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A New York Life

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Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Roman was mostly oblivious to what was going on between Brooke and Nick. While he didn't know that Nick had slept with Cara, he did pick up on how something just seemed off between the two. It wasn't until now when Nick sounded somewhat defensive (and then again somewhat not) over what Roman had said that he began to see it. It didn't seem like they were arguing as much, or maybe it was something else? He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he didn't care too much since Nick and Brooke had always had their problems. When he could, Roman tried to stay out of it, but sometimes it was hard because he did care about both of them. He only scoffed and rolled his eyes about Cara. He didn't cause trouble; it wasn't his problem that the girl was a raging bitch and he wasn't going to let her just belittle him. Right off the back, he didn't really like her, but it wasn't enough to where he would go out of his way to start conflict. He'd just stick to keeping a distance, as he usually did in an attempt to not cause confrontation. After a while, though, he got quite fed up with her, and she was one of the few people who could really bother the hell out of him; this in itself was aggravating. He couldn't give a damn about their Thanksgiving dinner, especially when Cara was hosting it and even more so when he knew he wasn't invited. He'd have to figure out what to do around that time since he didn't know who all she was inviting--if some of her equally pretentious friends were coming as well. But why is she even having it here? he wondered. Roman shook his head as he finished his breakfast; he didn't care enough to wonder any further.

The texts from Hannah were just an array of swears and letting him know he 'left his fucking jacket' and how he needed to come get it unless he wanted it to be 'in the trash where he belonged.' Normally he'd have ignored her. He would get his jacket later, as he had many, and he wasn't about to make the twenty minute trek back to her place just to get yelled out, and possibly hit, all over. Would she even still be there? Still, though, because he was in a spiteful mood now that the playfulness he was in had vanished, he decided to send a message back.

To: Hannah
tell your fam I said cheers, alright?

After he'd washed his plate and gone back to his room, his phone vibrated and Hannah's name appeared on the screen. He smirked at the 'fuck you' her message read before tossing his phone on the bed and going to take a shower. He felt gross because he'd sweat in his sleep, but also because he still had cinnamon milk residue on him. The shower was cold, as it had a tendency to be, not because the hot water didn't work (which was sometimes the case), but by his own accord. He didn't particularly care for very hot showers, although there were occasions where he preferred them, like if he was really sore after a fight. Sometimes it felt as though the heat were burning the tenderness out of his muscles. More of than not, and like now, his showers were cool to lukewarm. He always found himself to be too heat. While he'd remained in the Northeast of America since coming and didn't find the temperature to be too drastically different from London, it was still too warm for his liking. Even in the summer where it could be quite moderate in most people's opinions, Roman was usually too hot. If it ever got to be too bad, he would just think of the time he went to Florida when he was fifteen and how he was convinced that he was going to die from a heat stroke.

Refreshed, clean, and with a new pair of clothes after about ten minutes, he was ready to head out. When Roman grabbed his phone again with the intention of texting Nick to let him know that he was coming, he saw Nick's earlier text about the movie, to which Killens had never given him an answer. If he wasn't mistaken, the couple usually did their own thing on Thanksgiving, so it struck him as a little odd that he was being asked to go. His mind went straight to Brooklyn then. How she, for whatever bloody reason, thought it necessary enough to wake him up just so he could be around Nick. He didn't suppose she'd really make Nick invite him to the movies, as he imagined she'd want some private time with her boyfriend. But even for Nick, it seemed kind of odd. It could have been because they just seemed worried about him, what with having been out of the apartment for a few days without prior word. Instead of trying to play detective, he decided he'd just ask her. He could just as easily talk to Nick as well, but Brooke was more upfront, close by, and she'd retreated so quietly to her room that it was somewhat concerning. While the two of them had a playful relationship and rarely ever vocalized their worry for the other, it didn't prevent it from happening. He was sure she was okay, but still. Just to make sure. So after he grabbed the last beer from the fridge, he knocked on her bedroom door.

Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Marie Casanova
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Normally Isaac wouldn't think twice about letting himself into someones place, but it felt a little strange to just open up the door to 5B without any kind of warning. Especially since it was midday; so he checked his phone again, to make sure he had the right apartment. He did, but before he had to make a decision himself, Marie was in front of him and opening the door.

He followed in after her, smelling something baking almost immediately and hearing some kind of cartoon. He arched an eyebrow, wondering how many people had already lit up, but when the living area came into view it was only a young redhead sitting in front of the tv. He recognized her, knew her name was Holly - only because sometimes in the hallway she commented on something he was carrying (and once his Wonder Woman teeshirt) and the woman she'd been with had said her name in exasperation before a full blown conversation could start. But that was about as far as that went.

He also knew she couldn't be much older than fifteen or sixteen, so while Marie was telling the kid hi, Isaac just made his way through the apartment towards the bedrooms. One door was open, one door Marie disappeared into, and so he took his chances with the last, giving it a knock before drawing it open just wide enough to peak. He grinned when he saw Nick, and nodded to the girl whose room he was probably in. He thought her name started with a M...Michelle? No, something closer to McKenzie? He let himself in then, gently pushing the door shut behind him.

"Hey," he greeted with a grin, then glanced up at the girl. "Sorry for just, like, letting myself in your place. But yo, Nick said something about buds on the house so, ya know."

Given that they had already packed, Isaac felt a little late to the party, but he didn't let that stop him. He just picked a spot on the floor to sit between the two beds - seemed less invasive that way, if not the most roomy - and glanced around until he saw the bag of weed sitting next to Michelle-McKenzie-McWhatever. He grinned and made grabby hands like the child he definitely was (especially on Adderall). "Hit me up, girl."

Setting

7 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Marie Casanova Character Portrait: Collin King Character Portrait: Isaac Rankin Character Portrait: Oliver Carver
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(Collaboration with Bandit)

"Yeah, yeah, Isaac's always chill," Nick reassured Makayla when she gave the approval for him to come. It wasn't always true, but that was usually when he was taking uppers. He didn't know if Isaac would want to mix something like that with the weed, but then again, when free weed was on the table, most people would feel compelled to take him up on the offer no matter what else was in their system. He took a hit before answering her question, about what they were doing for Thanksgiving. He thought that Makayla, out of everyone, had no way of knowing about what he had done with Cara, so he felt stupid for being paranoid and thinking that she somehow knew. If he wasn't sure of the quality of his weed, he would try to tell himself that maybe it was the weed that was making him paranoid, but this was something he had been feeling consistently for the past three weeks. "Brooke wants to eat with you guys, yeah," he began, taking one more hit, letting the smoke remain in his lungs for a good few seconds before finally exhaling. "So we'll probably stick around for a little, eat, and then head out. We always do the movies on Thanksgiving, so we're going to go see the James Bond movie that's out." A lot of the time when he was high, Nick felt more inclined to talk. Even though he was comfortable around Makayla sober, he was pretty quiet in general, and small talk wasn't his forte. Smoking opened him up to a degree, though, so just talking casually about nothing didn't feel strained. "Those cupcakes smell good, so I'll try to get her to stick around for dessert too. It's not even one and she's already drinking, so for all I know, she'll be passed out before we can even get to the theater. We're just gonna play it by ear, I guess."

Unlike Nick, Makayla tended to zone out more while high. It was what she did to relax, so that was really the only thing she wanted to do while smoking. Nick's conversation never bothered her, and didn't bother her now, but she mostly just nodded along. She wasn't going to push the topic of it being Cara's dinner, and how that would be with Brooke there because it wasn't her job to police Nick's behavior or tell him that she knew. They weren't that close, and as long as he hooked her up with free weed occasionally, Makayla would turn a blind eye to him being a murderer if it came to that, so being a cheater wasn't a huge deal. Her main goal at the moment was to get high enough where she could survive, and possibly even enjoy the rest of the day, but she knew that she needed to do it quickly. She didn't want to be doing this if her roommates came back, especially since she had left Holly to watch their television. No matter how many times they said they didn't mind Holly using it, Makayla did feel guilty when she wasn't helping to pay for it. It would only make her feel worse if she was letting Holly use it while she got high. Makayla was used to smoking quickly, and she usually took toke after toke until her bowl was empty. Sometimes it took three minutes, sometimes ten, depending on just how fast she was going. Her first bowl took five minutes, and just as Isaac came in, she reloaded it. One more couldn't hurt.

She tossed him the bag when she was finished, and spent the next fifteen minutes on the second bowl. She wanted this high to last, and she knew that once she finished this bowl, she was going to have to go check on Holly. If everything was still okay, she figured that she could get away with coming back to smoke one more. It would seem like a lot of weed for such a petite girl, in such a small amount of time, but Makayla had been smoking since she was fifteen or sixteen, and she was used to smoking a lot. She hadn't engaged much in the small talk that Nick and Isaac were in, so when there was a pause, she set her pipe down and got up from the bed. "I'm going to go check on my sister. Isaac, you should treat us to pizza since Nick covered the weed," she said teasingly. She definitely wasn't close with Isaac and had only remembered his name when Nick said in during the conversation, but when you smoked with people, it was a bit of a bonding experience. It was one that likely wouldn't extend past the duration of being high, but she didn't feel weird pushing the offer playfully. That toast from earlier wasn't going to keep her munchies at bay. Before leaving the room, she doused herself and the room in general with Febreeze, knowing that it still wasn't likely to cover the smell considering the amount they were smoking. She considered trying out some eye drops on her eyes, but thought that it was just Holly in the apartment, and Holly wasn't going to be observant enough to notice them being bloodshot.

"Dude, that girl can smoke," Nick laughed when Makayla left the room. His bag of weed was basically depleted at that point. Roman wasn't even on his mind anymore, since Nick figured he was no longer coming, but if he did, he was going to be disappointed. Nick tended to be generous when he was high, but even he knew that he couldn't get away with giving out anymore free weed at the moment. Brooklyn would kill him, and it would hurt his own wallet. "You going to Cara's too later? Pizza sounds good right about now, but I'm stoked for that turkey."

A few steps out of the room and Makayla realized that it wasn't just Holly in there. She heard voices and as she turned the corner, found Marie and Collin sitting on the couch with Holly. Fuck! She had no idea how long they had been out there or if they knew what was going on in their room. It probably wasn't a huge deal. Marijuana was much more accepted than other drugs, but it just went back to the point of Makayla not wanting her roommates to think of her that way. At the same time, in her state, she couldn't find it in her to be too bothered by it. A natural smile appeared on her face as she waved to them and then looked over at Holly who seemed consumed by the TV. "Hey Marie," she said. She knew Collin mostly just from seeing him in the apartment sometimes with Marie, but she didn't think it was necessary to specifically greet him. "Holly, let them watch the TV now. They don't want to watch this," she said as she rounded the corner and saw that a cartoon was playing on the screen. By the way that Collin was sitting with Marie, she assumed that they were trying to get cozy and she didn't need Holly getting in the way with that. "Come and ice your cupcakes, leave them be for now. Nick and Isaac and I are almost finished with our work, so I'll come help you in a few minutes," she continued, walking into the kitchen to check on the cupcakes. They really did smell good and she was so tempted to just eat one, but she knew Holly would make a big deal out of it. Isaac was going to need to order that pizza, and soon. She grabbed the icing and a knife and left them on the counter for Holly, who she turned to tell once more to get off of the couch when she heard a knocking at the door. It was only a few feet away, so she opened it without waiting for Marie to. The boy on the other side was familiar to her too as a neighbor, but she didn't know her name off of the top of her head. "Oh, uh, Marie, he must be here for you," she said, looking at the boy for another moment before somewhat awkwardly turning away and leaving him in the doorway.

Setting

5 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Marie Casanova Character Portrait: Collin King Character Portrait: Oliver Carver
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#, as written by Caille
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Marie had been sitting comfortably on the couch. Upon asking what the girl was watching she had responded that she had been watching Phineas and Ferb. A show that Marie wasn't hugely familiar with, but she knew it just based on Holly in general. Marie couldn't help the soft spot that she felt for the girl. She was just so naive and she had a rough life from what Marie could remember of the bits and pieces she had heard. Either way Holly began talking about the show and about Ferb in particular. Marie listened intently and was engaged in the conversation she was having with Holly.

At the mention of Ferb speaking like Roman, Marie couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "You know, he kinda does." Marie said in agreement with an amused smile on her face. Holly really was the safe place for Marie. Marie didn't have to worry about building herself up to be someone grand. She could just be less guarded around the girl and it was nice to have that in her life. Something she hasn't really had for a long time. Holly had gone off on a rant, but Marie had followed.

Shaking her head she responded to Holly, "I don't think he is adopted. Doesn't he sound a bit like the dad?" Marie asked hoping she had remembered correctly. The dad wasn't in every episode, but he showed up from time to time. Soon Collin had walked in and made a remark on the cupcakes being awesome. Holly had got concerned that Collin would eat them, and informed Marie that they were for Cara's later. Nodding Marie was about to tell Collin not to touch them, when he came and sat down on the couch with them. His legs had been resting on hers, and Holly had asked if she was going to Cara's or rather had been invited.

"Don't you worry Holly, I'll be there, and then I can try one of your delicious cupcakes." She said with a grin. She felt her phone vibrate in her hand, but just as she was about to look at it, she heard someone coming. She turned her head and had seen it was Makayla. "Hey Makayla." She responded. Marie knew what people looked like high, and she could see the red in her eyes. However Marie also knew that was where Isaac had gone to, just Marie wasn't that into marijuana at this point in her life. When she was a teenager, yea, but now, no.

Listening to the girl tell her sister that the TV should be left to her and Collin, Marie checked her phone and grinned. Once Makayla left, she turned to Holly, "Hey, it's okay. I like to watch a good cartoon from time to time. Have you ever seen Curious George? It's pretty great to. Also feel free to watch TV, I don't mind. I'm hardly home to watch it anyways." Marie said reassuring the girl it was alright if she wanted to continue watching. Marie was about to reply to Collin when Oliver had come in as well.

"Oh, hey Oli!" She said and then looked to Holly. "Holly, this is Collin, and this is Oliver. Guys this is Holly." She said pointing to the right person in correspondence with their name. While she gave them time to say hi to each other she looked back down to her phone and responded back to Collin.


To Collin:
"Someone's in the giving spirit ;)"

Setting

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Within a couple of minutes, Brooklyn had went from sitting on the edge of her bed with her drink in hand, to changing back into pajamas and getting into bed. She was tucked in under the covers, but sat up enough so that her drink wouldn't spill as she sipped it and watched Netflix on her phone. She was about halfway into her Friends episode when there was a knock at the door. Was Nick back so soon? She supposed that it was possible that he had taken this new, good boyfriend persona to an all time high and had went and got her the vodka she had asked for before making his deals, but it seemed unlikely. Then she wondered if it was Cara, maybe back from wherever Ryan had said she and Chanel were. She hoped it wasn't, only because it was still true that as each day passed, her tolerance for Cara was growing slimmer and slimmer. It was only going to be a matter of time before the two were alone and the other blonde said something wrong, and Brooklyn just wouldn't be able to hold back. "Yeah?" she called through the closed door. Roman was the most plausible person who was on the other side, but he didn't even cross her mind as she waited for a response. By now, she would have assumed that he would have been out with Nick, but she was failing to remember the state she had shaken him out of bed in.

"It's me," Roman said upon hearing Brooke's voice on the other side. After opening the door, he peeked his head inside, noticing she was in her bed and in her pajamas, looking as though it were ten at night instead of it actually being the middle of the day. "You look comfy," he said as he entered, closing the door behind him. He looked around the room from where he stood. It wasn't his first time being in there, but he never really had any business in there to begin with, so it was still kind of odd for him. After a moment, he looked over to her. "You know I was kidding earlier; about you being up my ass and all." He made his way over to the bed and sat down next to her. "Nick seemed a bit..." Instead of finishing his sentence, he wavered his head side to side some and made a slight face. He couldn't quite put the word to it, and maybe it was because he was over-complicating thing. While with most people he hardly paid any attention to them or their well-being, Nick and Brooke were different. He was more sensitive to them in most regards, and so while it would seem out of character for Roman to think so deeply about it, it really only spoke to how close he was to the two of them. With Nick, there were few surprises, and just as few words. It was probably why Roman couldn't quite place what seemed off, but he told himself that perhaps it was in his head.

Hearing Roman's voice, she relaxed a bit, knowing that she didn't need to rip out any of Cara's hair in the next five minutes. She wasn't sure why he was knocking on her door or trying to talk to her, and she just wanted him to get to the point, so she didn't respond to his remark about her looking comfortable. Her eyes followed him as he walked in and settled in one spot before starting up about their earlier exchange, and referring to Nick's response to it. "Obviously I know you were kidding," she said, rolling her eyes. Joking around and purposely getting under each other's skin made up the entirety of her relationship with Roman. She didn't like getting deep like this, and she knew he didn't either. She would worry about him, but she wouldn't worry about him to him. It made her feel uncomfortable and vulnerable when she knew that people knew she cared about them. Even with Nick, it had taken her a while to get to a point where she was okay with being all lovey and intimate. "He's fine," she added, regarding his visual of how he felt Nick acted. "Why didn't you go with him, though?" she continued, sipping from her drink. It was almost empty. When she did get Roman to leave, she was going to make sure that liquor store visit was something he reminded Nick about.

"I just haven't left yet. Why are you so pressed for me to hang with him today? He invited me to the movies with you guys later, so I guess that's your doing too?"

She shook her head and finished the rest of her drink, suddenly deciding that she was over this conversation, though it hadn't even existed for more than thirty seconds. She really wasn't pressed about them hanging out. If Roman really didn't want to go, he didn't need to. Nick was already gone, so it wasn't like he was keeping him out of any trouble now, and for the moment, her good sentiment towards Roman, wanting to get him doing things, was gone. "I''m not pressed. Sorry for thinking that you might want to hang out with him, after I've hogged him for the past three days. Apparently, he's a popular guy in this apartment, but I guess you're over it. You guys can go to the movies on your own, because I'm over that." She was being dramatic and moody, and she knew it very well, but she didn't care. That was how Brooklyn was. She shut down very quickly, and she snapped on people for no reason.

Killens couldn't help but roll his eyes at Brooke. At first he was confused by the sudden shift in the room, but then he remembered who it was he was talking to. His first reaction was to be annoyed, and he audibly scoffed at her as she spoke. But then, for one reason or another, he found himself smirking and shaking his head to himself. It wasn't so much in a sarcastic way than it was because he was amused. Sure, it was still annoying as hell since she took things out of proportion, but after knowing her for a couple of years, it didn't always get to him like it used to. There was also the fact that his tiredness had him a bit more lethargic and indifferent than he normally would be if he was wide awake. Still, though, that wasn't going to keep him from picking right back at her. Just as Brooke didn't like to call it quits, neither did Roman, especially when, at least in his mind, he didn't do anything. So with a slight bitterness now in his tone, he said, "Would you chill the fuck out for five bloody seconds?" Trying to be angrier than he actually was, Roman snatched Brooke's phone out of her hand and tossed it to opposite end of the bed. "Go to the movies with your damn boyfriend. I was just asking a question."

Brooklyn's mood only worsened when Roman had the audacity to take her phone right out of her hands, and she considered getting up to punch him for it, but it wasn't worth it. She just looked at him with raised eyebrows and said, "Wow, that's something that you're really going to regret, bitch." It was meant as a threat and maybe a challenge too, but she didn't truly have the energy to fight at the moment. Thankfully, Roman stood up, just as done with the conversation as Brooke appeared to be. He knew they could both take this to a level that it really didn't need to be at, and right now he wasn't in a petty enough mood to spite her more than he probably already had. So without saying another word, he left and headed to 5B.

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Isaac Rankin
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Normally, when Isaac smoked, he got kind of sleepy and started questioning the meaning of the universe (or coming up with his own meaning of the universe). One of his friends actually had him on tape, talking about Scooby Doo and really asking the deep philosophical questions of: But, like, are the endings to Scooby Doo episodes not actually scary, because it's always people that are the bad guys? Or, like, does that make it extra terrifying because that means monsters actually do exist, but they look like you and me? Not, like, dog-people...dog...werewolves! He kind of regretted that one. A lot.

But Adderall picked his mood up, and was actually pretty safe to mix with weed, so the only side effects he ended up with was that his heart-rate slowed down a little and he was much, much more talkative. Which put him on about Nick's level. For fifteen minutes they had an easy going, quick passed conversation and Isaac choked on an inhale more than once. He was in a damn good mood - a little fuzzy around the edges, thanks to the alcohol - but much better than when he'd woken up that morning feeling like death. Still, he didn't smoke much. Mostly because Makayla (he learned her name somewhere in their chatter, but couldn't place where exactly) went through a lot of it, and he actually didn't need the high - just liked it.

When she called it quits, and mentioned pizza, Isaac's eyes went wide because that was a fantastic idea. He usually forgot to eat when he was on stimulants (especially Adderall) so he was actually glad for the munchies. Especially because he'd slept through breakfast, lunch had been canceled, and he was vaguely sure the last time he'd actually eaten was the day before yesterday. He was already digging his phone out when Makayla started spraying smell-good shit everywhere, and Isaac tried - with all the uncoordinated of being high - to doge out of the way of any of that crap. He was wearing cologne, for fucks sake, that didn't happen often and he didn't want it covered up. Even if he didn't actually have a reason to still be wearing it, at this point.

He snorted a little at Nick's comment once she left the room. "Fuck yeah she can. I'm kind of regretting the fact that I've never chilled with her before. Seems like my kinda person." He knew he had the pizza place saved somewhere in his phone...the one just around the block that usually delivered pretty quickly. He just couldn't find it. Downside of substance abusive...eventually, he got the right one, lifted the phone to his ear and gave Nick a disbelieving look. "Yeah. Right. Like Cara Forrester is inviting me anywhere. I'm ordering pizza man, you can eat or not."

Honestly, Isaac didn't interact enough with Cara to warrant having a negative-relationship with her. It wasn't like she hung out with anyone he did and purposely cut him out of things or anything like that. He just...didn't like her much. He knew where she came from, it was obvious she was of higher class than all of them, Isaac felt like the white trash he was raised in when they even shared the hallway at the same time with her, and in addition to all that - Roman talked about her, complained really, that she was a pain in his ass. The last thing that girl needed was another druggie in her face, and he last thing Isaac needed was another person telling him to get his shit together. Or that he wasn't worth her time. Which he wasn't, but still, he didn't need to be told that. So instead, he just avoided her. The only people he even knew in her apartment were Roman and Nick...both of whom he hung out with only with the addition of illegal substances. So no, not exactly 'getting invited for thanksgiving dinner' friends.

The pizza place picked up then, and Isaac rattled off everything he wanted: a large bbq lovers, a large meat lovers, a medium cheese, two breadstick orders, and four large orders of potato wedges. Enough to feed everyone (including the kid, and possibly Collin and Marie, he thought he heard Ollie's voice earlier) because that was only polite. Besides, if they didn't finish it, the three boys in 5A eventually would.

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester
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After getting home with their groceries, Cara ended up leaving the apartment two more times. The first was just to go down the block to the liquor store, where she picked up a coupe hundred dollars worth of alcohol. The word "overboard" didn't exist to her today. She had never hosted a party at her apartment before (mostly because her friends would think she was poverty-stricken if they saw that this was where she lived) so she wanted to go big for her first party, even if it just was for some of her neighbors. The second trip was to CVS where she picked up sodas and juices to act as mixers, and some chips and snacks in case their turkey failed miserably. Cara had given that task (and most of the actual cooking in general) to Chanel, and had forced Ryan into participating as well. Her father's assistant had pulled through with the desserts, bringing over an assortment of pies, cookies and brownies from Magnolia Bakery, and Cara felt like that was her job. That, and figuring out how she wanted to set up the table. With a glass of wine in hand, she shamelessly spent a good portion of the next three hours arranging plates and glasses, and then pulling them away when she decided it looked "classless" or "disgusting". She watched countless Martha Stewart videos and scanned Pinterest, but she wasn't working with enough time and hadn't thought to run into Pier 1 or any home decorating stores while they were out. She was unsure if any would even be open, so by four-thirty, she decided that she would have to accept that this was going to be a party with standards no higher than its guest, and she worked with what she had to put together a very simple tablescape.

She had originally wanted the meal to be ready by five o'clock, but it was five o'clock now and the turkey wasn't even out of the oven yet. Ryan had taken over that job while Chanel went back to her apartment to cook something in that oven, and it was far easier for Cara to get impatient with her brother than her friend. Even after he insisted that it only had a couple minutes left in the oven, she felt restless. She had pushed back the time for Makayla and Holly to come over from four-thirty to five, and she knew she couldn't tell them to wait another half hour. So, she accepted the fact that she was going to have to socialize before they ate. That was fine. No matter how much shit she talked, she really did like Makayla, and Holly too. She had her wine, and that would definitely help, and Nick had said that he and Brooklyn were going to come out to hang out soon too. Things would be fine, she told herself. Maybe even fun.

"Hey, by the way, I invited Oliver and I think he's bringing a couple of his friends, so just make sure that you set a spot for four more people, okay?"

"Um... no, that's actually not okay, Ryan. Are you kidding me? Four more people this last minute? Tell them to head down to the soup kitchen, because they're not eating here," she scoffed before letting out a sarcastic chuckle as if her brother really had to be insane to suggest something like that right now.

"Come on, Cara. You bought a turkey that's big enough to feed twenty people, and four more people can't come? You really want that on your conscience; knowing that they didn't get to have a decent Thanksgiving dinner because of you?"

"I promise I won't lose any sleep over it," she reassured him.

Ryan rolled his eyes. This was all too typical of his sister, and the reason why she brazenly had discussed the dinner plans to Nick and Brooklyn, right in front of Roman, earlier, without inviting him. Ryan wasn't close to Roman, just like he wasn't close to Collin or Marie or Isaac, but he had enough of a heart to know that that was wrong. "They're coming, Cara. Roman too, or I'll take them back to dad's and we'll all eat there." He knew his sister was dramatic enough to think that threat would be a low blow, but he met her gaze with a challenging one of his own.

"Fine," she said after a long pause, turning away from Ryan and walking towards the island where she sat down in front of her phone. "Your leeching friends can come, but when they eat all of the food and Holly starves to death because of it, or when they stab her with an HIV-positive needle, you can lose sleep over that." Just as soon as she said that, she unlocked her phone to text Chanel the horrible update.

To: Chanel
So Ryan invited Roman AND the girl you live with AND Collin AND the two other weirdos he lives with. AKA all of our hard work was a waste, because we're basically feeding the salvation army's crowd. Literally unbelievable. This is what I get for being a good person. But more importantly, where are you? Bring over whatever you're cooking now!! Before I finish all six of these bottles of wine by myself!!!! Turkey should be ready in 5 and Ryan watched a Youtube video on how to cut it so hopefully he doesn't screw it up.

It was five o'clock on the dot. She was surprised that Makayla and Holly hadn't shown up a few minutes early, and at this point, aside from Nick, they were going to be her favorite guests, so she was looking forward to their arrival more than anyone else's.

Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester
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Just as she finished winging her eyes, her phone vibrated. Chanel pulled the mirror close to her face, critically observing each eye to make sure they looked as similar as possible. Luckily, she was pleased, and it was good thing since she wouldn't have had a choice but to leave them how they were once she read Cara's text message. Shit! she thought. The banana pudding! She yanked her door open and rushed into the kitchen, an aromatic influx of banana and whipped cream filling the area. The scent beat against her face in a gust of warmth as she opened the oven and sighed immediately after--thankfully, it was a sigh of relief. The pudding looked great. A light brown on the top and not too soupy. Yes, this was perfect. She'd have to let it cool for a little bit, but judging from Cara's text, there wasn't much time for that. Afraid that Cara was already pulling her hair out, Chanel sent a text back as she went to her room to retrieve her shoes and make sure she didn't need to do any more touch ups to her face.

To: Cara
Okay, okay. First: put the wine down. Second, there's an upside to this! Roman's coming? Xanax for days. No stress necessary. Collin and Marie are coming? Probably gonna be too busy fucking. The other two whose names I can't remember are gonna be there? Just more people to see your beautiful face!!! I'll be over in three seconds. The pudding just came out and it's hot as hell (like you ;D). STOP DRINKING WINE!!!

Chanel's heart was pumping faster, but she didn't break a sweat. She fed off of this kind of pressure, at least during the holidays. What would the holidays be without the sweat and bustle? Well, maybe not the sweat so much. She was not trying to sweat out her makeup. The salad, mashed potatoes, and the rolls were all complete. She'd made a sweet sauce that her family always drizzled on their ham at Thanksgiving dinner. It was really nothing special. Just a very light syrup that was mostly honey, but still pretty good. At least to her. Chanel left the pudding on the counter, deciding she'd just come back for it. She grabbed what she could and headed out into the hallway. Once she was outside Cara's door, she realized that she hadn't thought this out completely through. Her hands were too full to knock, so she was left with using her forehead instead. After 'knocking' three times, a figure appeared near her. She glanced to the side to see Roman approaching before stopping mid-step, his brow gradually raising. "Um..." he said. Chanel opened her mouth to explain but he only held up his hand slightly to silence her. "No, just..." Without finishing his sentence, his just shook his head. After opening the door, he grabbed the bowl of salad that was balanced on top of the container of mashed potatoes. Chanel sighed at the decrease in weight and smiled widely at him. "Thanks," she said. He only nodded silently.

She followed him inside and placed the dishes on the island, just as he did. Much to her relief, the place wasn't overrun by a stream of smoking coming from the oven and it didn't smell as though something was burning. This might actually go according to plan. "I come with presents!" Chanel exclaimed. She smiled widely at Cara and Ryan as she readjusted the dishes on the counter. The girl was sitting at the island, glass in hand, looking like she could definitely use a pick me up. Chanel rounded the counter, wrapping her arm around Cara's shoulder. "This looks great, it smells great, you smell great. Honestly, I'm climaxing over how amazing this dinner is going to be. Also, you're beautiful and I love you. And I'm taking this away from you," she began as she took the glass of wine from Cara. "before you get so tipsy that Roman and I have to drag you to bed. Isn't that right, Roman?" she said, trying to be inclusive. He didn't seem to accept her invitation as he looked up from his phone with his brow raised. He glanced at Chanel and then Cara for a second before returning to whatever it is he was doing. "Okay," Chanel said. "Then stop drinking before I have to drag you to bed because you got too drunk. Now, what do you need to me do? I still have to go and get the pudding, but after that, anything?"

Setting

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester
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After texting Chanel, Cara had a quick change of heart on her outfit. At first, she had on a pair of dark jeans and a cream colored cardigan. It was simple and conservative, an everyday outfit for her. On Thanksgiving, she was normally celebrating with family in the Upper East Side which automatically would have warranted a fancier, yet still conservative outfit. Today's Thanksgiving was a whole new thing for her, so at the last minute, she decided she could change her style to fit the occasion too. It wasn't like her grandmother was going to be there to offend, and usually, when she dressed up more, she felt more confident and happy. Her hair and makeup were already done, so all it took was five minutes in her bedroom to change out of that outfit and into a textured black dress, with some black bracelets to match. It didn't scream Thanksgiving, but Cara thought she looked perfect, and if Ryan or anyone else wanted to make a comment, she would remind them that it was a long sleeved dress, and that it wasn't her fault that she had long legs that made any dress look short. She could claim all she wanted that the outfit switch was simply to boost her own mood, but it may have also had to do something with the sight of Brooklyn earlier. The girl was in pajamas, not done up at all, and yet she still looked attractive. Cara had an ego every day of the week, but like anyone else, she also had insecurities, and even considering the possibility that she was competing with a girl as beautiful as Brooklyn made her feel like she needed to step up her game.

When she finished dressing, she returned to the kitchen and found Chanel's text message waiting for her. Ignoring the last sentence, it was impossible for her to not giggle quietly to herself at her friend's message. Chanel was so... Cara didn't even know how to describe her. She was lively. A breath of fresh air. It wasn't like she was so different from the girls that Cara normally hung out with, to a point where she had nothing in common with her. If that were the case, Cara never would have considered befriending her in the first place. She was just different though. She had a level of energy that was different, and the way that she rarely seemed to let other people's bad moods discourage her from being positive was admirable too.

"Tick, tock, Ryan! It'd be great if the turkey was ready before Easter."

"Shit, Cara, would you stop acting like such a damn princess?" Ryan snapped. His voice wasn't as sharp as he wanted it to be because he wasn't a cutthroat person to begin with, but his sister knew how to push him more than anyone else. She was the definition of a princess, really. A girl who was coddled her whole life to a point where she either couldn't do anything on her own, or she just refused to because she expected other people to do it for her. She could be demanding, nasty and thoughtless, and today of all days, when he could have been sitting in his family's gorgeous penthouse inhaling a professionally made meal, he didn't have the patience for it.

"You ruined my party, so no," she responded, her face vibrant with the offense she was feeling. How dare her brother curse at her, when her bad mood was completely his fault?! First he invited over his misfit friends, and now he was trying to be Wolfgang Puck by pulling the turkey out and putting it back in every two minutes, as if it was really going to make that much of a different. Did he not realize they were on a schedule?

He rolled his eyes. Arguing with Cara was pointless, because she was so childish that she always had to have the last word. Another minute went by before his timer officially went off, and with a little bit of struggle considering the weight of the dish, he pulled the turkey out to rest on the top of the oven. As he had told Cara earlier that day, he was no chef. It looked good and it smelled good, but if for some reason it didn't turn out good, he wasn't taking the blame.

Talking to Ryan and watching him potentially screw up her Thanksgiving had distracted her from Chanel coming in, and she only noticed her friend when Roman had walked across her line of sight to set a bowl down in front of her, and then heard Chanel's voice. His presence usually brought out a scowl from her, and Chanel's would usually bring a smile, so they evened each other out to leave her straight faced, and sipping her wine to keep herself from saying anything for the moment. She set it down as Chanel wrapped her arm around her, and then, decided to smile. It lasted for only a few seconds though, because Chanel insisted on acknowledging Roman, and the thought of her ever needing his help made her want to laugh out loud. The only time he would ever be touching her, nonetheless dragging her somewhere, was if he had put a date rape drug in her drink, and she was knocked out cold, or if he killed her. With how low she thought of him, neither of the two seemed too far fetched in her mind. She only allowed Chanel to take her glass because she knew she could pick it back up once the party began and everyone else started drinking too. "Get your pudding, get a glass of wine, and that's it. Ryan's got everything under control. Like I said, he ruined the night by inviting the cast of American Horror Story: Freakshow to dinner, so it's whatever. He's got it taken care of, and if we all end up with Hepatitis A through C by seven PM, I guess we're just going to have to live with it."

Chanel laughed, and reassured Cara that everything was probably going to be okay, reminding Cara of why she loved the girl once more. "But that's not going to happen, so we don't need to worry about that. The table looks great, the food is perfect, and everything's gone according to plan so far." It could have been a cute friend moment, with Cara standing up to give Chanel a quick hug before sending her out to get that pudding, but the resident drug addict had to look up from his phone and open his mouth, as if anyone had been talking to him. "She's right. Now the only thing you have to worry about is your attitude ruining everything."

Cara wasn't really used to being challenged, so when Roman had begun to bite back at her own biting comments months ago, she didn't know how to react really. Sometimes she'd just allow her mouth to hang agape, in an "is he really serious?" move. Most of the time, she'd come up with something to spit back at him, and if she felt like it was one of her weaker comebacks, she'd automatically spin away and roll her eyes, muttering something abut how he wasn't even worth her time. Between their different schedules, Cara spending a lot of time out of the apartment and Roman doing the same, the two weren't fighting 24/7, but when they were in the same room, they tended to be. Fighting wasn't even usually the word. It was just snapping back and forth at each other until one decided to be the bigger person and walk away. Cara wasn't in the mood to be that person today. She stood up and carefully pulled her wine glass back from Chanel, as if it was some weapon that was necessary in the moment. "Why don't you just leave before you ruin my night and yours?" Okay, that was definitely one of her weaker remarks, but it wasn't one that was supposed to kill him.

The way he responded only infuriated Cara more. He had the audacity to not only put his dirty, disease-filled hands into the salad and grab a leaf to chew on, but he laughed and said, "Now what fun would that be?" She was easily fired up, and bothering her wasn't a difficult task, so a scowl instantly appeared on her face. Chanel grabbed her arm before she could say or do anything, and interjected with, "Hey. I know it's the season of giving, but I'm gonna need you two to not go at each other's necks until after Chanel has had some bird, okay?"

"Fine," Cara responded, as if she would patiently wait until that time to kill him. She shot Roman a glare, feeling it intensify as soon as she spotted his smirk again. "But for the record, no one wants you here, so it's just embarrassing that you're staying. Literally so embarrassing for yourself." She turned away from him immediately at that, as if she had the power to just end the conversation, and took another sip of her wine before rolling her eyes towards Chanel, but meaning it to refer to Roman's behavior. "Be quick," she said, meaning when she went to get the pudding. "I really just can't even deal with this."

Setting

6 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester
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"Come on, Kay!" Holly said, rapping on the bathroom door that she sat outside of. Although Makayla had been in there for less than ten minutes while she showered, it felt like three hours to Holly. She didn't know why Makayla needed to shower now, of all times. They were supposed to be at Cara's and Holly had been expressing how excited she was to go all day. After they iced the cupcakes and taken a random trip downstairs to the building manager's apartment, she had gotten dressed in the outfit she had picked out for the dinner. It wasn't anything fancy, just a pair of black leggings, a sweater, scarf, moccasins, and a pair of $2 fake pearl earrings, but Holly was excited over it. After weeks of complaining about how every other girl in her school wore moccasins, Makayla had bought her a pair, but they were hard to wear walking through the busy (and dirty) city streets, so she really only wore them around the apartment. Being able to wear them out, without it really being "out", was fun for her. It was the first time she was wearing the sweater, so that in itself was something Holly could ramble on about for an hour. Cara had bought it for her a couple of days before when they were out at Forever 21, and the scarf had been a gift from Cara too, but one that she had given her out of her own closet, rather than purchasing it. It was new to Holly, and that was all that mattered, but she felt like it wasn't going to feel new anymore if they didn't get over to Cara's soon.

Holly's knocking had been persistent and loud enough for Makayla to hear it for the entire duration of her shower, but unlike most days, she didn't turn off the water for long enough to tell Holly to stop or that she would be done soon. She just didn't have it in her, and it didn't help that she was on the brink of sobbing as she attempted to scrub every inch of her body until her skin felt raw. It was a ritual that she endured every night after she worked, but it was rarely something that she had to do during the day. Prostitution was mostly a nighttime job for her. Doing it during the day was too risky, and there was a smaller clientele pool any time before ten at night anyway. She didn't know if she could call what she had done today, and what she did on a monthly basis, prostitution, but it didn't feel any different from what she did regularly at night.

Every month, Makayla was short on rent money. Paying her share of the $1500 was just impossible. With the cost of living in New York, her phone bill, and just the necessities she needed to keep her and Holly alive, she never ended up with enough money at the end of the month. Most of the time, she was lucky to have half of it. She had gotten by living in the building for close to two years through the agreement she had with the building manager. Whenever he was craving sex, he'd text her, and she'd end up in his apartment sometime that day. Normally, he worked with her to allow her to get there at night when Holly was in bed already, or before she left to work, when Cara had her, but there were times like today, close to the date of the month's rent being due, when he knew he had the power to get her on her knees the minute he was craving it. She couldn't say no unless she wanted to end up homeless with Holly, and today he insisted that he needed her there before five, because he was leaving to eat at a family member's house on the other side of town at five. When it was done and over with, all that she could think was that she was glad Nick's weed had been free, because she would have been more than upset if she had wasted money trying to lift her mood, only to have to endure the one thing that completely shattered it. Every single time. Selling her body to survive was the most dehumanizing thing she had ever done, but for Makayla, there weren't many other options at the moment. She desperately wanted to keep Holly out of the low-income housing units that they had grown up in because it only spelled bad news.

Needless to say, she was in no mood to be socializing after the thirty minutes she spent in his apartment, but she knew that she had to. So, she made sure that Holly was dressed and ready, and then hopped into the shower, hoping to use the few minutes of alone time to collect herself and rid herself of the slimy feeling that unwanted sex left her with. It didn't do much good, and as Holly's knocking and requests for her to hurry up only increased in volume, she knew she was just going to have to try to survive the night without killing herself. On the bright side, she was sure Cara was going to have alcohol, and that was the only thought that was strong enough to pull her out of the shower and allow her to get dressed before opening the door for Holly. "You need to learn how to be patient, Holly," she said, looking down at her sister who was sitting on the hallway floor. She wanted it to sound scolding, but she didn't have the energy to make it anything more than a monotone statement. She turned back into the bathroom and applied a quick layer of makeup and put her hair into a messy bun, because she didn't have energy for life at the moment, nonetheless dealing with her hair.

"I was trying to be patient, but you were taking too long, and Chanel already took everything out of the oven. I didn't want to be late," Holly explained as she got up and followed Makayla into the kitchen. Chanel and the majority of the food that had turned their marijuana-scented apartment into one that made Holly's mouth water, were gone, only making Holly feel more anxious. "Can I hold the cupcakes?"

"No, just grab the door," Makayla responded, taking the large plate of cupcakes from the counter as they left the kitchen. She didn't need Holly dropping them on the way over there, and she didn't have the patience to even humor the idea. A minute later they were outside 5C's door, and Makayla nodded at Holly to knock on the door. "I don't have it in me today to deal with any attitude, Holl, so be good or we're leaving," she advised. Again, her voice felt shallow, but Makayla meant it. She already wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for ten years straight, so Holly giving her a reason to leave this party was almost a welcomed idea at this point.

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Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn West
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Nick didn't hate dressing up or being formal, it was just that he didn't have the money to afford a lot of nice clothes. The men's section at Forever 21 and H&M treated him and his wallet nicely, and he dabbled with Urban Outfitters' sale racks on occasion too. His style just tended to be more of an urban, street style than one that was preppy or bright. With that in mind, he felt like he did good when he picked out his outfit for the night. As he straightened his shirt in the mirror, he decided that he could lose the hat at the dinner table if Cara was one of those people who cared about formalities like that, but for now, it would stay on. His hair was already dry from the shower he had gotten out of a few minutes ago, and with a spritz of the cologne he knew Brooklyn liked, he felt ready to face the night. It was a night that he wished would just consist of beer, turkey, a movie and sex, but he knew it wasn't going to be that easy. Realistically, it would be a night consisting of beer, turkey, a movie and sex, plus Cara and the extreme tension and awkwardness that came with that, small talk, listening to Cara and Roman go at it, and potentially dealing with Brooklyn being in a bad mood. She had seemed alright when he had come back from Makayla's, but that was probably just because he had been high and was oblivious to a lot of things when he was like that.

They lived in Cara's apartment so it wasn't like they needed to get a cab to this party, or even go across the hall, but Nick felt like he should wait until Brooklyn was ready before going out. Even though the kitchen was down the hall from their room, throughout the day, the smell of cooking food had made its way under their door, making Nick's feelings about going out even more mixed. On one hand, he was the kind of guy who could eat, and eat, and eat. High or not. The smell of freshly baked food had his mouth watering and he thought that if he went out there now, he could grab a roll or something when no one was looking, even if they weren't supposed to eat right away. At the same time, he knew Cara was out there, and he didn't want to be out there alone with her. It would only lead her to want to talk about that night and what they were, even though Nick knew they couldn't be anything. Not when it seemed like maybe he could get things right with Brooke for once.

Brooklyn had showered about thirty minutes before him, but was still in the bathroom primping in front of the mirror when he got out and left to get dressed in their room, and he was sure she was still in there now. He was used to her taking a while to get ready. Before work, she could take an hour or two between the makeup and the hair and all of that. He tried not to mind. About the time it took, and her job in itself, but sometimes it was hard. Especially with the smell of hot turkey basically strangling him at this point. Just as he was standing up with the bathroom as his next destination in mind, the bedroom door opened and she appeared. "There you are," he smiled, quickly following it up with, "You look good." She did. She always did. "You wanna go out and socialize? I kind of want to take you right here, but I know you'd kill me if I messed up your makeup," he smirked, one of his hands sliding around her waist as he kissed her. It was Thanksgiving, so he didn't feel bad thinking that just as much as he wanted to toss her down onto that bed, he wanted to toss a pound of turkey into his mouth.

Setting

8 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester
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Somewhere during her short conversation with Roman, Brooklyn's mood had switched from okay to bad, and she didn't like that. She didn't really care about snapping at Roman, and definitely not to a degree where she would ever apologize, especially since he had been brazen enough to touch her phone, but she didn't like feeling so uptight in general. She knew that she had a reputation of being negative, pessimistic, a bitch, and so on. What others thought of her didn't bother her, but her reputation was primarily true, and it was the fact that she didn't feel happy a lot of the time that bothered her. She didn't care if she treated people poorly so long as she felt content while doing it, but lately, she hadn't been feeling content. Her only solution was to sleep, so after he left her room, she took a nap for a few hours. She woke up feeling a little better, and the long shower she took made her feel like the night might be bearable. She didn't want to give Cara credit for anything, but whatever they were cooking in the kitchen smelled good. When she had walked out their briefly after her nap to get a bottle of water, she noticed that Cara had picked up a ton of alcohol, so there was that too. She felt like she wanted to force Nick to go to the dinner instead of eating out like they normally did, to watch him squirm. He knew that he had slept with Cara, Cara knew that she had slept with Nick, and Brooklyn knew that too, but as far as she knew, neither knew that she knew. That meant that she had the upper hand and could toy with him and maybe even her a little bit. It could be fun, but with those thoughts came the reminder that this wasn't fun and games. Her boyfriend had cheated on her with Cara, so no matter how many mind games she played, she wasn't going to win. She had already lost.

When she returned to her bedroom after getting ready, she found that Nick had gotten himself ready too. She sat her makeup bag on her dresser before walking back towards him. His compliments were nice and appreciated, but the happiness in her smile didn't reach her eyes. She wanted to blame it on just still being groggy from her nap, but the shower had knocked much of that tiredness out of her. "Save that for later," she said before he leaned in to kiss her. She returned it, her hand gliding across the side of his face before she pulled away. "You still want to catch that eight-thirty movie, right?" she said as they left their bedroom and headed into the kitchen. The apartment layout was open enough where the kitchen and living room blended into one, so they had a view of everything but the bedrooms as they headed in. She was surprised to see that Chanel was the only non-resident of the apartment who was there. Brooklyn didn't know the girl very well. Nick had mentioned her once or twice as being someone that he dealt to, Holly had brought her up more than that in her conversations that Brooklyn always tried to put on mute, and she would occasionally see her in the apartment very well, but she didn't know her personally. Being cordial wasn't going to kill her though, so she smiled at her, Ryan, Cara and Roman as they stepped towards the island that they were all standing by. "It smells good in here," she commented, trying to sound as positive and cheerful as was possible without it seeming sarcastic. "And I definitely approve of this," she said with a small laugh as she separated herself from Nick and walked towards the counter where the bottles of drinks were waiting. She poured a 50/50 ratio of rum and Coke into a cup and was back by Nick's side a couple of seconds later.

When there was a knock at the door and she found herself being the closest person to it, she answered it. With her drink in one hand, she used the other to open up the door, unsurprisingly finding Makayla and Holly on the other side. Like Cara, Brooklyn wasn't sure how to treat her relationship with Makayla now. Before Makayla had told Brooklyn that Cara had confided in her about her and Nick, she despised Makayla. She annoyed Brooklyn for no real reason. It was petty and childish, but that was how Brooklyn was sometimes. Now, she felt like she owed Makayla, at least enough to be nice to a point where she'd do her best not to snap at Holly tonight. "Hey," she smiled, stepping aside so they could come in. "Happy Thanksgiving, Holly. Is that a new sweater?" She felt like she was biting off more than she could chew by actually initiating a conversation with Holly that had the potential to last thirty minutes, but she also knew the rum wouldn't take long to kick in.

Setting

9 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester Character Portrait: Oliver Carver
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If Ryan hadn't invited Oliver over, and subsequently his roommates and Marie, he definitely would have left and spent the night at his dad's place. Cara was eating away at every last ounce of patience he had. Did she think that he wanted to spend his afternoon cooking? That making sure a turkey was cooked enough that it didn't poison all of them, was something that was on his bucket list? He knew nothing about cooking! The two of them had grown up without a mother, with a father who probably didn't know how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and with a personal chef. It baffled him that she thought that he somehow knew more about it than her, but then again, this was Cara, and she didn't care about that. If she wanted something done, she expected you to learn a whole new skill set in thirty seconds to accommodate her. Ryan was used to it, but it was still highly irritating.

His laptop was on the counter next to him, so as Chanel and Roman came in and Cara started conversing with, Ryan was busy with the cooking webpage on the screen. He had used it, and a plethora of Youtube videos, to help him figure out what cooking a turkey entailed. It said that he was supposed to let it sit for twenty to thirty minutes before cutting it, but he wasn't going to verbalize that direction to his sister. It would just result in her complaining more, and quite possibly him reaching a point where he really would leave. From the sound of it, Roman was having a bit of fun trying to knock Cara off her pedestal, but Ryan felt like he still had to be there to keep her in line for when Oliver and his friends came over. It would not only be completely rude, but completely mortifying to him too, if she was as insulting as she was being now, when they came over. It was one thing to say things like that to Roman, who RJ felt could handle it, but Oliver, Isaac, Collin and Marie didn't know the bitchy side of Cara well enough where they would realize she was harmless.

To: Oliver
Turkey's out of the oven, should be able to eat in 20-30. Come over with your friends whenever you feel like it! Fair warning - my sister is in a bad mood

He didn't think cutting the turkey would be that hard, when the time came for it, so he closed his laptop down after texting Oliver and headed out of the kitchen, just as Brooklyn and Nick were coming in. Since Oliver wasn't there yet and he wasn't particularly close to Chanel, Brooklyn, Nick or Roman, he considered staying in his room for a while. He was too thoughtful though, and decided that he was better off in the kitchen in case Chanel needed help with any dishes that were left, or in case Cara had another irrational demand for him. He made a quick stop in the bathroom, and then back to his room to spray on cologne for no reason other than because he didn't want to smell like turkey and sweat all night, before returning to the kitchen. When he got there, along with Nick and Brooke, was Makayla and Holly. "Here, let me grab those for you," he said as he took the large plate of cupcakes from Makayla. He didn't know Makayla that well. Cara hung out with Holly a lot, but he was told that was because Makayla was working. The vibes he got from her when she was around were always tired and maybe stressed out ones. It was very different from Holly, who could talk for hours about absolutely nothing, but considering that, it wasn't surprising that someone who had to live with her would tire out easily. He looked to Chanel who had been doing more work than Cara, as he carried the tray from the door to the kitchen's island area. "Where do you want me to leave these?" he asked, momentarily placing them down on the counter behind them. She had been bringing dishes in all afternoon, so he wasn't sure if there was a specific setup in mind, and with his luck that day with his sister, if anything went wrong, she'd find a way to blame it on him.

Setting

9 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester Character Portrait: Isaac Rankin
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After a few hours of hanging out in 5B, Isaac, Collin, and Oliver had headed back to their own place, making plans for the rest of the afternoon. Isaac wanted it to include alcohol and possibly some games, but before he got too far into his planning Oliver excitedly announced that Ryan had invited them all to Thanksgiving Dinner. Which was ironic, really, given Isaac's words about the situation not even an hour earlier.

Isaac did not want to go to Cara Forrester's (Probably Disastrous) Thanksgiving Dinner. He'd actually laughed when it was brought up, but the other two were heavily considering, probably craving some feeling of tradition that Isaac didn't have any memories of. He'd scoffed at them both, and then Collin had turned towards him with a grin and said, "But you could make your brownies!"

And, well, Isaac made fucking amazing brownies. And he was high on Adderall, with the pot wearing off he was suddenly itching to do something, and cooking would keep him interested. So he'd grudgingly agreed and spent until five o'clock slaving away in the kitchen. Isaac didn't play when he came to cooking. It was a passion and an art form. Everything was made from scratch, from the brownie mix to the cookie dough to the drizzle on top. He'd make chocolate from scratch if he knew how.

True to the schedual of the day, however, thirty minutes before they were supposed to leave, Collin's parents called. Apparently his uncle was requesting some family time - the more the merrier - and so Collin was welcome to bring his friends as long as they could get in a cab right then.

Honestly, Isaac would be much happier spending his night with the King's than with Cara Forrester (and Brooklyn West, who he was admittedly terrified of). But by that point he had a copious amount of brownies on his hands, and it kind of only felt right to take some over to 5C, because Oliver had promised they wouldn't show up empty handed. So Isaac packed up a batch to send down with Collin and Oliver, and then grabbed a plate himself to take across the hall.

The door to 5C was still open, and while normally Isaac would probably feel nervous approaching it, the pills he was on didn't really let him care so he just leaned over and knocked on the still open door, feeling too weird just walking in. It wasn't his place, anyway. There was a good amount of people already inside, and Isaac wasn't really sure if he should seek out Cara or Ryan...in the end, it didn't matter, because Nick saw him first and made a general motion that meant it was alright for Isaac to cross the threshold. "Hey man," he greeted.

Holly and Makayla were just passed the doorway themselves, which was probably why it had still been open. Brooklyn was talking to the redhead, so Isaac pointedly avoided her gaze and shot Makayla a peace sign. Regardless of having never talked to her before earlier that day, they'd smoked together, she was deserving of the Peace Sign Category of Friendship.

"Just gunna take this plate of pure diabetes to the kitchen," Isaac explained as he held up the brownies, talking to Nick more than anything because he defaulted to the one person in the room he kind of knew.

All the apartments were laid out kind of the same way, so Isaac knew exactly where the kitchen was, and when he made his way through there he finally found the Forresters and Chanel, and was just about to open his mouth and explain he wasn't staying when he caught sight of one more person.

Roman Killens.

Isaac's heart skipped a beat - a feeling which he aggressively shut down as quickly as he could, because he did not have time for that shit. It was just the Adderall anyway, always made his heart go a little funny, skipping a few beats wasn't anything to worry about. Was probably even completely normal, in his state.

It definitely, most certainly, had absolutely nothing to do with a tall, blue-eyed, brown-haired, twenty-one year old wrapped up in a fucking fantastic tattooed package. Nope. No way. Totally did not.

Isaac hated himself sometimes. He really did.

The thing was, normally he could deal with his stupid crush. It wasn't even so much as...an addiction he'd developed, to Roman's presence. As long as he got a fix every so often (which was as simple as seeing the guy in the hallway), Isaac could actually forget how pathetic he was. How fucking bad he had it. And then Killens would peace out for awhile - like, oh say, four days or so - and Isaac could easily convince himself he was fine. Roman who? Killens what? He didn't miss him, of course not. Couldn't even remember what his face looked like, much less care he was gone.

And then the fucker would show back up and it was like the first time Isaac had laid eyes on him all over again. A rush of feelings he really shouldn't be having passed the age of seventeen...or at all, really. He was a mess, and it was ridiculous, and he was actually pretty sure his hands were shaking and he wasn't fucking breathing.

He sighed out a breath and thankfully it came out with a chuckle on the end as he shook his head and focused on putting his plate of brownies down next to the salad...which was, coincidentally, next to Roman. He bumped shoulders the same way he always did with his guy friends and grinned. "Nice seeing you around. Thought you might have died."

His phone vibrated then, and with his now free hands Isaac went ahead and pulled his phone from his pocket. It was a text from Collin, telling him to hurry his ass up. Isaac told himself not to do it, he really did, but then he was already texting back and he couldn't stop himself even though he knew it was a really horrible idea. And honestly, he blamed Roman for it a little.

To: Hey Jude
actually im suddenly not feeling well. nausea. might puke if i ride in a taxi that long. have fun tho!


Oh he was a terrible person. And completely pathetic, but really, neither of those things were new.

Setting

9 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester Character Portrait: Isaac Rankin
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Ever since they had left the building manager's apartment, Makayla had been in a bad mood. It was bad enough for Holly to notice and frown when Makayla rejected her request to carry the cupcakes in. She didn't know what was the matter. Makayla had to help the man with something and Holly got to sit on his couch and watch part of the Good Luck Charlie Thanksgiving episode. The man had seemed happy when he came out of his bedroom with his arm wrapped around Makayla like they were good friends, so it didn't make sense for her sister to be angry or bothered. As they walked across the hall, Holly momentarily sulking over not being able to carry the cupcakes, she decided that Makayla was probably just tired and cranky because of that. She was the one who always told Holly that sleeping would make her feel better, so it probably worked the other way around too.

Unlike Makayla's bad mood, Holly's literally only spanned from the walk from their door to Cara's, because as soon as Brooklyn opened it up, Holly was grinning again. She had gotten used to the smell of all of the food in their apartment, but it smelled even stronger and better in Cara's, and then there was the people. Lots of them, or so it seemed that way in the small apartment. Though the apartment was the same size as her own, Cara's apartment was decorated and designed nicer than any other unit in the building, which always interested Holly. Cara mirrored her apartment in that manner tonight, looking like she was ready to walk down the runway in a little black dress. Before she could address her though, she had Brooklyn to talk to, and Brooklyn actually starting a conversation with her was a big deal, especially when that conversation was founded on a compliment. "Happy Thanksgiving!" she responded first, feeling like it had to be said before she could get into the good stuff. "Thanks! Cara bought it for me when we were shopping. And this scarf is hers, but it's actually mine now because she gave it to me because our necks are the same size." She noticed Brooklyn's cup then and decided that she was thirsty too. Since they had run out of lemonade during breakfast, Holly had to downgrade to water for the rest of the day. Cara always had good drinks, though. Cara always had everything. "What are you drinking?" she asked Brooklyn.

Holly really wasn't that bad, especially when Brooklyn was making an effort to be more relaxed and tolerant of the energy. "Soda, she responded, swishing the drink around in the cup momentarily before she took a sip of it. It was just as much rum as it was soda, but there was no need to tell Holly that. "Do you want to get something to drink? Cara has a lot of choices today," she continued, pointing towards the drink area. She knew she could have ended it at that, both it looked like there was more alcoholic drinks than non-alcoholic ones over there, and she didn't need Holly accidentally pouring vodka into a cup somehow thinking it was Sprite, and her getting blamed for it, so she walked over there with her. "What do you want? I'll pour it," she offered as she set her own cup down.

"Lemonade," was Holly's immediate reaction. It was her go-to drink. She liked Sprite as well, but the carbonation bothered her sometimes. Although Brooklyn had offered to pour for her, Holly was in front of the table looking for herself, only to find that there was no lemonade on the table. "Why doesn't she have lemonade?" she asked with concern. Cara knew that she liked lemonade. What was going to be next? Was she going to say that there wasn't going to be mac & cheese with the turkey too?

"She has Sprite. It's basically the same thing as lemonade. Just have that," Brooklyn suggested, already pouring some of the clear soda into a cup in an attempt to not allow Holly to refuse it.

Holly accepted the cup that Brooklyn handed her but she was still concerned over this. It seemed like a big deal to her, and with a weak objection of, "But I wanted lemonade...", she turned away from Brooklyn to take her problem to the girl who was responsible for it. "Cara!" she exclaimed with urgency as she hurried towards the blonde sitting at the island. "Cara, you forgot to put the lemonade out. Is it in your fridge?"

Setting

9 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester Character Portrait: Isaac Rankin
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Roman typically disliked when people brought up his drug use. Usually it was meant as an intervention of sorts, and he immediately shut down. Cara was different though, and that was one of the few and only things she could constantly bring up, and so it didn't really bother him. Sometimes it did, especially if he was high, but to him it just proved she had no reason for being such a bitch. He was certain she thought he was smoking crack and doing meth as religiously as people go to church on Sunday, but that wasn't the case. He'd never done, and didn't plan, on doing any of what he considered the hard core stuff. No heroin or meth--just the party drugs and a few prescription drugs to help with his muscles. Until he started doing the other stuff, he didn't really see himself as having a problem. Still, Cara was right to a point. Not just about him not needing to be there, but hell, it was free food and it was interesting to see what Thanksgiving really was. But she was right about not wanting the night to go to shit the way that it likely would. He didn't want to argue with her all night, but he also didn't really want to hear her mouth. He'd just have to pick and choose his battles as best as he could, and for now, he was done. So he kept quiet once Chanel left, just after Holly and Makayla, and Nick and Brooke had arrived. The group exchanged some words, but he didn't say anything because he didn't really feel the need to. Not only that, but he wasn't entirely sure what to do.

Around people he didn't know, he was actually quite shy and quiet. He went to parties quite a bit, but he was never sober long enough to actually have to worry about the pressure he felt under socializing. His discomfort came in disinterest which fostered itself in silence as he dabbled on his phone. Plus there was the fact that he just didn't know how to act. It was his first Thanksgiving and for some reason, at least in his mind, he was making it out to more important than it probably was to most Americans. He figured it safer to just sit back and follow the crowd, if so not much to make a mistake than to hear it from Cara as soon as he did something unorthodox. Currently, the crowd was in the kitchen just talking, so he'd stay where he was until he started feeling too suffocated. As he stood, part of him wished Ryan didn't invite him, although he did appreciate it. He didn't want to admit it, but it probably would have been far more awkward to have no where to go and have to sit in the apartment while everyone feasted in front of him.

Roman had hardly noticed the person standing beside him until he was nudged. When he looked over, he saw it was Isaac. He wasn't sure why he was surprised, since he knew Isaac was invited as well. Perhaps it was just the strangeness of seeing actually in Cara's apartment. Seemed like a sort of fusion of alternate universes. It was usually Roman going to Isaac's apartment to get out of his own. Roman smirked in response, glad to see him since Isaac was a pretty chill dude. Killens doubted he was taking the dinner too seriously. "Yeah," he said with an amused exhale. "But don't hold your breath. Still have to make it through this thing." Killens glanced down at what Isaac had just sat down in front of the salad bowl Chanel had brought. The place already smelled quite amazing, but Roman had quite the sweet tooth, so seeing the delicious looking brownies in front of him only made his mouth water, and it even brought a small smile to his face. "Shit. Did you make those?" It was a stupid question. Roman knew that Isaac could cook, which was admirable considering Roman himself only put in enough effort when it came to his feed to keep him from starving. There was no way in hell he could make something like what was before him. "Hell yeah," Isaac said with a grin. "Fuckin' A, right?" Roman nodded, glancing at him before looking back at the brownies. "Yeah. They look great," he said. For some reason, and almost as if out of no where, he was very nervous. A wave of jitters hit him. Roman opened his mouth to make some dry joke about how awkward this all was, but he'd only got a breath out before Chanel appeared, her hands on Isaac's shoulder and eyes wide in amazement at the brownies. She wore a large smile, clearly twice as impressed with the brownies as Roman. He didn't have much opinion on the girl. She seemed nice enough, but he did have to question some things about her, considering the company she kept--namely Cara. If he knew one thing, he knew that the girl could talk. With an amused and borderline apologetic glance at Isaac, he slid away from the two, avoiding the vacuum or conversation best he could and retreating to the living room where there was much more space, and much less people.





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Chanel made sure to hurry as she went out to get the banana pudding, if not by Cara's request at her quickness, than because she really wasn't sure if Roman and the girl could survive on their own without going at each other. She didn't really have a reason to dislike Roman per say. It was just one of those things where someone rubs you the wrong way. She had a tendency to validate her injustifications through Cara's dislike for the guy, but that still didn't change the fact that he'd never really done anything to her. It might have been his aesthetic, the way he carried him, the stuffy London accent and how he pronounced 'th-' as an F sound. Surely, none of these were the reasons why, and even if they were, it wouldn't have helped her case any. Of course, since she was working towards being a better person, she felt kind of bad for automatically feeling this way towards him, and so was typically a bit more friendly around him than she normally would try to be with others, as if to over-compensate. It was just a lot harder with him since he seemed to shut down immediately once she started talking to him. That'd have to change tonight, though, she reasoned. After everyone got some alcohol in them, it'd be a lot much easier to socialize. Normally she wouldn't care so much, but it was off-putting for someone not to receive her as openly as she was used to. For now, though, she needed to focus on the banana pudding. So as she left, she quickly greeted Holly and Makayla coming in and hurried back. She'd just set that pudding and her sauce on the counter when Ryan came over with the tray of cupcakes that Holly and Makayla had brought. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "Happy Thanksgiving. Yeah, here, give those to me and I'll just put them on a plate or something. Thanks, Ryan. Let me know if you need help with anything else."

After taking the cupcakes and placing them in front of the pudding, she went through the cabinets, looking for a plate that was large enough to fit all the cupcakes on them. When she found what she needed, she carefully placed the cupcakes around the rim of the plate until they were fit on the dish. She looked at it for a minute, shrugging internally. She was now wishing her and Cara had gotten some kind of cupcake display where they were at, but it was whatever now. She turned around to observe the scene. Everyone was chatting and everything seemed to be going okay. She'd have to check in on Cara in a second, but first she needed to figure out how exactly they were doing this. Perhaps the main dishes on the island counter and the deserts on the other side? Was this buffer style or were they putting everything on the table? Just as she was about to go ask Ryan, she noticed Isaac talking to Roman. She wasn't sure why, but she really did like Isaac. Him hanging with Roman wasn't that great, but it was no matter. She went over excitedly and greeted him with a large smile. "Isaac, hey! I'm so glad you made it. Oh, my god," she said upon seeing the brownies. "Did you make these? Holy shit. They look amazing! How long did this take you?"

Just after asking him, she realized that she'd gotten distracted and would need to find Ryan asap, and then give Cara a quick pep talk, just in case. Once they finished talking, she gave his shoulder a quick squeeze. "That's seriously the best thing I've seen. Do you mind if I put these over with the other desserts?" she said, already reaching for them. "We'll talk later, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, she put the dessert with the pudding and the cupcakes. Upon finding Ryan, she touched his shoulder. She had a tendency to be very touch-y. It probably made some people uncomfortable, but she did it before realizing that she shouldn't, and sometimes she didn't even recognize it, like now. "Hey," she said, giving him a slight squeeze. "You okay? So, how did you want to do this? Do you want to put everything on the counters for people to put on their plates and then just take to the table, or should we try squishing things all on the kitchen table?"

Setting

9 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester Character Portrait: Isaac Rankin
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Cara was definitely less demanding to her friends than she was her family, but Ryan still wasn't sure how Chanel handled being friends with her. Her nature seemed too good to be mixed with Cara's so easily, but then again, compared to Cara, anyone could seem like Mother Teresa. Regardless, her friendly and welcoming ways put Ryan at ease a little bit. His sister could be as negative as she wanted to be, throwing a pity party for herself over nothing, but at least everyone wasn't in a horrible moo. It made him feel guilty for allowing his own mood to be soured and he tried to perk up as he thanked her for the help. Until the turkey was ready, there wasn't much to do. He considered sneaking back off to his room and actually staying there this time when he got a text from Oliver. Apparently, he and Collin were on their way to Collin's family's house. Something had come up last minute where their plans changed and he had forgotten to text Ryan to tell him. He apologized and said that he thought Marie and Isaac were still going to come, and just as Ryan finished responding with a "no problem. Have fun" text, Isaac appeared carrying a tray of brownies.

"You can stop sulking now," Ryan said as he neared Cara. "It's only going to be him as your unwanted guest. Collin, Marie and Oliver have other plans." He doubted it would do much good. Collin and Oliver were the two that Cara probably approved of most. At least compared to Isaac. Still, he felt like it was worth mentioning. "And it looks like Holly's excited about that scarf dad gave you last Christmas," he added, trying to lift the mood further as he watched Holly talk to Brooklyn. "Plus, the turkey should be good to cut any minute now, so there's that too." he didn't know why he cared enough to try to lift her mood when she had been selfish all day, but it was just a part of his character at this point. Overly considerate, with no way to keep himself from being that way. Without another word, he headed back towards the stove and a minute later Chanel caught him off guard with a squeeze to the shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, everything looks and smells really good," he nodded. "Uh, it's your call on that. Leaving everything up here will probably be easier, but it's whatever you think will work best. The table only seats six, so you and Cara and maybe Holly and Makayla and two other people should sit there, and the rest of us can just sit at the island or on the couch or something," he offered I surely. Cara had tried to make it seem like this was his party once she didn't get her way with the guest list, but he wanted as little responsibility as possible with it.

Setting

9 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester Character Portrait: Isaac Rankin
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When Ryan told her that Isaac was the only person who hadn't originally been invited who was coming, Cara knew that she needed to stop complaining, but part of her had wanted the other three to show up, just so she had something to complain about. So that when something went wrong, she could turn to Ryan with rage in her eyes and blame the whole failure on him. She could still do that since Roman definitely counted as an additional unwanted being on top of Isaac, but three less people took the emphasis out of it, really. Now, all she had to hold onto was that it was even ruder for them to not show up last minute because for all they knew, they had spent tons of extra money planning on those three extra bodies being there. Cara wanted to say that to Ryan and really considered doing it when Chanel was out of the apartment, but she held her tongue, or more accurately, kept her wine glass pressed to her lips so she couldn't open them to speak.

If for no other reason, she knew that she had to cheer up because Holly was there now and she really did want to make this fun for the girl. She had seemed excited about it ever since Cara had mentioned it to Makayla, and the idea of being the host of someone's very first real Thanksgiving made her feel like the job of hostess was more important than it seemed. Holly was usually easy to please and with the assortment of baked goods she had delivered, on top of the cupcakes that Cara saw Makayla give to Ryan, she was sure Holly would have a good night too. Cara would have considered the brownies that she saw Chanel take from Isaac to count as a possible treat to delight Holly too, but there was no way that Cara was going to let anyone she cared about consume those. It didn't matter how good they looked. The last thing that she needed on top of everything that had went wrong today was for Holly to die of a drug overdose because that creep had thought it would be funny to put pot and other drugs into the desserts. Roman could definitely finish those off on his own with Isaac without Cara trying to stop him.

For a few minutes, she did sulk like Ryan had made fun of her for doing. This wasn't how she wanted to be spending her holiday. It was a holiday that emphasized feeling grateful, and she had a lot to be grateful for. She had an apartment that was nice enough and definitely more than most people had, that was filled with nice people (and Roman and Isaac) and tons of food. She had her health, she had great friends outside of this apartment, a father who was healthy and supported her beyond normal means, and a life where she would absolutely never be subjected to destitution or even the stress of having to work to pay bills. Cara was immensely lucky and privileged and she had a ton to be thankful for, but all she could think about was the things she didn't have. Watching Holly interact with Brooklyn, and the huge smile on Chanel's face as she talked to everyone, reminded her of what the holiday was about but it was still hard for her to change her persona suddenly like that. When Holly approached her, Cara smiled, not even noticing the despaired look on the girl's face until she was right in front of her. "Lemonade?" she repeated, setting her empty wine glass down on the island as she stood from her chair. "I don't know if we have any lemonade," she responded, lacking certainty. With everything they had purchased today, it was just her luck that she would forget something that was a staple for Holly. For someone who spent a lot of time with the girl, Cara wanted to slap herself in the face for forgetting. She led Holly over to the refrigerator to check it out herself, and found that her fears were right, and they hadn't gotten the beverage. "Ryan must have forgotten to get it when I told him to," Cara said, inaccurately blaming her brother for the mistake, but doing so loudly enough where she was aware he could hear from where he stood a foot or two away with Chanel. She was throwing him under the bus, but in her defense, her voice was lighter and more playful now. If Ryan was bothered by it, she would just tell him that she was obviously joking. "Do you want me to ask one of the boys to go get you some from the little convenience store around the block?" she continued. Maybe it was because she was standing by the oven that had only been turned off a few minutes ago, but the apartment was starting to feel hot and stuffy, and she wouldn't mind losing a body and quelling Holly's whining in one move.

Setting

9 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester Character Portrait: Isaac Rankin
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After Brooklyn let them in, Ryan took the plate of cupcakes from her. He was a nice kid, someone who acted like he had been raised by a different set of parents than Cara sometimes, and his help was appreciated, but she was glad that he just took the plate and didn't try to stay and chat. He didn't know him like that and her general state of being right now wasn't one that was going to humor small talk with anyone, nonetheless someone who she was sure she had virtually nothing in common with. She was in such a bad mood that she couldn't even bring herself to be polite and exchange pleasantries with the hostess before she went straight for the liquor that was sitting in the kitchen. She filled a glass with Jack Daniels and a splash of Coke, and found herself chatting with Nick for a couple of minutes as everyone got settled in. Isaac came in during that time, and Holly was still talking with Brooklyn, but Makayla wasn't paying anyone much mind. Even her conversation Nick, who she was friends with, consisted with little more than her nodding and adding a "yeah" or "wow" here and there as he thanked her for letting them use their apartment later, she thanked him for the free weed, and he explained what he and Brooklyn had planned for the night. She was present in the conversation physically, but mentally, not so much. She didn't know if he caught onto that or if his interests just switched, but a few minutes into their conversation, he excused himself to go talk to Roman who had passed them to go to the living room, and she readily allowed the conversation to die.

Oh, how she wanted to slip away into the bathroom or one of the back bedrooms and just shut her eyes and relax for a few minutes. Or head back to her own apartment and actually go to sleep for the night. Or week. She was drained physically, mentally and emotionally, and when a night of free food and alcohol wasn't able to lift her mood, she knew she was in trouble. She couldn't escape the party tonight. Not with Holly so excited to be there, and so... Hollyish. It wasn't like she was a normal sixteen year old girl who could spend the night alone in this apartment and come back to theirs in a few hours with no problem. Makayla had to be here to make sure that she wasn't bothering everyone else and being intrusive... like she was being right now. Makayla caught the tail end of Holly asking Cara where her lemonade was, and once the duo reached the fridge, Makayla walked over. She caught Cara telling Holly that she didn't have any and that she could send one of the boys out to get some for her, and Makayla wasn't going to have that. Not only would she feel compelled to give Cara money she didn't have to cover the cost of the lemonade that only Holly would drink, but Holly would survive on the million other beverage choices that Cara had. Holly and her had come from very little, and although spoiled wasn't a word she felt right using with Holly, she did feel like Holly had a good life at this point. As good as she was going to get, at least. Makayla did her best to get Holly everything she needed, and as many things as she wanted too, and additionally, Holly honestly was blessed to have Cara in her life because the blonde never thought twice about indulging in Holly's petty little wants. Like the sweater she was wearing, that Makayla was sure would end up stained or tossed aside for feeling too itchy after tonight, or even the lemonade. It wasn't a huge deal, but Makayla knew that Holly was a reflection of her, and she wasn't going to sit here letting it look like she was raising a child that would throw a fit over not having a fucking glass of lemonade. Not at sixteen years old, and especially not when at her age, Makayla was taking care of Holly and other kids she had no relation to, working a job, and worrying about a lot more important shit than lemonade. And on top of all of that... she was in a bad mood. Her patience was nonexistent at this point and she had warned Holly that she wasn't going to deal with any brattiness tonight.

"Nah, absolutely not," Makayla cut in. She looked at Cara and forced her best appreciative smile onto her face. "I appreciate it, Cara, but she's gonna survive on the many other options you have here. No one's going out in the cold for anything for you, Holly. Not when you're already lucky that Cara invited us here in the first place. Bring that lemonade up one more time, and so help me, God, you will spend the rest of this night in your room not saying a word." She wasn't being loud, mostly because she didn't have the energy to raise her voice, but she was being serious. She didn't have it in her to be consistently trying to keep Holly on a leash tonight. They were already here, so Makayla knew it was worth it to stay and eat, but if this child kept pushing, Makayla was at a point where she wouldn't have any shame in taking a cup and a plate to go and eating it in their own empty apartment.

Setting

6 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Isaac Rankin
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It wasn't just simply seeing Roman again that did Isaac in, it was everything about him. It was the Goddamned Smirk that had Ruined His Life and the motherfucking accent that would get stuck in his head like his favorite song that he never could get quite right on his own. Everything hit him square in the chest and his stomach flipped in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant, but just to himself he was going to pretend it was. It was the drugs, surely, making him feel weird. Nausea was even a common side effect of Adderall...not one he'd ever had, but still. Just to himself, it was plausible.

His heart was still beating too fast and all Isaac really wanted to do was just close his eyes and listen to Roman talk forever. Not like that would ever happen, though. Even when they hung out one-on-one, Isaac was the talker. Often too high and too giggly to really worry about being nervous or anything. Which was quite nice. Better than this shit.

Thankfully, Killens' response was funny enough that Isaac's snort over the subject matter wasn't forced at all. His gaze lifted around the room for a minute and he kind of had to agree. Surviving the night might be a little difficult, which made Isaac regret his decision to stay behind suddenly. He remembered his last Thanksgiving vividly, and like most holidays...Isaac wasn't particularly fond on participating in celebrating. But here he was.

Then Roman noticed his brownies, and a new wave of confidence hit him as he grinned happily. Killens liked sweets, that was nothing new, but Isaac always loved doing anything that put a smile on the guys face. Those were pretty rare, and just as addicting as his fucking smirks; and Isaac was so eagerly hanging onto every word that he very nearly almost jumped out of his skin when a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.

His eyes narrowed slightly at the interruption, more than a little annoyed, as he finally tore his gaze from Roman and looked up to see Chanel. Her grin broke any shred of resentment in him in two seconds flat. He glanced quickly back at Roman out of habit more than anything, who gave him that look torn between apologetic and amused which Isaac had long ago coined the "I'm tripping you if there's zombies, bro" look. Isaac stuck his tongue out in response, watching his friend go with a sinking heart he refused to acknowledge.

Thankfully, Chanel provided a decent distraction from that feeling. Isaac lit up at her excitement over his brownies, and before he could even think to stop himself he was gushing like a schoolgirl talking about her favorite boyband. Isaac loved to cook, and he rarely actually got a chance to ramble on about whatever he'd made. He did his best to keep it short, so he didn't annoy the fuck out of her, but he was just excited. She always seemed pretty genuine, and Isaac liked that about her.

He backed off and let her move his brownies when she asked, because honestly he didn't care where they went, and then the mild awkwardness set in. Not knowing quite what to do with himself, he shoved his hands in his pockets and idly leaned back against the nearest wall he could find. Trying to stay out of the way seemed like a good idea. Especially when he recognized Makayla's "I'm annoyed with you Holly" voice. He winced slightly and tugged his phone out of his pocket, trying to look busy. Even though Isaac literally had nothing but Texting on there...and a demo version of Tetris. He chose that over having to stand there without anything else to do.

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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He decided that he definitely hadn't been imagining things over the past few weeks when he thought that Brooke had been acting unusually soft when she not only willingly answered the door, but actually stayed over there to talk to Holly for a few minutes. And was he crazy, or had she really initiated the conversation without waiting for Holly to do so? It was something he should have been happy about, but he was sure that he had noticed the change a week or so after he had slept with Cara, and the correlation of those events made him feel uneasy. Logically, one thing didn't point to the other. If anything, it made more sense to conclude that Brooklyn might have been affected by the fight that had spurred him cheating, and that was why she was making an effort to be a nicer person. It made more sense than the idea that she somehow knew, because even if she did know, why would she start acting nice? Brooklyn was the kind of girl who seemed like if she found out you had cheated on her, she would tie you down to a bed, stab you, douse you in gasoline and set the bed on fire. Really. Nick loved her, and he loved her crazy bitch side too, but her suddenly growing nicer with the knowledge of him cheating on her just made no sense. He decided, as he worked all of that out in his head, that he really was just being crazy and paranoid, and he vowed to lighten up over it. He didn't want to start drinking yet, even though he noticed Cara had picked up a ton of liquor and some decent beer and wine too, and instead, spent a few minutes talking to Makayla. She seemed out of it but she was always a quiet girl so it didn't seem that uncharacteristic where he felt like he needed to ask her if anything was wrong.

A few minutes into the conversation, he noticed Roman separating himself from the mass in the kitchen and heading into the living room, and he decided to do the same. He excused himself from his conversation with Makayla and a moment later, was sitting next to Roman on the couch. "Mind if I put on the game?" he asked Roman, taking the remote without waiting for the answer and flipping to the Cowboys v. Panthers football game that was on. Nick honestly wasn't a big sports guy. He was into baseball more than any other sport, because it had been the one his grandfather had really followed growing up, but he could follow most sports enough to a point where they would interest him more than some sitcom or reality television show. With football, he really only followed The Giants and 49ers, but growing up, his grandfather rooted for The Packers, so if Brooklyn decided that she didn't want to do the movies later, he would probably tune in to that game too. "I never asked you what happened earlier," he said, remembering a moment after sitting down that Roman had bailed on the smoking invitation. "You never showed up to Makayla's."

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Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Roman watched with momentary interest at the game before him. He didn't really understood American football. There were a couple of times he'd seen it in university, like during the Superbowl, but he hadn't paid much attention to it then, and now wasn't very much different. Nick wasn't that into sports, so it did strike him as odd, but mostly because he expected the guy to be with Brooke most of the night. It wasn't like they were a couple conjoined at the hips or anything. Knowing how Brooke could be, especially when she was drinking, and from the looks of it she was getting a head start, it would make sense to want some distance. The two of them did seem to be getting along rather well actually. It was a good thing, and he tried reminding himself of it, but it was still quite an odd thing to say. Roman watched the tv screen with a blase attitude as he spoke. "Oh, yeah," he said. "I pissed Brooke off and wasn't in the mood to socialize anymore. I was kind of taking a while anyway, so." And without finishing, he just shrugged. He'd almost forgotten about smoking earlier and was kind of wishing that he had gone. "I was fucking exhausted. Still am. We'll just smoke later or whatever."

He looked over to Nick and smirked, giving him a slight punch. "You look fit," he said, referring to Nick's attire. It wasn't the dressiest ensemble--most of the people in attendance were dressed rather casually. All except for Cara, but that didn't need explanation or surprise--but Killens still thought he looked nice. Roman himself wasn't wearing anything special, partially because he didn't own anything formal enough, and even more because he didn't care enough to. At first he was nervous that the dinner was going to be very formal, but he was glad when he saw that it wasn't. He was just wearing a black t-shirt, jeans, and trainers; nothing extravagant at all. "Now what exactly do you do?" Roman said, meaning Thanksgiving dinner. When he realized he was being kind of general, he gestured around the area to clarify. "Do you just sit and eat, sing songs? I'm just not trying to fuck up and have Cara running her mouth about how I'm ruining this." While that wasn't entirely a lie, it wasn't the complete truth. He didn't want to embarrass himself and would feel a lot better if he at least knew how things went. So far it had been pretty casual, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. "And what's this all for? Like what are you celebrating?" He stretched his legs out and yawned loudly. A wave of heat hit him and he rubbed his face in frustration. "Fucking Christ it's hot in here," he whined. He was probably making a big deal of nothing, but to him, the smallest things could be the greatest annoyances. "Are you and Brooke still going to the cinema?"

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Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Roman watched with momentary interest at the game before him. He didn't really understood American football. There were a couple of times he'd seen it in university, like during the Superbowl, but he hadn't paid much attention to it then, and now wasn't very much different. Nick wasn't that into sports, so it did strike him as odd, but mostly because he expected the guy to be with Brooke most of the night. It wasn't like they were a couple conjoined at the hips or anything. Knowing how Brooke could be, especially when she was drinking, and from the looks of it she was getting a head start, it would make sense to want some distance. The two of them did seem to be getting along rather well actually. It was a good thing, and he tried reminding himself of it, but it was still quite an odd thing to say. Roman watched the tv screen with a blase attitude as he spoke. "Oh, yeah," he said. "I pissed Brooke off and wasn't in the mood to socialize anymore. I was kind of take a while anyway, so." And without finishing, he just shrugged. He'd almost forgotten about smoking earlier and was kind of wishing that he had gone. "I was fucking exhausted. Still am. We'll just smoke later or whatever."

He looked over to Nick and smirked, giving him a slight punch. "You look fit," he said, referring to Nick's attire. It wasn't the dressiest ensemble--most of the people in attendance were dressed rather casually. All except for Cara, but that didn't need explanation or surprise--but Killens still thought he looked nice. Roman himself wasn't wearing anything special, partially because he didn't own anything formal enough, and even more because he didn't care enough to. At first he was nervous that the dinner was going to be very formal, but he was glad when he saw that it wasn't. He was just wearing a black t-shirt, jeans, and trainers; nothing extravagant at all. "Now what exactly do you do?" Roman said, meaning Thanksgiving dinner. When he realized he was being kind of general, he gestured around the area to clarify. "Do you just sit and eat, sing songs? I'm just not trying to fuck up and have Cara running her mouth about how I'm ruining this." While that wasn't entirely a lie, it wasn't the complete truth. He didn't want to embarrass himself and would feel a lot better if he at least knew how things went. So far it had been pretty casual, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. "And what's this all for? Like what are you celebrating?" He stretched his legs out and yawned loudly. A wave of heat hit him and he rubbed his face in frustration. "Fucking Christ it's hot in here," he whined. He was probably making a big deal of nothing, but to him, the smallest things could be the greatest annoyances. "Are you and Brooke still going to the cinema?"

Setting

9 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester Character Portrait: Isaac Rankin
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Before Holly had a moment to feel relieved that while Cara didn't have lemonade, someone would go get it, Makayla jumped into the conversation and shut the idea down. Makayla had a saint's level of patience when it came to taking care of Holly most days, but that only meant that when she did snap on her like this, it made Holly more upset because she wasn't used to it. Plus, Holly was sensitive to begin with. She wanted to start crying and tell Makayla that she was being mean but just meeting her sister's gaze for a moment reminded her that Makayla would probably act on shutting this night down if she were to be dramatic and cause a scene. Still... she wanted her lemonade. Holly had a tendency to obsess over somethings. It wasn't like lemonade was the only thing she ever drank, and the Sprite in her hand would definitely suffice, but it made it harder to just let the subject go since Cara had said, without a second thought, that it could be gotten for her. She wasn't trying to be petulant or unruly, she just didn't understand why Makayla was in such a bad mood. Being tired never made her this angry for no reason. "But Cara said the boys will get it..." Holly tried to reason, using her free hand to latch onto Makayla's, partially because it was just in her nature to want to touch people she was talking to, but also to make sure that her sister couldn't use the hand to smack her with in case that counted as bringing it up again.

Makayla was putting in more effort than she thought she had to not just grab Holly right there and drag her back to their apartment. Her reactions were already probably sounding dramatic for her, since she was usually good at tolerating Holly's behavior, but she didn't have it in her. It would have been easy to just let it all go, tell Cara that she appreciated it and let Ryan or whoever run to the store to shut Holly up for the night. She still felt like she should have done that, but when she felt like she was losing control of every other aspect in her life, including control over her own body, she needed to at least reassure herself that all of that had been worth it, because Holly would act right. When it came down to it, Makayla was convinced that she would never have needed to turn to prostitution if she hadn't accepted guardianship of Holly. She would have graduated college, had a real, decent job, and would have been living a normal person's life. But no, she sacrificed for the greater good, and for once, she would demand that be appreciated and respected by the girl she was giving her life up for. "I said no. Now move," she said, shaking her hand free of Holly and nudging the girl away from the fridge. "Leave Cara alone, okay? You need to calm down and stop complaining about things before you get yourself into trouble, 'cause I told you already, I'm not playing tonight, Holly."

With a hand pressed to Holly's back, she led her into the living room where Roman and Nick sat. Aside from the couch, there was a chair that offered a few to the television, and Makayla guided Holly into it. "You sit here, you keep your mouth shut, and you wait until I get back. You bother them, you bring that lemonade up one more time, or you get up, and we're going home, you hear me? I'm going to be right back." She made an attempt to speak softly, not wanting to make a scene, yet made sure that her finger was wagging like a mother scolding a child just an inch from the redhead's face to get her point across. She thought she was going to be able to handle the night on just alcohol, but it wasn't going to happen. Across the hall, tucked into the bottom of one of her dresser drawers were a couple of pills that she kept as "just in case" drugs, for when she really, really needed them, and tonight had earned her one of them. She felt like she should have said something to Cara about running out, or even Chanel, but she didn't. She didn't even glance over at Nick and Roman before leaving the apartment.

Now, even more than before, Holly felt like crying because Makayla was definitely being mean to her for no reason. The way that Makayla had demanded that she not get up made her struggle more than she normally would have, as she turned her head back to look towards Cara, and then turned it back. She wouldn't get up, but it would have been impossible for her to sit there silently like Makayla had also demanded she do. "Why are you watching football?" she asked, her voice only a little less enthusiastic than usual as she slid forward so that she was just barely sitting on the edge of the chair.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Owens Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Ryan Forrester
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Chanel ran her eyes over the perimeter as though she were a lifeguard gazing over a pool, trying to look for any mishap and misplacement, instead though, she was trying to see how best this should work. She nodded and moved her hand through the air, spanning the counter area that held the savory dishes--the mashed potatoes, the salads, the macaroni, and the rolls--and she nodded to herself, still speaking to Ryan. "Yeah, you know, I like it like this. It's way more, what's the word? Like, fluid, you know? Let's go with tha--" she'd said before being cut off by the vibration in the back of her pocket. "Who the hell is," she began but than she quieted it quickly, and for a second, her demeanor changed into something grave and worried, some past and forgotten. She recovered just a quickly and smiled at Ryan, giving him a pat on the back. "Leave it as it is. I have to take this phone call, but I'll be back in five seconds."

She guided the door closed with her hand pressed against it behind her back so that it wouldn't slam. As she entered the hall which was thankfully empty, she answered the call. The heat from the kitchen must have gotten caught in her throat somehow because now it was dry and stuffy. Her father spoke in his native tongue. "Chanel?" he said, as though it could somehow be someone else. "I've been calling all day. She took a moment to answer, trying to decide how she wanted to answer, not so much content wise, but language wise. Should she speak in English, it would not only peeve her dad, but it would raise question. He'd assume she was with other people, or busy or something, and while that was true, he couldn't know that. So she responded, too, in Arabic, but her voice was a whisper. She was never ashamed of it, and she found it to be a beautiful language, but she just felt ostracized when she spoke it. In high school and middle school the children thought it was cool, and while Chanel would take pride in it, she didn't like how others almost saw it as a prop, as though it made her more even more 'ethnic' as one of her friends had referred to her as. So perhaps she was ashamed of it, and that only made her feel worse as she rubbed her neck to separate the hair from her nape. There wasn't much tension there, but she could feel herself sweating; she couldn't have her hair reverting just yet. "Yeah? I've just been busy, you know?"

"Busy?" her father said, sounding surprised that this was even possible. Chanel rolled her eyes and scoffed, but said nothing more. "I call to make sure you are okay. You don't say you aren't coming until the day of. You don't answer your phone, and then you give me attitude. You're being incredibly ungrateful and--"

"Did you just call to remind me of how bad a daughter I am or did you actually need something, Dad?"

"You're not a bad daughter, Chanel," her father said after a moment and a sigh. His voice had softened. "I just want to know--"

"Dad, I told Mom. Jesus Christ. I can't eat with you guys this year, I didn't run off with some sixty-year-old selling coke. Quit freaking out. I have to work tomorrow and I'd really like to not feel like I've done this terrible thing. It's just Thankgiving."

"Watch who you're talking to," he said, this time stern. Chanel gripped the roots of her hair as she bit her tongue. "We let you do everything you want and you can't do this one thing? You think your friends and your job are so much more important? You won't always have a job, but you'll always have a family. Don't forget that. Don't forget who raised you."

"Dad, God," she began before cutting herself off. She could feel her voice starting to crack. After clearing her throat, she continued. "You said you were fine with me going to New York. Sorry I don't want to be suffocated in that house anymore. Sorry I don't want to deal with all this stress for one freaking day. I'm so sorry if I don't want--"

"Chanel!" And now he was yelling. She didn't jump, but it did stop her in her tracks. Her father rarely raised his voice, especially at her, so she was particularly sensitive to it. It hurt her for a second before she fostered it into anger and resentment, but it was too late to trick her body's response, as her eyes were already starting to well. She refused to wipe them, as if this would somehow make them less there. But her vision still blurred and her finger sweat, tightly wrapped around the phone in her hand. "You're the oldest. It's still hard right now, for all of us. You should have come home, not choosing work over family, and you know that. Your brothers--"

She didn't think half a second about stopping him there. She could handle a lot, but talking about her brothers was not one of them. Especially not now. "Look, I'm glad you and Mom are finally talking since all you guys do is argue, but I'm not here for the projecting. So bye. Feel free to call when you're not judging me and my life decisions on a holiday." She hung up quickly and turned her phone off. Her heart was beating and she knew she was out of line, even if she felt justified for doing it. Sure she got into fights with her parents, but there was still a hierarchy and with that came a certain level of respect. It was much easier to break those boundaries from miles away and over the phone, but she still felt as though her parents might appear around the corner with fire in their eyes. She huffed quickly, pressing her hands to her eyes. When she pulled them away, there was a smudge of black on them. Trying to remain calm, she went back to her apartment and into the bathroom to fix her makeup. Her eyes were slightly pink, but it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. "You're fine, you're fine. He's just an idiot. You're a good fucking person. You made this dinner happen. You did more than fucking Cara." When she finished reapplying her mascara, she looked in the mirror. Her face was now familiar--even nostalgic. It was barren and hard, a slight downward curvature of the brow and an even frown on her face. The weight of her smile taunted her, but it was finally there, looking back at her and looking more authentic than it felt. "You're okay," she said. "I'm over it. I'm over it."

Chanel shook her head again, shook her arms and her legs. She tossed the negativity away, as she'd learned to do from reading some blog post about negative energy. It felt like complete bullshit now, but she needed to believe it if she was going to make it through the rest of this dinner without feeling even worse than she already did about ditching her family. She knew she was over-reacting because she was getting defensive. And the reason she was getting defensive was because the more they called, the more they forced her to face her wrong in not going home for Thanksgiving, and for such a shitty reason. She left home for a reason. She didn't need to be reminded me all the god damn time. She was here right now, right outside 5C, and that was what mattered. Now she was even more determined to make this dinner work. She wanted everyone to have a good time. She wanted Cara to put this on successfully. She wanted to be useful and actually bring some good to people's lives. But beyond all that, and perhaps most importantly, she wanted to prove to herself and her parents that she was better than she let on. She needed this for her own self-validation. So as she entered the apartment, the warmth still a tad bit uncomfortable, she wore the smile as though she was born with it. She took in the scent of the turkey that was now freshly cut and clapped her hands together once. "All right, let's eat our sins away, everybody!" Chanel took a step back to let everyone else eat, since those were good manners, but also because she'd lost her appetite. When she saw Ryan, she gave him a thumbs up. "Good job with cutting the turkey, man. You made that thing your bitch," she said, no matter if it was true or not. She found herself at the alcohol and made a mixture of coke and vodka, sipping it as she went over to Cara, purposely smiling so wide that it looked goofy. "Everything going good so far? Your makeup still looks amazing, holy shit. What foundation are you using?"