nick spoke. Her gaze switched between the food, to him when she looked at him imploringly. "A hotel? Are you crazy? Rent is due in a week, and you want to blow hundreds of dollars on a hotel room? Why?" Surprisingly, her voice remained calm, and actually more curious than belittling. Since finding out about Nick's affair, Brooklyn did evaluate herself. She wasn't the type of person who ever took responsibility for her actions, and she still felt like no matter what, Nick wasn't justified to step out on her like she did, but she wondered if she was really that bad of a girlfriend where she could push him to do something like that. At this point, she was over that insecure phase and didn't think it mattered even if she was that bad, but it had caused her to be a little bit softer over the past two weeks. She kept herself from snapping at him for things that normally would have pissed her off, and she spoke less in general. She wanted him to be able to tell that something was off without her having to reveal that she knew what he did. With her change came a change in the way he was treating her too, which threw off the entire normal balance of their relationship. He seemed present more, not only just physically, but mentally. She wasn't sure if it was that he was smoking less, or that he was just trying to be nicer to make up for what he did, but it was different. If she didn't know that he was doing it to compensate for cheating on her, she would have appreciated. This Nick was the kind of Nick she wanted to be with, and in her mind, if he was always like this, she wouldn't have a reason to get some angry and aggressive with him.
"Now that we have an apartment, we don't need that." Had it been a year ago when they were living in an unfinished basement under a pub, with Roman, the idea of spending a night in a hotel would have been enticing. A clean, warm bed, a nice, hot shower and the privacy would have been welcomed. Now, they had all three of those things. The apartment they shared with three other people wasn't completely private and Brooklyn was sure that everyone could hear what was going on in their room through the thin walls, but it was enough privacy for her to be content. "Didn't you say that Cara was doing something? Having Makayla and Holly over or something? We could always do that before our movie. I don't mind seeing a late night movie, and I'm sure she's ordering food in from some fancy place," she smiled, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand. "Might as well take advantage of it." She was finished with her food at that point, so she tossed her napkins, plate and empty can onto the bright orange tray it had been served on and stood up. "Let me text Roman and make sure he's okay. I haven't seen him in like, three days, honestly," Brooklyn said as she moved a few feet away to dump their tray in the garbage. It wasn't abnormal to go a day or two without seeing Roman. He didn't always come back to the apartment, especially on nights when he was fighting. Brooklyn worked late nights too, so on the days following those nights, she could sleep until three in the afternoon. Sometimes, their schedules didn't match up, and it wasn't something that was a big deal but Roman would always be someone that Brooke cared about, even if she didn't act that way.
To: Roman
are you alive?????
"Definitely not," Chanel said in response to Cara about Black Friday after the girl had promptly smashed it. For a moment, Chanel wasn't sure what Cara meant, but then it clicked. When she was a teenager, she used to make a big deal out of it and would want to get up as soon as she could so she could go shopping with her mom and aunts and cousins. It was kind of a family thing. Of course, many times her mother didn't want to get up early, and Chanel would always complain that the good sales were gone. She had never done it in New York, and quite frankly she was a little scared to, but if Cara was interested, she wouldn't have minded going. Pittsburgh was a big place, but there was a lot more in New York City. Asides from, going on her own would be pretty depressing. It'd just remind her of her not being with her parents, who she honestly did miss, but at the same time didn't want really want to be around. All in all, it was for the first that she spent tomorrow slightly hungover and in bed watching Netflix all day. "Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't know what to get. I've been pretty bad with the whole gift-giving this year."
Despite her selfish tendencies, Chanel really did like giving people presents. Maybe not as much as she liked receiving them, but there was a unique joy and pleasure she got from stressing out at the mall and trying to envision the recipient getting the gift and determining if they would really like it. Of course, this in turn only spoke to her own personality and how she was actually taking the meaning out of Christmas by making a big deal out of presents. She tended to place too much value on material things, which in turn made this time of the year quite the hassle, especially with her being such a procrastinator. Chanel was quite used to living up to her parents expectations, of people thinking very highly of her, and she wallowed in that view, but she also crashed under it. However, that wasn't going to stop her from going to five different stores only to wind up at the first one she went to to get the 'perfect present' this year, just as it didn't stop her in previous ones. One of the reasons she enjoyed present shopping was because she got an excuse to go shopping. She could finally be reckless and not get judged because everyone was making stupid purchases around this time. In a way, she shopped for herself when she went out for others' gifts. She tended to get them what she thought they needed, but she would always convince herself that it was something that they really wanted, even if it wasn't entirely true.
"So have you officially invited Nick?" Chanel said, a bit randomly. She adjusted the hat on her head, now cursing the fact that she'd even put it on. It was bound to cause frizz, and since it was made out of cotton, it was going to soak up every ounce of moisture she had it in after her frying session this morning. "I mean, Nick without Brooke, because if you did, I'd love to know how you went about that since I can't really see him not bringing his girlfriend." They walked a bit more, Chanel now remembering that she needed to pick up some gloves. She had some back at the apartment, but she couldn't find them and it was a lot easier to just find another pair that she really wanted. Useless spending was was part of the Christmas spirit anyway, and she wasn't want to kill the holiday mood, even if it meant doing so to her credit score. "And you can shut me up with this next part if you want, but I will warn you that your attempts will be useless, but...does he know you're crushing? I mean, do you know you're crushing? Like, I don't blame you. That boy is a god send with that jawline and his everything else, but...I don't know. I'm just trying to vicariously live through your slightly movie-esque love triangle to make up for my lack of a life life, I guess," she said while wiping away a fake tear. "But Brooke is really pretty too," she said after another moment. She didn't realize that she was beginning to talk just to talk, but by this point it was really too late. She had woken up a bit more, and as she rubbed her hands together, her mood was brightening a lot more, especially with prospect of a fairly interesting, albeit somewhat shallow, topic."Your roommates are actually pretty attractive, Cara. Even the heroin addict is all right from a certain light. A very dim one, but a certain light nonetheless. You know who else is really cute on our hall? Collin. His parents did good on that one. I think him and Marie are having a little fling, though, because he's been over in the morning a few times. So I guess he's off limits as well. Maybe I'll just marry my pillow or something, I don't know."
Despite her selfish tendencies, Chanel really did like giving people presents. Maybe not as much as she liked receiving them, but there was a unique joy and pleasure she got from stressing out at the mall and trying to envision the recipient getting the gift and determining if they would really like it. Of course, this in turn only spoke to her own personality and how she was actually taking the meaning out of Christmas by making a big deal out of presents. She tended to place too much value on material things, which in turn made this time of the year quite the hassle, especially with her being such a procrastinator. Chanel was quite used to living up to her parents expectations, of people thinking very highly of her, and she wallowed in that view, but she also crashed under it. However, that wasn't going to stop her from going to five different stores only to wind up at the first one she went to to get the 'perfect present' this year, just as it didn't stop her in previous ones. One of the reasons she enjoyed present shopping was because she got an excuse to go shopping. She could finally be reckless and not get judged because everyone was making stupid purchases around this time. In a way, she shopped for herself when she went out for others' gifts. She tended to get them what she thought they needed, but she would always convince herself that it was something that they really wanted, even if it wasn't entirely true.
"So have you officially invited Nick?" Chanel said, a bit randomly. She adjusted the hat on her head, now cursing the fact that she'd even put it on. It was bound to cause frizz, and since it was made out of cotton, it was going to soak up every ounce of moisture she had it in after her frying session this morning. "I mean, Nick without Brooke, because if you did, I'd love to know how you went about that since I can't really see him not bringing his girlfriend." They walked a bit more, Chanel now remembering that she needed to pick up some gloves. She had some back at the apartment, but she couldn't find them and it was a lot easier to just find another pair that she really wanted. Useless spending was was part of the Christmas spirit anyway, and she wasn't want to kill the holiday mood, even if it meant doing so to her credit score. "And you can shut me up with this next part if you want, but I will warn you that your attempts will be useless, but...does he know you're crushing? I mean, do you know you're crushing? Like, I don't blame you. That boy is a god send with that jawline and his everything else, but...I don't know. I'm just trying to vicariously live through your slightly movie-esque love triangle to make up for my lack of a life life, I guess," she said while wiping away a fake tear. "But Brooke is really pretty too," she said after another moment. She didn't realize that she was beginning to talk just to talk, but by this point it was really too late. She had woken up a bit more, and as she rubbed her hands together, her mood was brightening a lot more, especially with prospect of a fairly interesting, albeit somewhat shallow, topic."Your roommates are actually pretty attractive, Cara. Even the heroin addict is all right from a certain light. A very dim one, but a certain light nonetheless. You know who else is really cute on our hall? Collin. His parents did good on that one. I think him and Marie are having a little fling, though, because he's been over in the morning a few times. So I guess he's off limits as well. Maybe I'll just marry my pillow or something, I don't know."
{Written with Bandit}
Holly ended up only requesting toast a couple more times before agreeing to just eat her cereal instead. She was a slow eater, mostly because she got so easily distracted and ended up talking more than eating, so before she was halfway done with the bowl, the Fruit Loops had gotten soggy and she wouldn't finish it. She wasn't hungry anyway, and after a bite of Makayla's toast, she was ready to move on from breakfast as a whole. "Let's bake," she insisted, hopping off of her seat and heading towards the counter where the box of cupcake mix sat. She had chosen the Funfetti mix at the store, but they didn't have the funfetti icing to go with it, so she had to settle for plain vanilla frosting. While she preferred vanilla over chocolate, she was still convinced that someone was going to be upset that Makayla refused to buy both vanilla and chocolate icing.
Makayla had put two pieces of toast into the toaster but barely finished one piece, including the bite Holly took out of it, by the time her sister was apparently finished with eating and ready to move onto the next thing. Marijuana usually made her more tired than she already was, and that wasn't going to help her feel any less washed out today, but she couldn't get her mind off of the drug today. She didn't have energy on most days, but at least when she was high she felt lighter somehow. She would still feel tired, but it was like she didn't care as much about all of her problems. As she finished up her last piece of toast, she sent a text message to Nick, and responded to Holly. "Alright, get the eggs from the bottom shelf," she said, still eating as she nodded towards the fridge. "And then get the oil from the cabinet, and the measuring cup from the drawer over there," she continued. She knew she would have to stand up at some point to make sure that Holly didn't put the entire egg in the batter or something, but she really was really very fatigued suddenly.
To: Nick
can you hook a girl up for $5 :)? friend discount or something?
As soon as Makayla directed her to where the ingredients were, Holly began to search for them. Their refrigerator always had a good amount of food in it, but Holly knew that she was basically forbidden from touching anything that wasn't on the shelf that Makayla put their things on. It didn't stop her from occasionally testing out an organic drink that Chanel would bring home, or something cool that Marie would keep in stock, but she never did it to "steal". She just didn't seem the harm in it, especially when it never seemed like anyone else cared about money or wasting food as much as Makayla did. "How much do I pour in?" she asked, looking back towards the table once she had retrieved the ingredients.
For a moment, Makayla felt guilty for wasting money on drugs. She didn't think it was wasting money, since it was the one thing that kept her sane, but she sometimes felt like it was wrong of her to spend money on it when she could have been chipping in towards the cable bill, or offering more money to Cara whenever she looked after Holly. She didn't feel guilty enough to retract the request from Nick though, so she just set her phone back down as she looked towards Holly. "I don't know, Holls. Bring me the box."
"Are your legs broken?" she asked with a grin, though she eagerly returned to the table with the box, along with the measuring cup and the oil. Holly wasn't good academically, but even out of school, things that involved math and reading didn't go over well with her. She was definitely insecure about it, so a part of her failure was probably tied in with her overthinking things and getting nervous, but she just wasn't good at the subjects in general. Her dyslexia would make it impossible to pour the oil to the right level in the cup, no matter how hard she tried to remember and match the number up with what Makayla said, so it was easier just to have her do it for her.
"I'm tired!" Makayla groaned, shooting her sister a deviant smirk when she suggested she was being lazy by not walking over to her. "Let's take a nap and then we'll bake. I'm too tired to do this now." She expected the response that came a beat later, but it was worth a shot by trying. "Nooo, I want to make them now. They won't be ready in time for Thanksgiving if we wait," Holly objected, extending her hand to grab Makayla's arm to pull her to her feet. "And Chanel said Cara loves vanilla, so she's going to be so disappointed if we don't make them, okay?"
"Oh my God, Nelle. Take that back and go get your eyes checked. That boy is not attractive, and definitely not when you throw in the fact that he's legit a heroin addict. I mean, basically, at least. I don't even need evidence to support that theory, like it's just written all over his body in all of those tattoos." It wasn't fair of Cara to call Roman unattractive, because that really wasn't the case. She didn't think of him as being her type, but he didn't have bad genes in the slightest. Additionally, it wasn't fair of her to call him a heroin addict. She knew he did some sort of drugs, but so did Nick, and that obviously wasn't enough of a deal breaker for her to be turned off there. Nick was just an exception in general. An exception to her socioeconomic rule, to her "no tattoos" rule, to her drug user rule... to all of it in general. Honestly, Cara didn't know if she was crushing on him in a real way. She didn't know if she only wanted him because he was off limits, or if she only wanted him because she had never been with a guy who wasn't clean cut, with a trust fund to fall back on like her. He seemed dangerous and exciting and new, and as Chanel pointed out, that jaw line could take anyone from a 0/10 to a 10/10 in an instant. Since Chanel had continued on with the conversation after the initial question about Nick, she didn't feel the need to respond to it immediately. "But yeah, Collin is cute. So is the other boy he lives with, the one who Ryan's friends with. Oliver, I think his name is. I could totally see you with Collin. Get Marie out of the picture and pounce on that!" she grinned as she nudged Chanel lightly with her elbow.
Part of her wanted to try to get away with just responding to those parts of Chanel's comments, or maybe trying to abruptly switch back to Black Friday, but there was the gossipy, scandalous side of Cara that also wanted to gush to Chanel about what she had done with Nick. On one hand, it was nothing to boast about, but on the other hand, sleeping with Nick was a bit of a conquest, especially when, like Chanel pointed out, Brooklyn was really pretty. "Okay, so I didn't know if I wanted to tell you this, and you have to promise not to judge me," Cara then began, grabbing onto Chanel's arm as she looked at her excitedly. "But I slept with Nick! Not even in a homewrecking slut way because he came on to me first, but I totally went for it, and like, it was so worth it." She released Chanel's arm to run her fingers through her hair as she spoke. "Like, at first, I kind of felt bad because Brooklyn and I are friends, but it's obvious that she's basically abusive to him and he's just not into her, like, at all." She didn't know how Chanel was going to respond, so out of nerves that came from a mixture of anxiety and excitement, she just continued to speak. "And yeah, I officially invited him. Or at least I think it was official. Maybe I should text him and see if he's definitely going to come. What do you think I should say? I don't want to be too pushy and desperate, so what about like 'Hey Nick! We're going to eat around 5 so if you're around, feel free to come hang out with us' and then a smiley face to just make it super casual?"
Oliver walked, towel around waist, from the bathroom to his bedroom while Collin worked on getting everyone who needed to be presentā¦.well, present. He closed and locked the door behind him, tossed his clothes in a hamper in the corner of the room, and worked his way over his bed where the clothes that Collin had laid out for him were spread out. He looked at the clothes and couldnāt decide whether or not he would look good in them. He was partially sure he would because Collin had picked them out from his own closet but the other half of him was skeptical because Oliver and Collin were very different people with different styles and body shapes. Perhaps, however, it wasnāt the clothes that made him uncomfortable but the fact that heād had to put on a happy face for everyone when in reality he felt like just crawling into bed and laying there until earth stopped rotating. He felt miserable. To Oliver, he was the reason was his parents split and now that all these family oriented holidays are approaching and the last people heās spending time with is his family, it made him feel as though his family was permanently torn apart ā and it was all his fault. Oliver shook the idea out of his head and sighed, telling himself that he was going to pretend to be happy until he was. āFake it ātil you make it, right?ā He mumbled to himself. Oliver dressed and took a peek in the mirror Collin had hung on the back of the door. And much to Oliverās dismay, he looked well put together.
Once Oliver had finished dressing himself, he started his way towards the kitchen. Opening the door to the hallway, he could see and hear Collin banging on the door to Isaacās room. Oliver chuckled quietly to himself and continued to the kitchen to pour himself some juice and eat a snack. Collin followed to the same path, stopping just short of the kitchen. Collin frantically texted everyone while Oliver calmly sat himself on the couch with a cup of orange juice and a box of Frosted Flakes. āYouāre gonna get carpel tunnel texting like that dude,ā Oliver joked while inserting a handful of cereal into his mouth. Without taking his eyes off his phone Collin extended his arm towards Oliver, flipping him the bird. Oliver could only smile in amusement. Without so much as a second passing Isaac was out of his room and messing with Collin as well. āHey Judeā was all that was needed from Isaac to send Collinās eyes darting from his phone down the other side of the hall. Isaac meant it all in good fun, especially when he shot Collin a grin and the finger. āSo weāre all gonna be fucks today?ā Collin said jokingly, but loud enough for Isaac to hear as he moved into the bathroom. āWe just want to be more like you,ā Oliver joked, which Collin glanced towards Oliver mockingly for.
āDude, relax. Youāre really uptight right now. Youāre acting like me.ā It was interesting for Oliver to see Collin this way. Collin was usually the type of guy to be very relaxed about everything, he didnāt let most things bother him the same Oliver did. So to see Collin running around the apartment as though the world just caught on fire was strange for Oliver. āYeahā¦ā Collin sighed and sat beside Oliver on the couch, throwing his feet onto the coffee table. āItās just that my dad is coming and he can sometimes be a dick about things so I always have to just stay on my toes with him. He doesnāt like that I moved out here and thinks that my life is going to shit pretty much so I need to be able to impress him so that he doesnāt try to, like, kidnap me back home or whatever. I need him to see that my life is put together, you know?ā Collin turned his attention to Oliver from where it was fixated on the wall. Oliver nodded, he knew exactly what it was like to feel as though you were a huge disappointment. āDonāt worry though. Youāll be fine. You are the King after all.ā Oliver smiled warmly at Collin. āYeahā¦ Thanks man.ā Collin smiled back.
* * *
Collin and Oliver sat on the couch together, waiting for the Kings, Marie, and for Isaac to finish getting dressed. While on the couch, Oliver received a text. He pulled his phone from his pocket to see that the text was from a friend of his, Ryan, who lived in 5C just across the hall. He typed back:
To: Ryan
Collinās parents are cominā over. Weāre probably going to lunch with them then coming back here and chillin for dinner. Whatāre you up to today?
He slipped his phone back into his pocket. Collin questioned him on what was up while he read his own text coming from Marie. āOh, it was just Ryan from 5C. Wanted to know what our plans were for Turkey Day.ā Collin nodded, only half listening to what Oliver said. Collinās phone buzzed again, while in his hand, this time with a text from his mother.
From: Momma King
Two blocks away, Collie xoxo
āAh, fucking hell. Theyāre nearly here.ā Collin sprang up from his seat, just as Isaac walked into the room asking where his parents were. āTwo blocks away. If youāre not ready, get ready.ā Collin rushed from the room to find his shoes and his coat. āSomeone call Marie and ask her where the hell she is!ā Collin yelled from the inside of the closet in his room, barely audible. Just then, Marie came bursting through the door like the personality she was and sat herself onto the couch where Oliver and Collin had just been sitting while shouting her presence known. Oliver, who was following Collin into the room, replied back to Collin. āShe just walked through the door.ā
* * *
Collin and Oliver joined the rest of the group out in the living room as Collinās parents approached. Everyone stood around making small talk while Collin went downstairs to greet his parents and his brother.
āHey mom. Dad. Seth,ā Collin smiled as the three got out of the taxi.
āHi honey,ā Collinās mother walked to him with arms spread to greet him with a hug. He returned the favor and pulled away to say hi to his brother and father, who he too hugged.
āYou guys ready to come upstairs?ā His parents exchanged looks, which Collin noticed. āWhat? Whatās wrong?ā
āDid I not tell you?ā
āTell me what?ā
āHoney, weāre not staying. We told Uncle Paul that weād be there to help early so we have to drive out there. Weāre going there now.ā
āWait, what? What the hell? I thought we were doing lunch?ā
āWe want to but we just donāt have time. We have to go help set up for dinner. You know that Uncle Pat is having a rough time with Aunt Lucy passing. We need to be there for him today.ā
Collin sighed, sticking his hands into his pants pockets. He wasnāt sure if he had the right to be upset with his parents right now or not. He thought they had plans but he wasnāt going to deny his Uncle Pat the help he needed right now, especially after his wife passed away from cancer that she had been battling for nearly two decades now. Reluctantly, Collin nodded. āYeahā¦ā He was upset but tried his best not to show it. āI should let you get going then. I just wanted you guys to meet everyone but I guess weāll just have to do it another time.ā
āSorry honey. Weāll plan.ā Collinās mother smiled warmly and forgivingly. Collin nodded and hugged his family as they readied to leave. āGive Uncle Pat my condolences.ā His mother smiled at him as she got into the taxi. āI will honey. Take care of yourself okay? Tell the gang weāre sorry and hello.ā He smiled warmly at her, nodded, and shut the door of the taxi cab as she got into it. The cab drove away slowly. Collin stood there, watching it leave wondering just what he was going to say to everyone so his head didnāt get chopped off. He sighed, kicked his feet against the ground, and turned to go back upstairs.
Collin took the elevator up, the entire time thinking of just what to say to everyone who had been pressured into this exact moment. When he opened the door, alone, he could see waiting and questioning eyes land on him. āSoā¦ā He started nervously. āTheyāre not coming. My aunt passed away and this is my uncleās first holiday without her so they went over there. They told me to say hi to everyone and apologize. Sooooā¦.ā Collin paused. He rubbed the back of his neck while staring at the ground and then back up at everyone. āSo if you guys want; you can go do whatever now. Sorry.ā Collin, upset, walked into his room, gently shutting the door, and sat on his bed.
Unsure of what to do, Oliver looked up at Isaac and Marie. āShould I talk to him? Maybe we could plan something else to do. To cheer him up. And us.ā
Isaac always somehow managed to feel awkward in situations concerning anyone's family. He'd never been like Collin, rushing around to make sure everything was perfect, dressing nice, putting on a good performance. It wouldn't have done him any good, even if he had. The few times he'd tried to do something nice for his mother...it'd just ended in disaster. His best bet had been to pretend he didn't exist, not pretend he was doing well. Which they were - doing well. As well as one could expect a group of twenty year olds with shaky careers in New York to be doing.
So he arched an eyebrow as he watched the man run around, then flopped down into one of their recliners just as Marie appeared in all her glory. She looked good, she always did, but somehow Isaac had a feeling she'd pulled herself together off someone's floor. He smirked good naturally at her and nodded his hello, mildly regretting not railing his Adderall after all. He had a feeling she could probably use a pick-me-up too, but it was too late for him to mix them up something. Then again, he doubted the drink in her hand was just coffee.
Collin went down to get the family and the other three stayed, making general small talk, nothing important. Isaac teased Marie a little, wondering if he had the right idea about where she was all night, but he didn't pry or anything. Never did. It wasn't long after that when Collin returned. Surprisingly alone. Isaac arched an eyebrow, even leaned halfway out of his seat to see around his friend, but no...he was closing the door.
Explanations came and Isaac sighed. He'd lived with Collin long enough to know his friend was probably a little crestfallen. All that energy gone to waste over a misunderstanding. On Thanksgiving. Any other day, it would have sucked, but been manageable. Not today.
"I got him," he answered Ollie with a sigh as he pushed himself up. "If I fail, we'll jut throw Marie in there for a little while. I'm sure she can put a smile back on his face." He shot her a wink, his mood already improving, before he knocked once on Collin's door and let himself in.
The guy was obviously upset, sitting on his bed, but Isaac didn't let it stop him, just flopped down next to him and nudged his shoulder with his own. "Hey man, I know it sucks, but it's not the end of the world. We can make some last minute plans. You've still got us. And that smokin' hot blonde out there." Isaac winced a little, he had never been very good at sounding convincing when he talked about girls that way, even if he did think Marie was attractive he just...couldn't. What the hell was he thinking? Coming in here to talk about family problems. He was so far out of his comfort zone it wasn't even funny.
He sighed a little at the awkwardness, then wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "We could always drop acid and go watch the parade." It'd actually been his plan before Collin had roped him into spending Thanksgiving in a more traditional manner, but he was mostly joking at this point. Not that he'd say no if Collin said he was game, but still. "Hallucinogens and big blown up animals, am I right? Just what the Indians and Pilgrims would have wanted."
Marie had got to the apartment and sat down, but Collin still seemed to be frantic. She didn't know a lot about him and his past, so she wasn't entirely sure what his parents were like to begin with. They could be neat freaks or simply prim and proper jack asses, Marie didn't know, but she still had said she'd meet them regardless. Studying what Oliver and Isaac were wearing she knew she was incredibly under dressed, but she didn't have time to run across the hall and change now, besides almost anything she owned was too revealing, she saw no shame in showing off what you had.
Seeing the smirk that Isaac gave her she sent one back his way. He likely knew where she had just came from. Well, not exact location or whom she was with, but what kind of night she had. Eventually Collin had gone downstairs to retrieve his parents. Marie had conversed with his two roommates, which she had been used to by now. They just had small talk and Isaac had teased her a little, but Marie had given it right back, hinting here and there at her night.
When Collin came upstairs, he didn't have company with him. For some reason Marie wasn't surprised. Parents were probably the worst, only good they ever did was giving you the crap life you had to live. Marie didn't ask to be born and have to pay bills or anything. Either way, she knew what kind of scum parents were. Her own mother had verbally abused her and told her a bunch of shit that Marie didn't need in her life. Even the proper parents couldn't be bothered to be there for their own child. Nothing was surprising about it.
Collin however, seemed upset about it. He went to his room and that left the three sitting there. Marie wasn't that awkward about it, but she didn't know what to do. Oliver had suggested someone going to go in and check on him, but Isaac had offered. That gave her a bit of a sigh of relief. Marie may have been sleeping with the guy, but they weren't what you would call an actual couple. She didn't know everything he disliked and liked outside of sex, she didn't know his past.
That left Marie and Oliver alone, which wasn't that bad, the two were friends. Marie actually knew more about Oliver than she did Collin. Taking another sip of her coffee she was silent for a few minutes before she spoke.
"We could always go out and do something together that he would like. Do you know of an activity he enjoys doing with friends?" Marie asked curiously. She could indeed do what Isaac was likely suggesting at, but Isaac still had some attempts to be made.
Brooklyn was right, going to a hotel was a stupid idea. He just couldn't bare the thought of being in that apartment all night, knowing that Cara would be there and in a socializing mood. It wasn't like there was a chance that she would be out with friends, or working, or in her room all night. He knew for a fact that she was going to be there hosting at least Makayla and Holly, and that meant that it was going to be hard for he and Brooklyn to get away with staying in their room all night too. Nick trusted that Cara would never say anything, especially to Brooklyn, because everyone seemed to think that Brooklyn was the kind of girl who would knife you in your sleep if you did her wrong, but he was still nervous. Cara and Brooklyn were friends, or at least friendly, and he wondered if girl code would kick in at some point and Cara would confess to Brooklyn before he did, making her seem like the good friend and him like the horrible boyfriend. He hated knowing that someone had something that they could potentially use against him, and that made him want to talk to Cara again just to make sure she was still okay with keeping her mouth shut. If he did that, though, he knew he would feel even more guilty, because than there was no way to deny to himself that somehow this wasn't that bad, because he would be blatantly trying to hide and cover up for it. He knew that he should just come clean to Brooklyn, but that meant the relationship (and possibly his life, if she was in a crazy mood) would be over, and he really didn't want to lose her. The stress of it all made his chest feel tight and his head heavy.
"Uh, yeah, I think she might have mentioned that," he responded, rubbing the back of his neck as she brought up Cara's Thanksgiving get together. "We could do that if you want. I'm down." He was really trying not to seem distant and unsure of himself, so he smiled and returned the gentle squeeze she gave his hand, hoping that it didn't seem as forced and robotic as it felt.
When Brooklyn got up to throw out her food, Nick sent out a few texts to some of his customers who he needed to make deliveries to tomorrow, responded to Makayla's text and sent one to Roman as well. Roman was his closest friend but their relationship was never demanding. Nick rarely ever noticed when Roman didn't come home for a couple of days at a time because he wasn't the kind of friend to smother anyone. They gave each other their space, but if Brooklyn was bothered by it this time, Nick now felt like he should be too, and figured that sending a text to Roman couldn't hurt.
To: Roman
You've got Brooke worried lol u alright? Wanna catch a movie with us later? I think we're seeing spectre? And I picked up a ton of bud from my supplier last night so I'll probably light up w Makayla when I get back if you're in the mood
To: Makayla
Of course. I just refilled my supply and cara hasn't been a bitch lately lol so I don't think I'll need to store it in ur room for now but I'll drop something off when i get back. U gonna be around all day?
"Yeah, you know, I haven't seen him in a while either. He might have mentioned that he had a fight last night or the night before, but I'm not sure. I texted him too, but I doubt he's even awake at this hour," he said with a shrug as he got up and followed her towards the door to leave. When they stepped outside, the brisk fall air caught him off guard, but he didn't really mind it. His black leather jacket was surprisingly insulated, and the pizzeria had felt like a sauna anyway. "Anywhere else you wanna go before we head back?" he asked, tucking one of his hands into his jacket pocket and wrapping the other arm around her waist. He didn't have anywhere that he needed to go, but he hoped she would think of something, just to stall going back to the apartment.
Ryan didn't get Cara's text until the cab had dropped him off at the end of his block, so he was relieved when she said that she didn't need anything. He wasn't sure that he could trust Chanel and Cara with planning an entire meal, since the former seemed just as... out there... as his sister, but he wasn't going to bother himself over it. He would have rather them come home with a fresh pizza from a pizzeria than a turkey and side dishes, and have to deal with a poorly-cooked meal from the two. If all else failed, or if his cravings for a real Thanksgiving meal just refused to subside, he knew that he could always just take a cab back up to the Upper East Side and eat with his father.
One thing that he hated about their apartment building was that there was no elevator. He wasn't lazy or nonathletic, but having to walk up and down five flights multiple times a day was a pain in the ass. It was one even more so when he was carrying his school books or grocery bags, which he luckily wasn't today. He had made it halfway up the flights of stairs when he received Oliver's text, but he waited to respond to his sister and friend until he was in front of 5C's door.
To: Cara
Alright, don't go crazy though
He knew his sister was going to go overboard, but at least now he could say that he tried to tell her not to. That was just the way Cara was, and had always been. He didn't know Chanel very well on her own, and while he wouldn't call her an enabled to Cara's behavior, she seemed to play along with it too in a natural way that friends would. Cara liked things big, so he was sure that if she and Chanel were out shopping, which is what they frequently seemed to do with each other, they would likely come home with enough food to feed a small village. He kept that in mind when sending his next text message to Oliver.
To: Oliver
Ahh gotcha, sounds fun. My sister's having some of the girls from 5B over for dinner I think. Feel free to stop by later if you're bored. I'm sure there's going to be more than enough food.
When the texts were sent, he found his key and made his way into the apartment. It seemed quiet, and as he moved inside, he noticed that Brooklyn and Nick's door was open, which likely meant that they weren't home. Cara's room was vacant too, but unfortunately, his own room wasn't. Ryan noticed Roman's form on the other bed in his dark room, so he did his best to be quiet as he took off his jacket and grabbed his laptop, and carried it out to the living room. He took a seat on the couch and flipped through the channels until he found a channel playing Parks and Recreation. It was one of his favorite shows, and he knew that he could very happily spend the rest of the day watching it. However, his father had spent the past evening going on and on about football, so Ryan knew that if he did end up going back there later that night, it would only work to his benefit if he at least watched one of the football games that were scheduled for today. Luckily, as he checked online, he saw that the first of the three didn't start until 12:30, so he had time to watch what he actually liked before then.
To say she was surprised by what Cara said would be an underwhelming statement. While her leading up to the big reveal already had Chanel on her toes, she wasn't expecting that. Her mouth opened to speak before just hanging agape, Cara filling in the silence quickly as she went on to talk about the text message she should send next. "How in the hell are you gonna go from 'Hey, Chanel: by the way I fucked Nick' to 'Smiley face or no smiley face?'" Chanel's tone was light, and there was a nervous grin on her face, but her bewilderment was still very present. She grabbed Cara's arm and looked at her wide eyed, laughing some. "Did you seriously sleep with him? When the hell did this happen?! And you didn't invite me? Oh my god. You slept with Nick?!" She squealed in disbelief as they neared the store which only earned her a few disapproving stares from passersby. To one person, she actually stuck out her tongue. "Okay," she said with a deep breath as they neared the store. She stopped in front of Cara and her look became more serious. "Let's take this step by step because my body was not ready for this piece of information. To start: I one hundred percent respect your sexual agency and everything, and if I'm going to judge anyone, it's Nick. But he is still with Brooklyn, right?" She began to walk into the store as she continued. "I mean, you need to give me all the details. What exactly happened? And how is Brooke abusive? Is she, like, hitting him or something?" She glanced over at Cara as she headed towards the produce section, checking the list she'd made on her phone. She picked up some carrots and onions and peppers; they could put that in with the turkey while it was heating to add some flavor.
"If she's really hurting him, you should seriously just sit down and talk to him. Like, real talk. I don't know why you thought I'd judge you. If anything, I'm judging Nick because why would you do that to a person? He's hurting you and Brooke, right? If he doesn't respect her enough to call it quits, then what does that mean of his view on you? But he has to trust you at least somewhat to do that, yeah? You could use this as an opportunity. What you need to do is talk to him. At least that's my opinion." It was somewhat surprising to Chanel that she was actually taking this a bit more seriously than she normally would have. It wasn't that she'd ever been cheated on, but it was kind of a strange position. This was a definitely a test--at least that's how she saw it. In New York, she was almost an entirely new person. She was given the chance to recreate herself, and as much as she wanted to gossip and congratulate Cara, she also wanted to seem like an okay person. Someone who thought of everyone and how they would be affected. Maybe she was more sensitive to this because for so long she'd ignored those who could easily be forgotten but equally affected by something.
Her opinion of Nick wasn't destroyed, and she didn't dislike him any, but she did want to have the whole story because this was a tricky situation, and it was potentially messy. If everything she said got into the wrong ears, it could completely damage her reputation. She couldn't have that. So as they moved towards the deli section, she looked at Cara sternly. While it might have looked odd on her usually cheery face, it felt more familiar than the smile she always put on. "Don't you fucking settle for some dude that's going to use you as a booty call, Cara. Fuck who you want, but if they try to get over on you, I will cause some damage, no matter how nice their jawline is." She shook her head as she inwardly rolled her eyes at the person in front of them for taking such a damn long time. There was no rush, but she hated waiting. Chanel pushed her hair past her shoulder and poked Cara in the shoulder. "What did I tell you about letting me ramble? I'll stop talking. You give me the details. And also, go with the smiley face," she said, referencing the text message Cara had been talking about moments earlier.
"If she's really hurting him, you should seriously just sit down and talk to him. Like, real talk. I don't know why you thought I'd judge you. If anything, I'm judging Nick because why would you do that to a person? He's hurting you and Brooke, right? If he doesn't respect her enough to call it quits, then what does that mean of his view on you? But he has to trust you at least somewhat to do that, yeah? You could use this as an opportunity. What you need to do is talk to him. At least that's my opinion." It was somewhat surprising to Chanel that she was actually taking this a bit more seriously than she normally would have. It wasn't that she'd ever been cheated on, but it was kind of a strange position. This was a definitely a test--at least that's how she saw it. In New York, she was almost an entirely new person. She was given the chance to recreate herself, and as much as she wanted to gossip and congratulate Cara, she also wanted to seem like an okay person. Someone who thought of everyone and how they would be affected. Maybe she was more sensitive to this because for so long she'd ignored those who could easily be forgotten but equally affected by something.
Her opinion of Nick wasn't destroyed, and she didn't dislike him any, but she did want to have the whole story because this was a tricky situation, and it was potentially messy. If everything she said got into the wrong ears, it could completely damage her reputation. She couldn't have that. So as they moved towards the deli section, she looked at Cara sternly. While it might have looked odd on her usually cheery face, it felt more familiar than the smile she always put on. "Don't you fucking settle for some dude that's going to use you as a booty call, Cara. Fuck who you want, but if they try to get over on you, I will cause some damage, no matter how nice their jawline is." She shook her head as she inwardly rolled her eyes at the person in front of them for taking such a damn long time. There was no rush, but she hated waiting. Chanel pushed her hair past her shoulder and poked Cara in the shoulder. "What did I tell you about letting me ramble? I'll stop talking. You give me the details. And also, go with the smiley face," she said, referencing the text message Cara had been talking about moments earlier.
"Good point," Brooklyn said, tucking her phone back into her bag when Nick reminded her that Roman was probably still asleep and wouldn't respond because of it. She couldn't cut him down for sleeping in late, because she did the same on most days. They both primarily worked at night until the early hours of the morning, so they couldn't be blamed for not being morning people. She wouldn't count on him responding, but it was one more reason for why she said, ""Nope, let's just head back," when Nick asked if she had anywhere else to go. She really didn't have anything else that she needed to do, but she also was curious to see if Roman was back and if so, what his plans were for the day. They had known each other for a few Thanksgivings, but since Nick and Brooklyn mostly did their own thing on the holiday, it wasn't like the trio had established any traditions. This was the first year that they were living in an apartment, and sort of back in the real world again, so she was curious if he had anything planned for the night. She doubted it. Roman wasn't the type of guy who acted sentimental over things like this, especially considering that he seemed to identify with his British roots, so an American holiday likely didn't hold much value to him. She didn't know that Nick had invited him to see the movie with them, but it was a thought that was in her mind too.
"Do you ever worry about him?" she began as they started walking back to the apartment. "Roman? I know he's smart and he knows what he's doing and whatever, but I feel bad for him sometimes. Like, out of the three of us, he's the one who's the most lost?" She looked at Nick as she spoke, attempting to read his facial expression. To a lot of people, Nick was hard to read. He wasn't very expressive, tended to be quiet, and frequently kept to himself. He wasn't a hermit, but he just did his own thing. He was like that with Brooklyn sometimes too, where he seemed distracted or like his head was in the clouds, but she knew him well enough to know how to see past that and sense what he was feeling. Normally, she tried not to get deep like this. She and Nick had basically known Roman for the same amount of time, and she felt like she was just as close to him as Nick was, but in different ways. She wasn't Roman's mother and Nick wasn't his father. They were equals, and academically speaking, Roman was probably superior than both of them combined, but just on a friends level, she did sometimes worry about him. Brooklyn wasn't the type of person who was maternal or worrisome to a point where anyone would actually know, but she did care about her friends. To the few people she had opened up to since leaving home six years ago, she felt like she was a good friend, and even if the concerns were usually just verbalized in her mind, she did care and worry about them. She probably would never voice her concerns to Roman, but she didn't feel weird asking Nick about it.
As they made their way into the store, Cara didn't have to do much more than nod and occasionally giggle, because Chanel was holding the conversation together with her colorful responses. She didn't mind and she had to know that she was going to get a vibrant response from the girl. Not only was it just in Chanel's personality, but Cara had dropped a bomb that probably came out of nowhere. She was okay with not having to share the details for a few minutes, and followed Chanel throughout the store after grabbing a cart. She was paying attention to what Chanel was saying, but she tried to busy herself by grabbing things and tossing them into the cart as they walked. Most of it was random, useless things that didn't even apply to the meal they were trying to plan. She ended up with a container of strawberries, a bunch of bananas, a bag of seedless grapes, celery and tomatoes. Chanel had picked up some vegetables too, but Cara assumed that she had a purpose in mind for those. Once they reached the deli section and had to stop and wait in line at the counter, Chanel finished responding. Cara reached for the food in Chanel's hand and placed them down in the shopping cart before looking towards her with a smile, unsure of how to respond to all of her comments, and partly wishing she hadn't said anything at all. It wasn't like Chanel wasn't being supportive, because she had even said that she wasn't judging Cara, but when talking about it aloud, Cara realized that she was judging herself. It was harder to validate what they had done when she heard herself describing it out loud, but she tried to remind herself that it wasn't that bad. She wasn't that close with Brooklyn, and everyone on the fifth floor could probably hear how loud she screamed at Nick sometimes. Their relationship couldn't have been perfect. It wasn't like she was sleeping with a married man with children.
"I mean, she's not like abusive like really abusive, but you know what I mean. She can be... mean. I don't know! I just feel like they're not good for each other, and obviously he wanted more. It happened a few weeks ago, like right after one of their really big fights, and she stormed out to go to work, and Ryan and Drugged Up weren't home, and I was trying to console him at first, but then it just, like, happened. I don't even know how, but it was so good, Nelle. Like he was probably the best guy I've ever slept with. It's not like that though, like a booty call kind of thing. Yeah, he's still with Brooklyn, and he doesn't want her to find out, so I guess it's something we're just going to have to do when she's not around." The realistic side of Cara knew that Nick probably intended for it to be a one time thing, but if it had been that good for her, she was sure it had been that good for him too. She didn't see it as a booty call, though. Sure, she had broken off her very stable relationship just because of it, but it wasn't like she was waiting around for Nick day and night. She wanted more... but she wasn't that delusional to expect it to happen right away. She just hoped it would eventually. "So obviously don't say anything to her! Or anyone, for that matter. I told Makayla, but it's not like she's really relevant enough to tell anyone important. No offense to her, obviously." Cara wasn't really aware of Makayla's close friendship with Nick, but even then, she wouldn't have thought to be concerned with anyone telling Nick. It was Brooklyn finding out that she was worried about.
To: Nick
Hey Nick! We're going to eat around 5 so if you're around, feel free to come hang out with us :)
Now that she had explained herself and had Chanel's approval on the text, she sent it to Nick, and opened Ryan's without responding, since an answer didn't seem necessary at that point. When it was their turn to place an order at the deli, she let Chanel do the talking, since she still had no idea how this whole turkey thing worked. Chanel had mentioned something about it being a few dollars per pound, but Cara wouldn't have known how many pounds they needed or any of the specifics like that. She would eat the turkey, but ordering and preparing it weren't her specialties. "So, what other sections should we hit after this? Besides alcohol, what else is on your list?"
(Collaboration with BurningBridges)
Nick took a moment to answer Brooklyn, trying to figure out what she meant, and then how to respond to it carefully. Roman wasn't an unusual or sensitive subject between them, but he was a mutual friend, and Nick didn't want to say anything that would come out wrong and get back to him. He knew that Roman wasn't outrageously sensitive either, and noticing all of this planning in his head made it more bothered with himself. It was like since the night with Cara, and the guilt that came with that, he couldn't help but to overthink every interaction he had with anyone. "I think... I think he's where he needs to be. I don't like the idea of him doing that shit either, but I guess the money's worth it for him. Worth it compared to whatever he'd make in a normal nine to five job." He knew that wasn't really true. It wasn't like Roman was rolling in money, but it was how he had survived for the past few years when his side jobs didn't work out. He wanted to add what he felt was more true, that not everyone was cut out to be real estate agents or teachers or nurses, and that even if Roman was destined for a more normal career down the line, maybe he needed this time to find himself, but he didn't. He knew that she would take it as him trying to claim that she was pushing him into something he didn't want to do, because Brooklyn had been the driving force behind him even trying to apply to normal jobs.
He was content with selling drugs. He didn't see himself doing it in his 30's or 40's, but Nick was a "live in the moment" kind of guy. He hated thinking about his future or how he was wasting away his youth when he should have been preparing for his future. It was just too much for him, but Brooklyn had been on him about it since they met, and after what he did with Cara, he felt like he was making up for it by finally looking for a real job. It was painful enough for him to do it, so he wasn't going to try to be some mentor telling Roman to get his act together when he didn't have his together. "I don't know, I think he'll find his way. Moving into the apartment was a good step for him. For all of us, really."
Brooklyn nodded, knowing that what Nick had said was probably true. Brooklyn's career wasn't conventional either, but at least she wasn't risking death every night by dancing on a pole like Roman was with his fighting. At the same time, it wasn't like she had any better job options to offer him, and if that was all he had to pay his rent, she couldn't expect him to just stop because it worried her. Especially not when she had never actually said anything to him about it. It just wasn't something that would come up with the relationship that she had with Roman. They were close friends, but serious things like that rarely came up in conversation. They usually kept it light, making jabs at each other, with Roman getting under her skin and her threatening to slap him if he didn't stop. "I feel like you should talk to him about it next time something like that comes up in the conversation. Bring up Marie, or someone he's slept with, and ask if he's looking for something serious. I know twenty-one is young to settle down, but a serious relationship might make him grow up a little bit. Learning about commitment and trusting people fully, you know?" She really did start the conversation with Roman's welfare in mind, but she couldn't help but to throw the last bit in with the same serious tone and expression she had on in the beginning. She didn't want to watch Nick squirm... but she did. "If he's there when we get back, hang out with him. I think I'll see if Cara needs any help with her little Thanksgiving party. I feel like I haven't actually hung out with her in a while, we need to have some girl time and catch up," she said, smiling then. Again, she made sure that her voice remained controlled, as if she didn't know anything and wasn't intentionally saying things to get a reaction out of Nick, but her eyes lingered on his face.
He nodded slightly when she mentioned hanging out with Roman, but verbalized an, "Okay, that works," a second after she brought up how she wanted to hang out with Cara. He did his best not to show it, but his stomach was in knots. Again, he didn't think that Cara was going to say anything to Brooklyn, and it wasn't like the blondes hadn't crossed paths at all in the last three weeks to a point where this would be the first time since that night, but it still made him nervous. "Lemme hit up Roman again," he muttered as pulled his hand out of his jacket pocket and grabbed his phone. The sight of Cara's name on his phone had his heart skip a beat. He knew it was worse to act suspicious and guilty, but he didn't know what her message was going to entail. With his luck, Brooklyn would be looking over his shoulder at the exact moment that Cara decided to be a crazy bitch and send him nudes or something. Luckily, as he slid the message open, it was just an invitation from Cara to eat with them that evening. He didn't even mention it to Brooklyn, and shot back a quick response as he sent another message to Roman.
To: Cara
cool sounds good.
To: Roman
lmk
The walk back to the apartment was only around ten minutes, and when they got inside, the first person they saw was Ryan who was sitting on the couch with his computer, watching television. "Hey Ryan," Nick said, offering the guy a small wave. The two definitely weren't close but Nick tried to be as polite as possible, considering that this had been his apartment before they moved in. "Is Roman home? Or your sister?" he asked, making sure to look back at Brooklyn at the second question, to somehow signal that he was asking for her.
Makayla knew that there was no way that Holly was going to let her off the hook with baking these cupcakes, and absolutely no way that that she could convince her to sleep with her over baking them. It was worth a shot, but after Holly's pleads, Makayla got to her feet. "Alright, alright. We'll make them," she said, tying her dark hair back in a pony tail. "Wash your hands," she instructed, as she did so for herself first. She looked at the back of the cupcake box, reading the directions before setting them down. Her phone was on silent mode, but she noticed the screen light up and paused in her baking preperations to read it. When she saw it was Nick, her energy level jumped up a tiny bit. Knowing that she would have her weed shortly was the light at the end of the tunnel that she needed in that moment.
To: Nick
yesssss tysm. come over whenever. my roommates are out so we can smoke in my room.
She usually felt disrespectful smoking in the apartment because of the smell. No matter how much air freshener she sprayed after doing it, she was sure that the smell was still somewhat evident. She didn't think either girl had a major problem with drugs like Cara did, and she guessed that the two smoked once in a while themselves, but she didn't want to be that horrible roommate. Today, she really just didn't have the energy to care though. It didn't even bother her that she would be doing it with Holly in the other room, although she did know that getting Holly to stay out of their room while she did it was going to be a challenge. Normally when Makayla smoked with Nick, it was before or after she worked, which meant that Cara was taking care of Holly. It was hypocritical, but she did her best to be a good influence on Holly, and through that, the girl had developed a strong dislike for drugs or drug users. It helped that both of their parents had cared more for their drugs than them, but it didn't help Makayla's case since it made it all the more essential to make sure that Holly didn't catch her smoking. Drinking was another thing. At this point, she was over hiding her drinking from Holly. She just went with the saying that as long as you're twenty-one, it's fine to drink in moderation (with "moderation" sometimes meaning a bottle of vodka straight for Makayla).
While Holly washed her hands, Makayla grabbed a large bowl from the cabinet and a spoon from a drawer. "Okay, we need a cup of water," she said as she nudged Holly aside from the sink to fill the measuring cup up with water. She handed it to Holly when she was finished, and nodded towards the bowl for her to pour it in. Makayla knew it would go ten times faster if she did it all on her own, but clearly, Holly had been excited about this and she knew she wouldn't hear the end of it if she didn't let her participate too. She moved on to crack the three eggs in a separate smaller bowl, and when Holly had poured the water into the large bowl, she took the measuring cup to refill with the oil. "Now you're going to pour the oil, the eggs and the bag of the cake mix into the bowl and stir it. It has to all be mixed together," she advised. As Holly did that, she worked on lining the cupcake tray with the cupcake wrappers they had purchased, but she couldn't stop hoping that Nick would show up sooner than later.
Ryan had ten minutes to himself before he heard the apartment door open. He craned his neck to the side to see who it was, but when he saw Brooklyn and Nick coming in, he leaned back on the couch. If it had been Cara, he would have cared, but he wasn't close with the two of them. Brooklyn was definitely hot enough to boast about being roommates with, but she was scary as hell, and he couldn't remember ever actually having a real conversation that extended past polite hellos and goodbyes. It wasn't like she was drastically older than him or that different, but he didn't think they would have anything in common to talk about. Plus, Nick kind of freaked him out a bit too. He wasn't scared of him, but he always seemed straight faced or deep in thought, and Ryan felt like he was the type to be protective over his girlfriend. The fact that he was a known drug dealer and user crossed off the possibility of Ryan ever wanting to actually be friends with him anyway.
He hoped that they were just going to pass through to get to their room. He would have smiled and mumbled a hello or waved, but he didn't get it that easy. Nick said hi, but continued to talk, asking about Roman and Cara, and remained standing a few feet away. "I think I saw Roman in our room, yeah," he began, partly closing his laptop screen down as he pushed it off of his lap and onto the cushion beside him. He wasn't planning on getting up or anything, but it seemed more polite to do that than to appear like he was still focused on his screen. "And Caraline? She's not here, but I'm not sure where she is exactly. I think she's out with that girl Chanel picking stuff up for dinner, but I'm not sure," he responded, hoping that that would be good enough for them to leave him alone.
(Collaboration with Collapse)
"Oh, okay, cool," Nick responded, nodding as Ryan explained where his sister and Roman were. Again, he figured he was probably just overthinking things again, but he felt weird storming into Ryan's room to see Roman, even though it was Roman's room too. It wasn't his room, so he felt like he would be breaking some sort of privacy rule by not asking if it was okay to go in, with Ryan sitting right there. He didn't feel comfortable with asking that either, since it seemed so unnecessary, so he just headed to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. "Want anything to drink, Brooke? We still have a few beers or I can make you a drink if you want. I think we still have some of that cotton candy vodka left..." he said, his voice trailing off as he started to rummage through the cabinets. He read Makayla's text and planned on going over, but he wanted to make sure that Brooklyn was set first, and possibly see if Roman was there too. He didn't respond to Makayla but managed to send Isaac a quick text.
To: Isaac
probably smoking in 5B in a few. buds on the house today since i'm in the holiday spirit lol. come thru if ur craving
Brooklyn didn't rush when they got into the apartment. She took off her jacket and shoes, something that she had decided was a ritual at the apartment. For years, she had desperately wanted a place to call home, and now that they had a somewhat stable living situation, she was going to take advantage of it and make it feel as homey as she could. When she thought back to rituals in her house growing up, taking her shoes off at the door was always one of them. Her mother was meticulous with things like that, and though she wasn't a clean freak like the woman, she had taken up the habit again as a way to remind herself that this could be a home for her. She listened to Nick speak to Ryan for a few seconds before following her boyfriend towards the couch. She smiled at Ryan, but didn't say anything, and turned to watch Nick as he headed into the kitchen area. "Yeah, make me whatever you made me last night. The one with that vodka and the cranberry juice, and Sprite, I think it was," she responded. It was a little early for vodka, but oh well. It was a holiday. That would be her excuse today.
"I'll be right back," she chirped a moment later as she left her place by the counter and headed down the hall and into her bedroom. She hung her coat up, placed her shoes in the corner, and then headed back out, but not into the kitchen. Instead, she slipped in Roman and Ryan's room. "Rise and shine, Ro Ro," she said in an obnoxiously cheerful, sing song voice as she gave a sharp nudge to Roman's side. She didn't care that she was basically pulling a Holly by waking him up, and doing the one thing that she would spend hours ranting about if it happened to her. She was waking Roman up for his own good. There was no use in sleeping all day when he could be hanging out with Nick, and potentially getting good life advice. Brooklyn wanted to laugh at that thought. Who was she kidding, acting like her drug dealer of a boyfriend who cheated on her had any life advice? Holly could probably offer Roman better guidance than Nick at this point. At the very least, Brooklyn could say that she was certain that Nick had just as good of intentions with Roman as she did, so she was confident that the two socializing would only be good for both of them. Nick wouldn't think it would be okay to fuck anymore hoes with Roman around, and Roman wouldn't be getting concussions in Nick's presence. She gave him one more nudge before flipping the light switch on and opening up the blinds that covered the bedroom's window. It was definitely obnoxious and if he was suffering from a hangover, it might have been a death wish, but she didn't care. "Nick wants to hang out with his favorite loser, so get dressed and go hang out with him. Unless you want to stay and hang out with Cara and Chanel and I," she said, making her way to the doorway. She knew he wouldn't want to take the latter offer, but she knew that waking him up in the manner that she did might just as easily result in him rejecting both offers and being annoyed all day.
They first started when he was eight, became common when he was ten, and gradually became more and more problematic afterwards. In the beginning, his nightmares were really just anxiety-induced. But now that he was rid of that part of his life, it made no sense that they kept coming back. They were no where near as frequent, or as violent, and in fact they hardly ever consisted of anything when they did happen. He rarely ever had actual dreams, and tonight--or that morning rather-was no different. For the majority of his time asleep, short as it was, he felt like he was holding his breath. His chest tightened and his nerves heightened. He felt fear without being frightened. A couple of times he was able to wake himself up, a quick gasp escaping his lips as though they were a result of him actually yanking himself awake. His heart was beating no faster from what he could tell, but it still felt the way it did before a fight; when he was on edge and uncertain. The temperature of the room also helped to keep him from drifting deeper into his slumber, bittersweet as that truth was. On the one hand he was incredibly exhausted, but on the other, his subconscious was warning him about drifting back off. While normally he would have gotten up to open the window so as to let in a nice breeze, today he did not. Instead, he lay accumulating tension in his muscles and sweat on the nape of his neck as he slept. That was until he felt something against him shortly after hearing a higher pitched voice which was undoubtedly Brooke's, but he was too disoriented to really register it right away.
He flinched at her initial touch, looking over his shoulder to see her. With a slight scowl, he curled back up, facing the wall, and tried going back to sleep. When she nudged him again, he swatted at her hand lazily and missed. Killens squeezed his eyes tighter in the hopes of getting back to sleep, but this only proved futile as in the next few seconds an abundance of light was cast on the room. Given that he wasn't sleeping that well to begin with, he probably shouldn't have been annoyed as he was, but it was that exact reason that had him in a bad mood and flinging his pillow sharply in Brooke's direction. "What the fuck?" It was clear that he was annoyed, but this didn't stop Brooke from smirking, seemingly unmoved by his frustration, and saying, "He's waiting in the kitchen, hurry up," and then leaving.
The calloused rigidity of his hands smoothed over his face as he yawned and stretched. He stayed there for another minute or so, listening to his heartbeat and the movement from outside. It was never in his favor to get up right away, let alone not on his own accord. He enjoyed just sitting and listening before actually having to get up, but it was nearly impossible to do that with the window closed the way it was. As he glared over at it, the stickiness that suctioned his shirt to his skin became more noticeable, and as he sat up with a groan, he took his shirt off, tossing it to the bottom of the bed. His senses were still heightened when he cracked the window and embraced the chill. It seemed to calm him enough to finally leave the bedroom at least somewhat less irritable, but it didn't stop him from glaring at Brooke. He hardly took note of the set up before him: Ryan on the couch and Nick doing something in the kitchen. When he found Brooke, he went over to her and looped his arm around her neck in a playful choke hold. "What'd I tell you about waking me up, huh?" he said. It wasn't uncommon for Roman to mess around with Brooke in this nature. While he mostly made verbal jabs at her, sometimes he did get physical, like now. Although his voice seemed more serious due to the fact that it was deeper with the remains of sleep lingering in his chest, he was never rough enough to actually hurt her. "Thought I told Nick to get you a leash," Roman said before finally letting her go, giving the back of her head a slight push.
Roman went to the fridge, looking inside for a moment before grabbing a leftover tomato and some beans from yesterday. After grabbing a plate, he placed a piece of toast in the toaster oven and leaned against the counter, finally pulling his phone from his pocket and seeing the seven messages he'd received. Three were from Nick and Brooke, and the other four were from Hannah, the latter of which he didn't bother reading at the present moment. Reading the messages made him smile somewhat and he waved his phone in Brooke and Nick's direction. "What lovely parents you two are," he said. Sentimentality wasn't really his thing, but the texts did get a small smirk out of him. He recalled what Brooke had said earlier when she was busy being obnoxious by waking him up; something about hanging out with Nick. He was sure that it was her doing since she was the one to come get him, and Nick would never be that pressed to hang out. That being said, he highly doubted that whatever play date she had planned didn't involve him smoking with Nick and Makayla, so he wasn't entirely sure what to say, or who to address--at least not right away. When his toast was ready, he plucked it out and began eating his breakfast. It wasn't a full meal. Had he had eggs and black pudding or even mushrooms, he would have had his full English, but for now, this would do. "I'm game," Roman said to Nick, nodding towards his phone. "When are you going?" He bit into the tomato, chewed slowly and swallowed before continuing. "So why is Brooke up my ass about hanging out with you today?" His question was directed at Nick, but he was giving a Brooke a look from the corner of his eye as he spoke.
He flinched at her initial touch, looking over his shoulder to see her. With a slight scowl, he curled back up, facing the wall, and tried going back to sleep. When she nudged him again, he swatted at her hand lazily and missed. Killens squeezed his eyes tighter in the hopes of getting back to sleep, but this only proved futile as in the next few seconds an abundance of light was cast on the room. Given that he wasn't sleeping that well to begin with, he probably shouldn't have been annoyed as he was, but it was that exact reason that had him in a bad mood and flinging his pillow sharply in Brooke's direction. "What the fuck?" It was clear that he was annoyed, but this didn't stop Brooke from smirking, seemingly unmoved by his frustration, and saying, "He's waiting in the kitchen, hurry up," and then leaving.
The calloused rigidity of his hands smoothed over his face as he yawned and stretched. He stayed there for another minute or so, listening to his heartbeat and the movement from outside. It was never in his favor to get up right away, let alone not on his own accord. He enjoyed just sitting and listening before actually having to get up, but it was nearly impossible to do that with the window closed the way it was. As he glared over at it, the stickiness that suctioned his shirt to his skin became more noticeable, and as he sat up with a groan, he took his shirt off, tossing it to the bottom of the bed. His senses were still heightened when he cracked the window and embraced the chill. It seemed to calm him enough to finally leave the bedroom at least somewhat less irritable, but it didn't stop him from glaring at Brooke. He hardly took note of the set up before him: Ryan on the couch and Nick doing something in the kitchen. When he found Brooke, he went over to her and looped his arm around her neck in a playful choke hold. "What'd I tell you about waking me up, huh?" he said. It wasn't uncommon for Roman to mess around with Brooke in this nature. While he mostly made verbal jabs at her, sometimes he did get physical, like now. Although his voice seemed more serious due to the fact that it was deeper with the remains of sleep lingering in his chest, he was never rough enough to actually hurt her. "Thought I told Nick to get you a leash," Roman said before finally letting her go, giving the back of her head a slight push.
Roman went to the fridge, looking inside for a moment before grabbing a leftover tomato and some beans from yesterday. After grabbing a plate, he placed a piece of toast in the toaster oven and leaned against the counter, finally pulling his phone from his pocket and seeing the seven messages he'd received. Three were from Nick and Brooke, and the other four were from Hannah, the latter of which he didn't bother reading at the present moment. Reading the messages made him smile somewhat and he waved his phone in Brooke and Nick's direction. "What lovely parents you two are," he said. Sentimentality wasn't really his thing, but the texts did get a small smirk out of him. He recalled what Brooke had said earlier when she was busy being obnoxious by waking him up; something about hanging out with Nick. He was sure that it was her doing since she was the one to come get him, and Nick would never be that pressed to hang out. That being said, he highly doubted that whatever play date she had planned didn't involve him smoking with Nick and Makayla, so he wasn't entirely sure what to say, or who to address--at least not right away. When his toast was ready, he plucked it out and began eating his breakfast. It wasn't a full meal. Had he had eggs and black pudding or even mushrooms, he would have had his full English, but for now, this would do. "I'm game," Roman said to Nick, nodding towards his phone. "When are you going?" He bit into the tomato, chewed slowly and swallowed before continuing. "So why is Brooke up my ass about hanging out with you today?" His question was directed at Nick, but he was giving a Brooke a look from the corner of his eye as he spoke.
Brooklyn left the kitchen and between then and the time she reappeared, he was able to put together the drink she wanted. It took every last drop of the flavored vodka they had, and he was sure that even with that, it was going to taste light to her, but it was all they had. He knew that Cara had alcohol stocked away somewhere, but he and Brooklyn were pretty good about only using their own things. Cara could say that they were bad roommates in other ways, like how they were constantly yelling or how they brought along extra, unwanted baggage, or whatever wonderfully endearing term she chose to describe Roman that say, but they didn't steal her things.
Although Brooklyn was only gone for a couple of minutes, it took Nick half of that time to make the drink, and the other half felt like it dragged on. He had positioned himself far enough in the kitchen where he couldn't see Ryan, and he knew the kid was watching television and likely didn't want to be bothered, but he wondered if he should try to make conversation. Nick wasn't overtly friendly, but it was simply because he was more comfortable in silence. He didn't know if everyone else was the same though, and if socializing was a genetic thing, Cara's brother wouldn't be like him in that matter. Luckily, Brooklyn reappeared with Roman only a few steps behind her before Nick could convince himself that small talk could somehow be a good idea in this situation. He grabbed a cold beer from the fridge and placed it on the counter, waiting to open it. He was busy smirking at the interaction that played out between Roman and Brooklyn. Their back and forth banter was always amusing, but it was just one more thing that Nick was sure would be ruined if he came clean to Brooklyn about Cara, and their relationship ended. He didn't know if Roman would choose his side or Brooklyn's, but he wouldn't blame him for taking hers. He was wrong, and there was no way to justly excuse what he did, but it was a mistake. He had to say it over and over in his head, and he still wasn't always convinced that he believed it, but it had to have been a mistake.
"Hey, she's not up your ass," he said, attempting to sound like he was truly trying to defend her, but falling a little short in the authenticity of the tone. Normally, he wouldn't have even commented on it, but this was Boyfriend Nick Version 2.0. "She just doesn't want you around to cause trouble with Cara when she gets back. Brooke's helping her with her Thanksgiving dinner thing," he reasoned, lowering his voice just a bit so that Ryan couldn't hear. It wasn't like he was saying anything bad about Cara, but the constant tension between his roommate and sister had to put Ryan in an awkward spot. "But I'm gonna head over there now, so take your toast to go if you wanna come." He looked towards Brooklyn with a smile, as he slid the drink in her direction. "I left some of my 'product' in Makayla's apartment, so I'm gonna go pick that up and try to make a few sales downstairs. Text me if you need anything, but we should be back within the hour," he explained. It wasn't the complete truth, but it sounded better than saying that they were about to go sit on Makayla's bedroom floor and get high. With that, he made a dash for his bedroom, and there he grabbed his bowl and his spare one, and a bag of marijuana from his stash, which he pocketed before returning to the kitchen. He took his beer from the counter and ended up going back to the fridge to grab one more for Makayla. "Just in case," he commented with a half-grin. "Take the last one if you think you're gonna be thirsty, because you're not getting one of these," he said to Roman, nodding towards the fridge now that his hands were full, as he began to walk towards the front of the apartment.
Chanel listened to Cara as she spoke, but subconsciously she was elsewhere. The person in front of them was being incredibly annoying. It could have been that Chanel was just being impatient, but even the man's voice was obnoxious to hear as she spoke to the person behind the counter.How hard is it to order a damn bird? Chanel thought. With some forced up strength, she turned her head away from the man in front of them, knowing she would start looking peeved if she continued to dwell in his stupidity. When it was finally their turn, she went for the ten pound bird. While they waited, she glanced back at Cara and gave her a soft but disapproving look; the way her mother would do if Chanel said something that was funny but still inappropriate. "Be nice. I like Makayla; she's actually pretty cool. I can't believe you told her before me, though." As she was placing it in the cart that seemed to be filled with a bunch of random stuff, Chanel gaped at the weight. "What'd they do, give us a pregnant bird? Geez," she said. Chanel checked her phone, deleting the items on the list that they had in the cart."You get stuff for mashed potatoes? Oh, pies! We also need pies, but I don't know of any bakeries near by. Do you? They might have some here. Chanel pulled the cart from the opposite end, heading to the section that held her conditioner. She grabbed three bottles and remembered she needed turmeric. "Let's head back over near the seasonings."
As they walked, Chanel was quiet, which was slightly unusual, but when they approached the aisle she needed, she looked over her shoulder at Cara. "You need to keep those pretty legs of yours crossed and talk to that boy," she said. "Has he been, like, super weird around you? I mean, I guess not if he's coming to the dinner tonight? Oh, yeah. What'd he say to your text? Did he ever respond?" Chanel pointed her finger at the seasonings, drawing it left to right and down as though she were reading a book. After two run throughs, she finally came upon the little container of orange powder. "Here we go." She turned to Cara and shook the turmeric in her hand some before dropping it in the cart. "This is great with face masks. I have manuka honey at home, and some rhassoul clay. It's actually from Morocco, where my mom's from. Those together make an amazing facial treatment. You need to let me pamper you, especially with all these secrets you've got," she said playfully with a wink. Chanel knew very well that she had changed the conversation from what she had initially freaked out over. It wasn't that she wasn't interested--no, the exact opposite was true--but she did need to fathom it a bit more because, like she'd already realized before, this was a big deal. Not because Cara's involvement with Nick was problematic on its own, but because Chanel's reputation could very well be at risk. While she probably saw her role in the situation as being way larger and way more important than it actually was, it was innate for her to think of herself. So when she spoke to Cara next, she tried to make sure she was still kind in tone, but she also wanted to make it known that she wasn't trying to be silly anymore. Although her face wasn't angry or bothered, her smile was gone and instead her brows were raised curious and suspiciously, an air of caution and worry to her, as though Cara might be making a mistake. "Do you really think there was more to it that night? Between you and him, I mean. Because if so, and if Brooke's really so mean to him, then you have everything he needs, right? Just be nice to him. Don't even compete with Brooke because if she's really that bad to where he comes to you after something like that, I think you already have your foot in the door. You just need to help him realize that. Make up for the void that Brooke is leaving and I think it'll work out. Part of that will come from talking to him, at least, that's what I think," she said. "But be direct. No bullshit, and that's coming from someone who's mastered the art of bullshitting, okay?"
As they walked, Chanel was quiet, which was slightly unusual, but when they approached the aisle she needed, she looked over her shoulder at Cara. "You need to keep those pretty legs of yours crossed and talk to that boy," she said. "Has he been, like, super weird around you? I mean, I guess not if he's coming to the dinner tonight? Oh, yeah. What'd he say to your text? Did he ever respond?" Chanel pointed her finger at the seasonings, drawing it left to right and down as though she were reading a book. After two run throughs, she finally came upon the little container of orange powder. "Here we go." She turned to Cara and shook the turmeric in her hand some before dropping it in the cart. "This is great with face masks. I have manuka honey at home, and some rhassoul clay. It's actually from Morocco, where my mom's from. Those together make an amazing facial treatment. You need to let me pamper you, especially with all these secrets you've got," she said playfully with a wink. Chanel knew very well that she had changed the conversation from what she had initially freaked out over. It wasn't that she wasn't interested--no, the exact opposite was true--but she did need to fathom it a bit more because, like she'd already realized before, this was a big deal. Not because Cara's involvement with Nick was problematic on its own, but because Chanel's reputation could very well be at risk. While she probably saw her role in the situation as being way larger and way more important than it actually was, it was innate for her to think of herself. So when she spoke to Cara next, she tried to make sure she was still kind in tone, but she also wanted to make it known that she wasn't trying to be silly anymore. Although her face wasn't angry or bothered, her smile was gone and instead her brows were raised curious and suspiciously, an air of caution and worry to her, as though Cara might be making a mistake. "Do you really think there was more to it that night? Between you and him, I mean. Because if so, and if Brooke's really so mean to him, then you have everything he needs, right? Just be nice to him. Don't even compete with Brooke because if she's really that bad to where he comes to you after something like that, I think you already have your foot in the door. You just need to help him realize that. Make up for the void that Brooke is leaving and I think it'll work out. Part of that will come from talking to him, at least, that's what I think," she said. "But be direct. No bullshit, and that's coming from someone who's mastered the art of bullshitting, okay?"
As Brooklyn left Roman's room, she considered going back in to make a comment about how much of a crybaby he could be, but she held her tongue. Waking him up when it actually wasn't that late in the day was probably mean enough for now. She continued back into the kitchen where Nick still stood. Her drink appeared to be ready on the counter, but she didn't reach for it yet. There was never a day when Brooke would turn down alcohol, but today was going well enough where she wasn't craving it. Plus, the past two weeks had entailed enough bottles of straight liquor where she was actually beginning to become concerned for her liver's health. It had survived years of intense drinking, so she knew that worrying now was futile, but finding out that Nick had cheated on her hadn't been pretty, and having to mask that anger and shock because she didn't want him to know she knew, only made her turn to the bottle more.
"Don't-!" she snapped when she felt Roman wrapping his arm around her neck, but he was too fast for her to fully object before he was pushing her head and releasing her. She scowled at him, but decided that they were even now. Or at least they were even until he made a comment about them being his parents, and her being up his ass. Of course, that was what she got for being a good friend. Though playful, they were comments she told herself she needed to remember next time she tried to be nice to Roman and help him. She made a mental note to try to get Holly in their apartment the next morning to wake him up at the crack of dawn. That, or she'd punch him the next time he came home from a fight looking like he was already on his death bed.
By that point, she was more ready for her drink, so she accepted it with a softer smile when Nick slid it to her. Only one sip in and she could tell that it was too sugary, and less vodka-y for her tastes, but she also saw the empty vodka bottle and knew that that was as good as it was going to get for now. "Pick up some vodka if you end up going out," she requested before Nick headed towards their bedroom. While he was out of sight, she picked up her drink and moved closer to Roman, getting one kick to his leg in before backing up. "That's for being an ass when I'm always a good friend to you," she challenged in a tone that was serious, but playfully so. She took another sip of the drink and followed Nick to the door after he reappeared and grabbed two beers. "Be good," she warned, though she couldn't keep a smile from finding its way to her lips before she reached up with her free hand to pull his face down to peck his lips. The smile was genuine, too. Even though in her mind, her inner monologue was running with comments about how "be good" meant "don't fuck anymore sluts", she couldn't help but to genuinely smile when looking at him at the moment. She closed the door behind him when he left, but when she returned to walking back into the apartment, she didn't acknowledge Roman in the kitchen again, and just headed into her room, where she shut the door, sat down on the bed, and tried to enjoy her drink.
{Written with Writer}
"I want to do that part too! Don't do it!" Holly exclaimed when she realized that Makayla was busy putting cupcake liners in the tray. She didn't put down the spoon she was mixing with, but she paused in stirring and flashed Makayla a distressed look. Baking cupcakes had been her idea, and Makayla didn't even seem to want to do it, so it only seemed fair that she should get to do most of it. She glanced over at the oven in a panic when it beeped, signaling that it had reach desired temperature and for some reason, Holly felt like that meant that they needed to hurry up. As she began to stir again, she decided to be more reasonable. "Okay, fine, you can do that, but when I finish mixing I want to pour it into each one." The batter was almost completely smooth but Holly wanted to make sure it was perfect.
Holly wasn't acting out of character today, but for some reason, Makayla felt like her own temper was unusually short. She would be the first one to say that she was a patient person, because anyone who dealt with Holly regularly had to be patient. It would be easy to be mean to her, to tell her to shut up and sit down because she was annoying, but she wasn't annoying on purpose. Being energetic and loud and ditzy was just Holly's nature and Makayla wasn't going to be one more person in her life who cut her down for a personality that she had no control over. At the same time, she was human too, and it was hard to always have the patience of a saint. Sometimes, all she wanted was for her to shut up and sit down, and if she was pushed far enough that day, she would snap and say it. She was trying to make sure that today wasn't one of those days, though. It was a holiday, and this was the first Thanksgiving that Holly was ever spending in a traditional manner.
When Makayla was very young, before she knew Holly or Holly was even alive, for that matter, she would spend Thanksgiving like a normal person, in her grandmother's apartment surrounded by food and cousins. She was seven when her grandmother was put into a nursing home, and once that happened, so did any normal celebrations. For the next thirteen years, all of her holidays were spent in her father's disgusting apartment where she would take care of Holly and any other kid whose mother happened to be sleeping with her dad, or whose parent was involved in their drug operations. Nothing festive went on, but Makayla had grown used to it. So much so, that over the past two years, when they were out on their own, she hadn't put much effort into holidays either. Money was obviously tight, and she hoped that she could convince Holly that big holidays were unnecessary because she really couldn't afford them. This Thanksgiving didn't seem harmful, though. She spent a few dollars on cupcakes but the meal was being entirely prepared and financed by Cara. Seeing the parade had wasted a couple of hours and hopefully drained a little bit of her sister's energy, so celebrating Thanksgiving this year seemed like an okay idea, especially when she reminded herself that she wanted Holly to be able to live a normal life now. She had been abused and neglected for most of her life, and now, Makayla had to make up for that.
She tried to be patient as Holly attempted to get the gooey batter into the cupcake holes, but it was hard to watch half of the batter end up on the counter, so she ended up doing most of it herself. She got the cupcakes in the oven and during the twenty minute duration it took for them to bake, she managed to get Holly to attempt the homework she had been assigned to finish over Thanksgiving break. It didn't end up going that well, but that was to be expected. Holly always got frustrated one problem into whatever she was working on and though Makayla had graduated high school and taken one year worth of college courses, sometimes the material even messed her up. It was mostly the math problems, or English assignments that heavily relied on whatever the teacher had been talking about that day in class, but sometimes, she wasn't much of a help. "Hey, hey, hey, no getting upset on Thanksgiving. Don't worry, Holl. We'll bring it over to Cara's later on. You said her brother, Ryan, is smart, right? He'll help you with it, and we have all the way until Monday to finish it, so don't worry," Makayla said, glancing back at Holly who had put her head down on the assignments on the table in defeat, as she removed the hot cupcake trays from the oven and set them on the cooling racks to cool off. Could Nick take any longer?!
As she tossed the towels that she had used in place of oven mitts on the counter, she returned to the table Holly was sitting at and took the homework off of the table. "Stop being dramatic, Holl," she said, trying to be playful as she poked her sister in the side. It spoke to how desperate she was to be able to smoke in peace, but she held onto Holly's arm and pulled her into the living room. "I'm gonna let you watch TV for a little while, alright?" Since she couldn't afford to chip in for the cable bill with Chanel and Marie, she did her best to keep Holly away from the television. It was hard, since that was probably the only thing that could keep her quiet and in one spot for prolonged periods of time, but Makayla hated seeming like she was leeching off of the other girls. "I need to do some work in my room and Nick might come over to help me, but we don't need your help, so you need to sit out here and be quiet, okay?"
Working on homework had completely ruined the good mood Holly was in, but being able to watch TV definitely brought it back up a few notches. "Okay," she responded, with an eager nod. She wasn't even listening to the part about Nick coming over, them not being help, and her needing to be quiet. She lunged for the remote, readied herself on the couch, and began to skim through the channels. "And then we have to ice the cupcakes!" she called out to Makayla, though her eyes didn't move from the screen.
"Yup, as long as you listen now, we will," Makayla responded distractedly. She had stepped away from the television area to retrieve her phone from the kitchen. She was hoping that there would be a text from Nick, but there wasn't. The desperation had her back at the front door, and she actually opened it up, hoping that she might spot him or one of his roommates in the hallway, so that she could ask them where they were. For once, luck was on her side, and he was actually heading in her direction. She couldn't hide the pleasure she was feeling as a smile appeared on her face, and she welcomed him into the apartment. "Finally!" she hissed, playfully squeezing his arm in anticipation. Speaking more loudly now, so Holly would be able to hear, she led Nick into the apartment towards her bedroom. "Holly's here too, Nick. She's going to watch TV while you help me with all of that math work I have to do, so we'll hang out with her when we're finished." Anyone aside from Holly would sense the "play along" tone that came with her words, but she knew after Holly's breakdown minutes before, between the TV in front of her, and her anti-academics attitude, there wasn't a huge chance that she would want to hang out with them to do that pretend math work.
Collin looked up when the door of his bedroom opened. He had expected his friends to leave and to their own thing. He didnāt think anyone would stop in to check on him and if anyone had, he had expected it to be Oliver, not Isaac. But nonetheless, there was Isaac, tossing himself onto Collinās bed. He nudged Collinās shoulder and Collin turned his attention to Isaac. He smiled to Isaacās attempt to cheer him up and thought it was funny that Isaac of all people would be the person trying to attempt to crack a joke about Marieās level of attraction or Collin dropping acid with Isaac and watching the parade. It brought a smile to Collinās face. He appreciated the level of friendship that he and Isaac had because it was something he had been missing for quite a while. He didnāt have these friendships back at home. Then again, he never really tried. āYeah man, exactly what the Pilgrims would have wanted for future generations.ā He laughed hard, gently and jokingly shoving Isaac. He laughed until he couldnāt breathe, the thought of him tripping on acid with Isaac wasnāt a plan Collin would have normally gone along with but right now it was the laugh he needed. His laugh came down into him searching for breath. āThanks for that, man. Come on though, letās get out there and make plans. Iām not gonna stay in here all night.ā Collin stood up and straightened out his pants and shirt. āThatās not what Collin King is about.ā Collin winked at Isaac and walked towards the door, swinging it open and heading down the short hall to the living room.
āAlright bitches! Letās get this party fuckinā started!ā Collin shouted as he made his way past his friends in the living room to the kitchen. He opened a cupboard and pulled out several handles of alcohol, slamming each bottle on the counter. He searched for shot glasses and solo cups next. He looked up at his friends with a grin on his face. āLetās fucking make memories to be thankful for, huh?ā Collin popped open a bottle of Grey Goose vodka. He poured four shots and looked up at his friends. āSo? Anyone joining me?
* * *
Oliver stood out in the living room with Marie while Isaac went into Collinās room to talk him out of the weird mood he was in. He sat down on the couch next to Marie. She spoke and he nodded his head in agreement to her idea. āI think heāll be alright. Itās probably just the shock of being without his family. Heās a big family man believe it or not.ā He responded to her while answering a text from Ryan.
To: Ryan
Weāll probs head ovr. Our plans got cancelled
Oliver didnāt really know how to talk to Marie. They were friends, probably more so than anyone else but he also had a sliver of a crush on her and the fact that Collin and Marie had a causal relationship drew Oliver away from the idea of Marie ever wanting to be with a guy like Oliver. He felt as though he wasnāt the type of guy Marie would ever go for. While he sat there quietly, he looked at her. He watched her as she brought her cup to her mouth, he watched her lips when she spoke, he watched her eyes when she smiled, he watched the way he did things. He was intrigued by her. He thought her to be magnificent in the way she lived her life but to be completely honest, he was intimidated by her. Intimidated by the way she lived her life ā freely. He didnāt know how anyone could be so bold as to not care about anything ā or at least to give the impression they did not care about anything.
āHow ābout you? No family plans?ā He wanted to engage her. He hated sitting out there awkwardly. Oliver was sweet but he wasnāt exactly the most social person. At times he wished he could be the type of guy that Collin was, but he cared too much. Cared when people got hurt, cared when people felt uncomfortable or used. Only sometimes did he want to not care ā but he wasnāt that guy. Oli watched her as she spoke, smiled when she looked at him, nodded as he listened to her speak. It was barely a conversation starting when Collin broke out from his room and started shouting excited profanity into the air. Oliver shot up from the couch, as if he had been doing something wrong and was being confronted for it, and watch Collin excitedly run past him into the kitchen where he started to pour shots for everyone. Oliver met the gaze Collin gave the room, then the gaze of Isaac and Marie. He shrugged his shoulder and started making his way to the kitchen to take hold of a shot glass. His thanksgiving was going pretty shitty too. He might as well join in drinking away his sorrows.
One of Isaac's favorite things about Collin was that it never seemed to really take much to cheer him up. He was generally a happy person, so this shit with his family was only a bump in the road, the rest of the day could easily be saved. He snorted at his friend's response to his joke, and then quickly dissolved into laughter. The Adderall was kicking in, and he felt great suddenly, and everything was funny. They laughed for probably a minute too long, shoved each other playfully, and then Collin was standing and Isaac grinned as he hopped up as well. "There's the Collin King we all know and love," he muttered with another playful shove towards the door.
The moment the two of them rejoined their friends, Collin was on full blast and Oliver was out of his seat in a second - like the yelling was meant to chastise him instead of excite him. Isaac arched a slightly amused eyebrow, because he couldn't imagine how difficult the last couple of minutes had been for the pair he'd left - Oliver was just a little socially awkward and Marie always seemed a bit lost on how people worked if she wasn't climbing into a bed with them. It was kind of funny, really.
"You two survive in here?" he asked as he jerked his stupid jacket off. It really was too big, and he no longer had a reason to be so dressed up. He also didn't care enough to go change, though, so the offended clothing just ended up on the couch. He rolled his sleeves back up, to look some what decent, and pulled his shirt out of his pants because really tucked-in clothing was only for when mother's visited.
Before he could make much more of a decision about his wardrobe choices, Collin was pouring shots, and Isaac found himself grinning again as he shoved passed Oliver to make it to the kitchen first, swiping a shot glass off the counter. "Hey, isn't that mine?" he asked, nodding towards the bottle of Grey Goose. He doubted it, actually, since most of his alcohol was on the floor in his room somewhere; and even if it was he would share, he was just in a playful mood.
Once the others were there with a glass in their hands, Isaac raised his high. "To making memories worth being thankful for," he toasted with a wink towards Collin, and then threw back his shot. He was already pouring another even as he dug his phone out of his pocket. It'd gone off when he'd been talking to Collin, though he couldn't imagine who was texting him. Surprisingly, it was from Nick: probably smoking in 5B in a few. buds on the house today since i'm in the holiday spirit lol. come thru if ur craving. Isaac grinned and threw back his second drink before he texted back:
To: Moreno
Fuckin awesome man
Fuckin awesome man
Isaac wasn't actually sure who lived in 5B, except he had gathered from his mornings with Marie that it was probably all girls. She lived there, and he figured Chanel did too because sometimes they chatted up until they parted for their respective doors. But other than that, he didn't really know. He did know, however, that he was not turning down free weed. Isaac had money, sure, but only an idiot would pass that up.
"Hey, I may have just found us something to do," Isaac mentioned, shoving his phone back in his pocket and pouring another shot. He swallowed it down before he started walking backwards out of the apartment, lifting two fingers towards his mouth in the universal 'smoking' sign. "If you're feelin' it. I'm gunna go check things out." With that he twisted around, and let himself out.
Nick left the apartment with a kiss from Brooklyn, but no Roman in tow. He guessed that Roman was going to shower or at least put on a new pair of clothes since he had literally just rolled out of bed, and he didn't feel like waiting. He was sure that Makayla was waiting on him, and more than that, waiting for Roman wasn't worth dealing with the awkwardness that he would feel if within those few minutes, Cara returned. It just wasn't worth it, and with the cold beers in his hand, he had one more reason to get across the hall quickly. The fact that he didn't even have to knock on Makayla's door, and that she was actually waiting for him in her doorway quickly brought a smirk to his face. He and Makayla were unlikely friends, but she was someone that he genuinely enjoyed spending time with. "Spending time" for them almost always meant smoking, but that was besides the point. She was a good customer when she had the money, and when she didn't, Nick was a good friend. Like today. She had offered him five dollars, but he wasn't going to take what he was sure was some of her last money. "Sorry, I didn't know there was a rush," he commented as she playfully squeezed his arm.
In one of Makayla's texts, she had mentioned her roommates being out, and for a slight moment, he forgot about Holly living there too. Makayla brought her up before Nick even noticed her sitting by the television. "Oh, hey Holly," Nick commented, waving at the redhead, despite seeing that she seemed pretty engulfed in whatever show she was watching. "Uh, yeah, that math stuff sounded pretty tricky when you were telling me about it. It may take a while to get it done," he said loudly, awkwardly following Makayla's lead in misleading Holly about what they were doing. Honestly, sometimes he forgot that she was sixteen. She looked that age, maybe a year or two younger, but emotionally and mentally she didn't seem like any of the teenagers he knew. He sold weed to kids a year or two younger than her, and Nick doubted that she would even know what the drug looked like. It wasn't like it was a bad thing, though. Holly wasn't stupid and she wasn't hard to be around, she could just be a lot to take in sometimes. Nick mostly knew her through when she would stay with Cara while Makayla was working, and since Holly seemed to be fascinated with Brooklyn, he ended up spending more time than he would have intended to hanging out with her. In times like this, he couldn't blame Makayla for wanting to shield Holly from knowing she used drugs and from being around them in general. She seemed too sweet and innocent to really understand why Makayla would want to use something that she had probably grown up being told was horrible.
"Smells good in here," he added in a hushed tone now as they left the room that Holly was in and headed into Makayla's bedroom. "You put together some snacks for when we've got the munchies? I never would have pinned you as being the baking sort." He sat down on the edge of one of the beds, not paying much attention to whether it was Holly's or Makayla's, as he opened up the bag of weed and focused on breaking a handful of it up slightly, to fit it into the bowl of his pipe. He tossed the bag to Makayla when he finished. "You've got your bowl, yeah? Just save some for Roman." There was a good amount of marijuana in there, so he wasn't actually concerned with her using it all, but Makayla could smoke a fair amount, so it was worth mentioning. He glanced at his phone upon receiving Isaac's text and added, "I think Isaac might come by too. That cool with you?" He had already invited him and assumed that Isaac was on his way already, so he hoped the answer was a yes.
Cara hadn't gotten items for the mashed potatoes, so she darted away for a moment after Chanel brought that up to retrieve them. When she returned, she dumped them into the cart and followed Chanel with the cart. Surprisingly, Cara had momentarily forgotten that she was waiting for a response to Nick, but was relieved to find that he had answered when she pulled her phone back out. "He said 'cool sounds good period'," she said, beginning to type a response to him, but quickly deleting it and putting her phone away once again. She didn't think that a "perfect!" or "can't wait!" would be too harmful, but she also didn't want to come across as some stalker who cared that much. She wasn't paying as great of attention as she should have been as Chanel explained what she was picking up, but the world "pamper" definitely brought a smile to her face. "Oh my God, we really do need to do a spa day. Come with me and my girls next week! We made an appoint at the CaudalĆe Spa down at The Plaza. I'll call tomorrow and tell them to add you in. They're massages are seriously to die for, and I'm sure they have whatever this Moroccan stuff is that you like too," she exclaimed, not giving Chanel a moment to say no as she finished picking out the items for her facial mask. Cara could appreciate the organic beauty rituals that Chanel was into, but she wasn't the type of person who could deal with putting things together like that. She liked organic things, but preferred to just save the time and energy and buy them in an already made formula. That way, if something went wrong, she had a company to blame, and not just her own carelessness or stupidity.
"And don't worry about the pies," she commented a beat later, as she pulled her phone back out. "I'll have someone take care of it for us." It wasn't as sketchy as it sounded. She took a moment to send a text message to one of her father's assistants, first confirming that they were still in the city today, and then asking them to make a few calls to the bakeries in the city to see who was open and could make a last minute delivery. Her father's firm frequently made large orders at some of the upscale shops in the city, so she knew the woman could pull some strings to help her out. Like her father, she had little regard for the fact that the woman technically didn't have to be working on a holiday, and probably had family plans of her own to tend to.
She hadn't responded to Chanel's first set of questions that were on the topic of Nick, but once they got online and Chanel brought it up again, it would have been too odd for her to have ignored them again. It had worked the first time, with the way the conversation was flowing, but now they were just waiting in line and she had to answer. "Ugh, I don't even know, Chanel. I'm just like, so bipolar with this. Like on one hand, he was so good and I can totally see us being a couple down the line, but Brooklyn is obviously crazy, so I know that's going to be messy. Like, even if I talk to him and tell him he needs to be the one to deal with, obviously she's going to come for me too. I knew she was jealous of me the day I met her, and I mean, I guess she had a reason to be now that I was right that Nick was into me, but still. It's just weird, because I don't know if it's worth it. Like, remember my ex, Patrick? I think I introduced you to him once, but whatever. He was a really nice guy, super cute, my dad loved him, and he was an investment banker or something, so he had his life together, basically. But I got bored, and I always get bored. Nick obviously isn't like, a guy that I would normally go for, but I get bored of everyone. I feel like I'm emotionally available or something. Ugh, it really sucks. Like, I like the chase but then when I win the prize, I'm already over it." Now, Chanel didn't need to be the one apologizing for rambling. "Like, I'm not going to get over it until I have it, so I guess I should just go for it anyway and talk to him like you said, but I feel like I would be a literal homewrecker if I had him break up with her, and then I dump him," she added, as if she really was in control of the situation that fully. As if she could snap her fingers, and Nick would leave Brooklyn and be by her side.
She was too focused on Chanel to acknowledge the cashier when it was their turn and she asked them how they were. Cara only pulled out her credit card and sat it down on the counter for the woman to swipe when she finished ringing everything. "And I know I probably sound so shallow for saying this, but I don't know if I'm the kind of person can look past him being...," she paused, unsure of what she wanted to say. Poor? A drug dealer? Uneducated (even though she didn't have a college degree either)? "That different from me," she eventually chose. "I don't know if I could ever seriously be with someone like that."