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Chanel Nasiri

0 · 4,235 views · located in New York City

a character in “City Living”, as played by predictmeifyoucan

Description

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Birth Name:
Chanel Nasiri

Age:
22

Date Of Birth
June 11

Sexuality:
Heterosexual

Occupation:
Freelancer
Barista
Sugar baby

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




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

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

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

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




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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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ImageHeight:
5'10

Weight:
123 lbs

Face Claim:
Imaan Hammam

Hex code:
#c7256e

So begins...

Chanel Nasiri's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri
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#, as written by Bandit
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M a k a y l a ~ W r i g h t
Hex Code: #FF8400
Outfit: Here
It really was cold outside, and though it was clear by her hunched and stiff posture that she was cold, she didn't verbalize it as much as Chanel did. Like the other girl, however, Makayla kept a quick pace up, in hopes that it would allow her to have to endure the cold air for a little less time. As they walked, she wondered if she was stupid for doing this. It was one thing to eat dinner with Chanel, and it was one thing to smoke with her in the apartment, but it had been a while since she had actually hung out with someone in a way like this. Makayla would be the first person to admit that she didn't have friends, so this felt somewhat uncomfortable for her, even though it shouldn't have. It wasn't like they were going out partying or doing anything extreme. Holly was asleep, her responsibilities were taken care of for the night, and she was literally a five minute walk from home. Nothing could go wrong, and she needed to relax, she told herself. "No, I've never been," she answered, shaking her head. Because she didn't have friends, she had little reason to go to bars, and since she wasn't ever looking for new places like that, she had never noticed this little bar that was right around the corner from their apartment. It was likely that she had seen it before, and maybe Holly had even asked her what she thought it looked like inside, but Makayla wouldn't have been paying enough attention to really realize what it was, or ever remember it, for that matter. Makayla drank regularly, but it was much more cost-efficient to buy liquor or wine at a store and drink it at home than it was to go out to a bar. Plus, she never felt right leaving Holly home alone. Though she had been forced to do so recently, now that Cara was no longer as available as she used to be, Makayla still felt weird about it. She wouldn't admit it in fear of sounding dramatic and paranoid, like a helicopter parent, but even right now when she was certain that Holly was asleep, part of her still felt odd about leaving her alone in the apartment. To an extent, it was paranoid thinking, but at the same time, Makayla knew better than anyone else that Holly only needed thirty seconds unsupervised to cause trouble.

Unlike Chanel, Makayla wasn't hungry. She was never the type to have a huge appetite, and the meal from earlier was still holding her over. After smoking, that would definitely change, but she was content with refraining from eating until then. She already felt uncertain about whether she wanted to spend money on a drink here to begin with, so ordering food was definitely out of the question. "I'm gonna give him shit for making us walk in this cold for some damn bud," she said, sticking her hands into her pockets as they turned the corner. "It's too cold out here."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Zoey Saidi Character Portrait: Jetta Babin
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Hex Code: #c7256e
Outfit: This
Chanel suddenly felt bad for dragging Makayla out, but they were already nearing the place, so it was over and done with. Technically, neither of them really had to go out, and while Chanel was being more vocal about her distaste for the weather, she wasn't anymore upset than was to be expected. It was too cold to walk in and right back out, so at the very least, Chanel wanted to stay inside just long enough to warm herself back up, since somehow that would make it feel more worth it. If it was total misery inside, then she would have to suck it up and just go right back home, but it was only a five minute walk. She was more tolerant of going out of her way for this because she wanted to keep her body and her mind busy. Any other time, she would have opted for staying inside, but the novelty of the New Year had its effect on her as well, where she was willing to push her to do things she wouldn't normally do for the sake of being a new and improved person. She wasn't desperate to smoke, though, so if Makayla had told her she didn't want to go outside, Chanel wouldn't have faulted her any.

The warmth from the bar was definitely welcomed, and the cozy vibes it had was also a bonus. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but upon entering, she wasn't sure what else she should have expected. The name and the location gave itself away, so even if the surprise was mostly there not really being any, Chanel was intrigued enough by the new setting. She didn't see Nick immediately, her eyes moving right past the bar and deeper into the venue. For a second, her quick-paced mind had her thinking that he must have left already, but they certainly hadn't taken so long that they wouldn't have passed him on the way. Chanel started turning to Makayla to see if the girl was having a problem spotting him as well, but just before that, she caught a glimpse of him in her peripheral. After another, better look, she was able to verify it was him. Because Zoey and Nick didn't look that deep into conversation, and because she was being a bit oblivious in her excitement, Chanel found herself unintentionally interrupting the moment. In all actuality, she hadn't even registered that Zoey was sitting there. No to a point where she didn't know there was someone sitting next to him, but it wasn't anything more past that. In a few strides, she walked over and covered his eyes from behind.

"Hey, stranger!" she said. After revealing herself, she gave Nick a quick hug. From a stranger's perspective, Chanel was acting like the two were good friends, when in reality that wasn't really the case. Chanel had smoked with him in the past, but they were little more than acquaintances. Her naturally friendly personality was a given, so her seeming like she knew people better than she did was a commonality, but it was intensified here since she actually really liked Nick. Her ability to treat someone like they were basically a celebrity, for some people, was quite a nice ego boost, but for the right person, it could be odd and offputting. Picking one of the empty seats on the opposite side that Zoey was sitting on, she looked at Makayla for a second. "It's Nick!" she announced. It wasn't the best idea to make such an entrance given the reason they were there, but Chanel wasn't thinking and was purely working on impulse and excitement. "Look, we're kind of matching," she said laughing as she lightly tugged on one of Nick's sleeves. Both of them seemed to be on the more peculiar end of the fashion spectrum, though Nick's ensemble surely made more sense and probably just seemed obscure thanks to the layers and bagginess. "Happy New Year! How have you been? You know, Makayla told me earlier that you moved back, and I was like 'No way! I missed that guy.'"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Zoey Saidi
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✧ NICK MORENO ✧
Dialogue Color: #bb1a39
Outfit

Nick was still waiting on his beer when someone sat down beside him. He didn't look over, honestly because he wasn't really in the mood to socialize. Nick was a pretty quiet guy around most people, or at least when he wasn't in a particularly energetic and good mood. He had always been the type to be comfortable in silence, and especially after a long day of running around the city making sales (and making smoking a little too much himself), he was feeling tired. The person that sat down beside him addressed him just as the bartender was bringing over his beer, an admittedly, she was friendly enough that Nick felt too guilty to just ignore her or brush her off in some curt manage. He nodded, sliding his beer closer to him as he took the first sip of it. "It was tequila," he answered. It really wasn't a "shot kinda night" for him, as she had put it, though. He wasn't trying to get that drunk, and a shot of tequila had very little of an effect on him. He only took it because it had been offered to him for free, and rejecting free alcohol felt sinful, and additionally, disrespectful, given that it was one of his clients providing him with it. "It's not really a 'shot kinda night' for me, though," he insisted with a small smile. "Alcohol isn't my go-to vice," he then admitted. Only because she was young and hip looking, and not some straight-edge, prim and proper looking girl, he continued. "I prefer weed, honestly. What about you?" He wasn't ashamed at the fact that if she said she smoked too, that he was going to use this as an opportunity to potentially earn himself another client. This was networking at its finest, and it was an opportunity handed right to him, since she had actually been the one to strike up a conversation with him, and not the other way around.

Zoey didn't get time to answer before they were approached by two people, and Nick hadn't noticed them approaching until a familiar voice rang out, followed by a hug. He was surprised to see Chanel and Makayla here. Even though they were roommates, he was surprised to see them together because he normally only encountered them separately. Especially having just recently moved back to the building, he had forgotten a lot of the things that had once seemed standard. It was true too, that the height difference between Chanel and Makayla made their pairing seem all the more off, especially since even if he wasn't drunk on alcohol, he wasn't sober drug wise, either. It wasn't unusual for Nick to nearly be in a constant state of highness. At least after he and Brooklyn broke up, he found himself smoking continuously throughout the day, always trying to ward off any feelings of soberness. He wasn't sure what Chanel really meant about them matching, but he laughed anyway, if at nothing else than her unparalleled and seemingly unnecessary level of excitement. She had a colorful personality and Nick would never shame her for that, because she owned it. She was loud and out there, but in a way that worked for her. She gave off good vibes, as cliche as that sounded, and he couldn't fault her for it.

"I wasn't expecting to see you guys here," he said, remembering in that moment that he was supposed to see Makayla that night. "But fuck, I was supposed to have your shit ready for you. Shit, I'm sorry," he said, looking to Makayla. "One thing after another, and I ended up having to drop to some people over here," he said quietly, offering a subtle nod to the bartender. He didn't realize that Zoey was close enough to be overhearing this, but then again, he had just paved the way to tell her this before the girls showed up, so he also didn't really care. "Let me get you guys a drink, and then whenever you're good, I'll head back with you and get you your stuff," he insisted, catching the bartender's eye and waving him over. He remembered Zoey then, next to him, and felt bad for leaving her mid-conversation. It had only been a minute or so, but it still seemed rude, and even if Nick was indifferent about a lot of things, he would feel like too much of an ass to buy Makayla and Chanel a drink, and not her. "Can I get a round of tequila shots?" he asked the man, before turning to Zoey. "These are two of, uh, my friends," he said, referring to Chanel and Makayla. He didn't know if they really qualified as being friends, since their interactions always revolved around weed, but it didn't seem necessary to explain that. "I don't know if you smoke, but we'll probably head back to our building in a little, which is right down the block, so I can hook them up with some stuff. If you don't end up wanting to have a 'shot kinda night', feel free to come chill." He didn't realize that outing Makayla and Chanel's habits might make them uncomfortable, but he figured that they wouldn't care what some stranger thought of them. He was still just thinking about making another client, even if he didn't even know her name yet. As the bartender placed the shot glasses in front of them, he raised his. "Cheers to 2017, I guess," he offered, realizing it sounded pretty lame an unenthusiastic, and offering a chuckle in response to that alone.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Riley Paige Character Portrait: Zoey Saidi Character Portrait: Jetta Babin
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Oscar Teenson
Color: #00A693
___________________________________


Junk...junk...junk.

Oscar sifted through his email, which amounted to essentially nothing more than a few phishing schemes and some ads that he couldn’t remember where they had started coming from. There was one contract request from a client he didn’t know, but a quick glance at it made sure he would avoid it as if it were stricken with the plague. His drink had arrived as he had been doing so, and he took it with a sipping civility. At least that’s how he viewed it, he wasn’t here to necessarily get drunk, mainly to pass the time. His eyes glanced around the bar from time to time as new people showed up and other people left. For a rather small looking bar, it seemed to be a popular place with the young adult crowd at the very least. Not hard to see why, with its location near apartments mostly populated by people his age. He returned to his drink, flipping through his phone as more emails popped in at a regular interval.

It was only a few minutes later that someone seemed to occupy the seat right next to him. Knowing there were plenty of other seats at the bar, Oscar glanced over to see Jetta occupying the seat next to him. He was slightly surprised, but didn’t show it as further investigation just beyond her showed Zoey talking to another guy. The look on Jetta’s face said everything though as she didn’t seem to be enthusiastic about her sitting arrangement. Oscar could have taken it as an insult, maybe even straight up ask her why she was sitting there if she didn’t want to be there, but looking at her face instantly answered his question. He recognized the blues when he saw it, listening as she seemed to lower her voice when talking to him.

Her tone was somber, depressed one could even call it. Oscar glanced around the room, trying to gather information as was his natural thought process when it came to any problem. Zoey was still tied to the guy at the bar, who had seemed to bring with him a few more girls. A couple snippets of the conversation he was able to overhear seemed to indicate a business of less than legitimate means, but he couldn’t care less about that particular aspect. Twisting his head, he managed to catch sight of the face that he had seen the two girls with before. He hadn’t caught her name before, but he did know that she was another roommate of the two and she was also tied up with another guy. Oscar’s mind started to work quickly as Jetta got up to leave. Was she disappointed that she didn’t get a stud of her own to get with? Oscar would be the first to admit that he wasn’t A class sexual material, maybe that was it? No, judging by the brief interaction that they had, even if that was the case she seemed like the kind of person who wouldn’t let that particular fact influence how she treated others. This seemed like an actual sadness...she felt left out? That could be it, and considering how Zoey seemed to turn and start talking to the other guy immediately, she could have felt like she was being dumped on him.

Oscar watched her walk over and get her coat after mentioning something to Zoey. Get up and go with her… Oscar thought to himself as he watched Jetta walk out of the building. Waiting a few moments to see if they would go after her, he put his head down and stared at his half finished drink before giving a sigh and downing the rest of it in one go. He quickly placed his phone in his pocket while also leaving money for the drink (along with a healthy tip). With that, he strode to the door and left the building as well.

It only took him a second to spot Jetta walking back towards the apartment, so he jogged a bit to catch up to her. ”Hold up.” Oscar stated as he caught up to her, then matched her pace. ”I was only in there killing time anyways.” Oscar said, answering the unsaid question as to why he might have left so soon after he got in there as well. Normally he would have an issue trying to force small talk with anyone really, since he was perfectly fine with silence, but he did have somewhat of a purpose to be here this time.

”Sorry you got put into that situation.” Oscar said simply, allowing her to fill in the blanks as she saw fit. ”If it’s any consolation, I know the feeling.”

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Riley Paige Character Portrait: Zoey Saidi Character Portrait: Hudson Taylor
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ZOEY . SAIDI
Hex Code: #551a8b
Zoey wasn't sure how to take Nick at first, because he had a pretty quiet demeanor about him. She couldn't tell that right off the bat though, and figured that it was possible that he just wasn't interested in talking. She wouldn't fault him for that. He looked like the kind of guy who could zone off into his own world and just be content with that. It was funny, because once he did start talking and admitted that he was more into marijuana than he was into alcohol, she internally shouted 'I knew it!' because she definitely felt that vibe for him. She was pleased that he seemed to engage in conversation then, in a way that made her feel like she wasn't bothering him, and that he was just quieter and more mellow than she was. Even if he had seemed more standoffish than just quiet, with Zoey's current mood, she probably would have continued to talk to him for at least a few minutes, just to confirm that, but also to boost herself up because he really was that attractive.

Unfortunately, before she had time to answer, the man was greeted by two girls who must have just walked in, because Zoey hadn't noticed them before. They were both really pretty girls, which definitely felt discouraging to a degree, because she knew that she wasn't on their level at all. Nick, whose name Zoey had only picked up from the girls' arrival, introduced them as his friends, ordered a round of tequila shots, and invited her back to his apartment to smoke weed. Zoey already felt sort of awkward sitting there when he had apparently been waiting for people, but who was she to turn down a free shot of tequila? Until she became the black female version of Bill Gates, that certainly was not going to happen! Before she could respond to Nick's invitation, Jetta got up from the seat beside her and tapped her on the shoulder, signaling that she was leaving. It was an abrupt and odd exit, and Zoey's expression probably showed that, but because Jetta was already running out the door, Zoey offered a peace sign and turned back to the group. She never would have guessed that Jetta was offended by her playfully hinting that maybe she could strike up a conversation with Oscar. It wasn't her fault that he happened to be sitting close enough to Nick, who Zoey was intrigued by, and additionally, Jetta had asked while they were walking if she had her eye on someone. If she had been against Zoey socializing with other people, or had been feeling lonely, all she had to do was say that, or even more easier, simply not acted to game to set Riley up with Hudson, and then Zoey would have taken the hint. She was tipsy, but she wasn't a bad person, and she didn't favor one of her roommates over the other to a point where she was acting cliquey with Riley. If she would have expected anyone to feel mistreated, it would have been Riley, because in retrospect, Riley could have been bothered by her and Jetta teaming up against her, even if it was playfully. Zoey was confused more than anything, especially since she didn't know Jetta well yet, so this wasn't really the greatest start in seeing her as a roommate that she could hang out with.

Although Zoey wanted to continue to chat with this group since they seemed cool and fun, she felt confused enough that she felt obligated to go see if Riley knew what was up with Jetta. She had disappeared from the bar entirely by the time that Zoey glanced back in that direction, but she didn't notice that Oscar was gone too. "Cheers!" she said, downing her shot and trying to hide the disgusted look on her face as it went down. Normally, she would have felt a lot more upbeat, but she was distracted by her roommate's exit, and especially with the two girls forced to stand now, due to the lack of empty bar seats, it seemed like a perfect time for her to make a polite exit. "These are all you," she said, motioning to Chanel and Makayla as she stood up, leaving her bar stool. "I'm Zoey, by the way," she added a second later with a small laugh, realizing that she hadn't even introduced herself to Nick. "And you know, I might actually take you up on that. I'm here with my roommate though, and I'm not sure if she's into that, so I'll definitely try to catch you before you leave if she's down. And thanks for the shot!" With that, Zoey headed back to the table where Riley and Hudson were sitting. Though she felt bad dropping back in on their conversation when she had just left them, in hopes that Riley would actually be able to make a move on this guy, she didn't feel all that bad since she had really been the one to set them up in the first place. "Sorry to crash, I'm sure lots of good things are being said," she said, re-establishing herself in the booth, "But is it just me, or was Jetta leaving right now really abrupt and kinda weird?" She didn't want to seem dramatic or mean, so she left it at that. "One minute she was talking to that guy who helped move her TV in earlier, and the next, she's running out the door."

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Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Zoey Saidi
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M a k a y l a ~ W r i g h t
Hex Code: #FF8400
Outfit: Here
The only reason for why this bar seemed pretentious, was because its name fit its theme very well, and unique artwork was hung throughout the establishment. That in itself wasn't necessarily pretentious, but Makayla (unfairly) liked to clump a lot of young artists into the hipster movement, or more-so, the "I'm spending sixty grand a year of my parents' money on an art degree that I'll never use!". It sounded bitter, which was why she wouldn't verbalize that thought, and it probably was nothing short of bitter. Other than that, though, the bar seemed cozy and filled with pretty average people. A glance at the drink specials written above the bar suggested that the prices were on the lower side for Manhattan too, which gave her a better feeling about the place. Though she had no reason to frequent bars since she didn't have any friends to socialize with, it was good to know that she could afford to come to this place once in a blue moon if she ever needed to.

Like Chanel, Makayla didn't see Nick at first, and it actually took Chanel's big statement for her to realize where the boy was sitting. Bundled up in layers, Makayla smiled, but couldn't really judge him given how her body was just beginning to recover from the cold outside. She only smiled along as Chanel spoke, her eyes drifting away from the pair for a few seconds to examine the space a little bit more. Though she had said just a minute ago that she was going to lay into Nick about making them walk through the cold, she suddenly felt more quiet now. It wasn't for any particular reason; her mood hadn't shifted that drastically, she just didn't feel like she had anything to say. That was fine, anyway, since Nick started talking, introducing them to a girl sitting beside him, that Makayla hadn't even realized he was with. She looked young, probably too young to be sitting at that bar, but Makayla only made a silent mental note of that. It was easy to assume that she was one of Nick's clients, and nothing more.

Between Nick buying a round of shots and Makayla tossing it back rather quickly, almost in a desperate manner, the girl, who introduced herself as Zoey, being momentarily distracted by a blonde, and then leaving herself, Makayla didn't get a word in, but it wasn't in an unnaturally silent way. Things were just moving quickly, and anyone who knew Makayla knew that she didn't feel the need to interject unless she actually had something that she wanted to say. She was content with just watching what was playing out, though admittedly, she did feel like rolling her eyes when Nick explained to the girl why they were there to see him. Though Zoey looked harmless, and Makayla had no idea that she lived in their building, and therefore had no reason to believe that she would ever see her again, she still didn't like her business being blasted to strangers. Leaving the seat next to Nick open for Chanel, she sat in the other one, that Jetta had previously been sitting in. Although she was tempted to order a drink, maybe a margarita or something to keep with tequila for the night, she didn't feel like spending even a reasonable eight dollars on it. She wasn't desperate for a drink anyway; she just wanted something to be able to hold and fiddle with while she was sitting there. "Damn, Nick, isn't there some sort of unspoken confidentiality clause in our transactions? I feel like that child's about to run home to her mother and tell on us," she said, her tone serious but the look on her face more light and playful as she rolled her eyes. "And you had this child nearly getting frost bite walking over here," she added, nodding to Chanel. "Not cool."

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Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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C A R A - F O R R E S T E R

Location: 304 W 14th Street
Outfit: This
Hex Code: #1BB3F5
Cara was avoiding doing anything special tonight. It was a Friday, so some would probably find it sad for her to be sitting home alone, but sometimes, sitting home alone while everyone else was out at expensive bars and clubs and restaurants, pretending to like people that they talked shit about every other minute of the day, was liberating. It was nice to recognize that you didn't need to always do things just to make other people happy, and that your absence sometimes made people appreciate your presence all the more. Additionally, over the past few weeks, Cara had been doing a lot of socializing with old friends and she was ready for a nice, relaxing night to herself. Admittedly, she was also partially satisfied with staying in because she wanted to see if Roman would take her up on her out-of-character invitation to come over tonight, but she wasn't banking on it. Just as he was skeptical of her intentions, she was skeptical of his. She didn't think that his intentions were pure to begin with, but what she was really unsure about, was whether he would actually go through with sleeping with her again. She was intrigued by him, and that was why she was willing to initiate a second round, but she didn't want to be the one pushing it, only to have him stand her up and try to rub that in her face later on. She wasn't that into him. In reality, she wasn't sure why she liked him. She supposed that once she realized that Nick wasn't an option for her, it became more clear that Roman also offered that bad boy vibe that she was turned on by, but without any strings attached. Granted, he was still friends with Brooklyn, and additionally, he didn't fit the image of someone that she would typically date or fool around with, but if it was just a no strings attached kind of situation, they could avoid both of those things being a problem. Part of Cara felt like she was soon going to crave a relationship (not necessarily with him, just in general), but for now, she thought that she would do okay with something purely sexual. She didn't think he could have any objections about that either. The only issue would be doing so in a discrete enough manner that no one would find out.

To: Roman
I'm not desperate enough to lie. If you sold it for heroin money, I'll kill you bc I actually liked that clutch...

Maybe the text that she sent back to him wasn't the best to set the mood, but Cara couldn't entirely abandon her normal personality, especially after such a dumb text. As she changed out of her pajamas into a nicer "pajama set"; one that she would insist were part of her normal pajama wardrobe, and not actually lingerie or something that she was wearing for the first time, which it was, she sent a follow-up text.

To: Roman
So hurry up, find it, and come over. The door's unlocked. Collin and your friend are gone for the night, and I'm getting bored.

She also responded to Chanel's text, that she hadn't noticed had come in a while ago, until just now.

To: Chanel
Hahaha stop! I hope you like it! You know I have to give good Christmas gifts bc I need all the good karma for the new year anyway Image

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Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Nick Moreno
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✧ NICK MORENO ✧
Dialogue Color: #bb1a39
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Nick nodded to Zoey, who made her exit soon after another girl had come over and taken her attention away from a second. He wasn't pressed on having her come over to spoke, but the idea of getting a new client, or even two, wasn't something that he would turn down. Young college kids were great business for him, especially since a lot of them had lots of friends who they would either buy for, or send to him for more individual transactions. The way that Makayla had perceived his comments to her had him second guessing that, though he was able to sense that she was at least partially joking. Makayla was an interesting girl. She was typically quiet and reserved, but not in a way where she seemed like the girl that had nothing to say or contribute. There was almost an air of wisdom about her, that made it seem like she only spoke when it was necessary, but her words usually were more appreciated than someone who constantly needed to fill the silence with words. Nick had smoked with her many times, so he had been able to see her personality more firsthand and knew that she actually had a good sense of humor, and a strong character about her. She was the kind of person who was intriguing in the sense that it was very easy, for Nick at least, to want to know more about her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I didn't realize it was that deep." To address her last complaints, about him forcing Chanel out into the cold, he turned back to the bartender who had come over to take their empty shot glasses. "And I'm gonna bother you once more for another round of shots, if you don't mind," he said to the man, before smirking as he glanced over at Chanel, and then Makayla. "This one needs another to warm up her body, and this one needs one to warm up her soul," he joked. Once the bartender had moved to get new glasses and the tequila, he looked back at the girls more seriously. "I'm not trying to keep you guys from your nights, though, so I actually am sorry for that mess up on my part. Are you guys going out tonight? I'm surprised you're not working," he said, looking at Makayla before glancing back at Chanel, as he realized that he had no idea what she did for a living. "What do you do for work, again?" he asked, sure that Chanel had told him at one point. "You should do what she did," he said, nodding to Makayla, "And get Brooklyn to get you something at her place. Good money, or so I've heard."

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Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Nick Moreno
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Hex Code: #c7256e
Outfit: This
Unlike Makayla, Chanel wasn't too bothered by Nick airing their business. Not that she didn't have a right to be, and maybe if she wasn't in such a good mood she would be, but right now she was pretty oblivious. The bar was pretty full, but she felt like it had a good energy about it, but it was also just like Chanel to try to see the positivity in things. This kind of set up wasn't her go to, but because she'd had a good introduction in the first thirsty seconds of entering, she felt as though the place as a whole was a bit better, at least more than she would probably think if she was here alone or having a bad day. Because she was jus excited to be out of the apartment for a minute, she was more appreciative of every encounter, so even the possibility of them smoking with a stranger who probably didn't have any place being in this bar sounded like a good idea and was even welcomed on her end. When Nick called for a second round of shots, she was surprised to say the least. Nick never seemed like a stingy person, but even Chanel wasn't so generous herself, especially with people she wasn't considerably close with. She did have the tendency to be the friendly enabler in disguise where she wouldn't pressure you into drinking more, but she would do something like announcing she was getting shots for everyone. Free drinks was usually enough to entice just about anyone. Chanel didn't like to think of herself as a lightweight, and it wasn't even that she was against drinking a bit more than she expected, especially since it wasn't on her dollar, but doing two shots back to back was a bit much for her since she wasn't trying to have that kind of night. She didn't mind leaving with a buzz, but two shots in a row was enough to leave her a few notches past that. If she was looking to just let loose and have a good time, that was a different story, but she had anticipated just smoking. She wasn't going to say no, but she would just wait a few minutes until she took this second one because she wasn't trying to rush things, and even for someone like her who enjoyed her alcohol, she knew her limits (when she was sober enough).

Chanel laughed, looking at Makayla sweetly. She didn't even recall the brief conversation she had with Brooklyn at Disney about being a dancer. Chanel was blessed with long limbs, rhythm, and confidence, three things that went well together. So if she just had to dance, it probably wouldn't be too bad of a thing to consider. She was under the assumption, though, that you had to be a bit more endowed than she was. Chanel wasn't skin and bones by any means. She was slim and had a nice shape and curves, but she definitely wouldn't regard herself as having 'curves for days.' Neither Brooklyn or Makayla fell into that category either, though, but Chanel still figured she was too lanky and not bodacious enough to really be a worthy stripped. She had taken a pole dancing class for a friend's birthday the summer before, but and felt sexy during the class, but it was common (and for many of those places, it was even the purpose) for women to feel empowered afterwards. The truth of the matter was that Chanel figured she would just look like a giraffe in heels, and that wasn't a really cute look, so at least for the time being, she'd stick to fun classes. "Oh, God, I would probably fall on my face," she said, shaking her head. "I do some freelance work and work as a barista," she said. In truth, Chanel had had many jobs since moving. She was considering quitting the coffee shop jib for something in the food industry or even retail. Even if it didn't pay significantly different, she got bored of routine and was looking to change the scenery. The only thing that had stopped her from doing anything thus far was sheer laziness. "And then whatever other side hustle I can get my hands onto," she said. Pulling her glass closer to her, she lifted in some, eyeing Nick suspiciously. "How many of these have you had?" Nick didn't seem drunk by means, so she was genuinely just wondering. At least in her experience, unless she was really trying to fuck things up, she didn't get into the back to back shots until after a few drinks. She could have been underestimating how long Nick had been here, but he did seem too sober to have had that many other drinks. "Don't let me and Makayla end up taking you home."

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Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Nick Moreno
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M a k a y l a ~ W r i g h t
Hex Code: #FF8400
Outfit: Here
Makayla offered Nick her middle finger in a half-hearted manner as he commented on her needing more tequila to warm up her soul. Unlike Chanel, even after he started questioning Chanel about her work life, Makayla didn't suspect that Nick was drunk. She probably should have, since as far as she knew, Nick had to have been here for at least thirty minutes, given how long it had taken them to get ready and come down here, and simply assuming that they hadn't come a minute before he had gotten here. However, as surprising as it seemed thinking about it now, she had never seen Nick drunk. Not as far as she could tell, anyway. She had seen him stoned, but even that didn't seem like a big deal for a guy who was a drug dealer, and who, as far as Makayla could guess, probably drank regularly too. He had a subdued personality to begin with, so if he had ever been high on something else other than weed, that had offered a similar quiet yet clearly out of it experience, she wouldn't have noticed. For someone with a heavy involvement in this world though, she did think it was interesting that she had never seen Nick on a bad trip, or just in a very intoxicated state. While he wasn't always talkative and friendly, she didn't immediately feel like he had to be drunk to act this way, though Chanel bringing it up did make her curious, and her smile reflected that, as she tossed back her second shot.

For a small girl, Makayla's tolerance was pretty high, but she was obviously still human. Two shots back to back would have her feeling a buzz shortly, and she didn't need or plan on drinking anymore, especially because she still wasn't planning on spending any money on alcohol here. "You would make some good side money doing what I do," she said to Chanel, rejecting her impulse to allow that conversation to fade into nothingness in favor of playfully grilling Nick on his intake. She was sure that Chanel's tips would be a lot higher than hers, if not because of her model-like appearance, than because she was just simply a lot more friendly than Makayla was. Even though being a cocktail waitress at a gentleman's club wasn't exactly the same as doing it in a restaurant, your tips more or less still depended on how well liked you were by the customers. "But what the hell am I saying?" she then said, shaking her head. "See, you're lucky. You've got a mom and a dad who would probably beat your ass if they found out you stepped foot in a place like that," she laughed, before turning to Nick to say, "Stop trying to corrupt her. Let her make a clean living where she ain't exploiting herself for shit." She had no reason to think that Chanel was already tampering with that world in a sense.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Collin Forrester Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester
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Saturday, January 7th, 2017 || 1:00 PM

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Character Portrait: Collin Forrester Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri
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C O L L I N - F O R R E S T E R
Outfit: This
Hex Code: #7d9959
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Image
Hex Code: #c7256e
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Collin's Friday night had been fairly uneventful. He had spent a few hours at a party at one of his friend's apartments, though it wasn't really something that could constitute as a party. The small apartment in Stuytown could barely hold the ten or so people that were there, but even so, it was very low key. Some people were smoking, most were drinking and just hanging out. Collin had stayed there for a little bit before leaving to get pizza with a girl that he thought he was going to be able to take home, but midway through their meal, her friends showed up and convinced her to go to a club with them. The invite had been extended to Collin, but he had declined it. He returned to his friend's apartment for a couple more hours before going home. Luckily, by the time he got home, there was no sign of Roman in his apartment, and it was silent, which was only good because walking in to hearing him going at it with his sister would have been nothing short of a disturbing night-ruiner.

His Saturday had started in a relaxed and slow manner. He had nothing planned, so he didn't rush to get out of bed and it was only around eleven that he did manage to. With school out of session for winter break, and no job that he had to report to, Collin's schedule had been pretty open over the past few weeks. It was times like these that he actually wanted to get a job. He had no need to financially, but to pass the time it seemed like a good idea sometimes. Plus, he always wanted something to beef up his resume, as the one year he worked as a lifeguard during high school really wasn't much. The thing about Collin's type, though, was that a resume meant very little. His family was well-connected, so it was highly likely that he would end up working for his father, and then taking over his business. Work experience wasn't required when things were destined to be handed to you. His free time now was often spent hanging out, and today, he spent a few hours of it eating pizza, and then going to the gym before coming home and showering. He spent a couple hours at the gym before returning home to shower. He was more tired than anything at that point, so he found himself making his way to a nearby coffee shop for a pick-me-up. Collin wasn't typically a coffee drinker, but the sudden bout of exhaustion, coupled with the cold weather, made it seem more appealing than it typically would.

He didn't know that the shop he was walking into was the one that Chanel worked at (and he actually didn't even know that she worked at one to begin with), until he was in line and couldn't miss her on the other side of the counter. He wasn't sure if she noticed him until it was his turn to place his order and she was the one there to help him. "Hey," he said with a smile. "I didn't know you worked here."

"Surprise! I didn't know you came to places like this."

"I'm not usually a coffee drinker," he admitted, his eyes drifting from her momentarily as he scanned the menu that hung overhead behind her. "Recommend anything?"

Even though Chanel basically had the menu memorized, she glanced behind herself as well before looking back at him. "Can't go wrong with a vanilla chai and a cookie," she said lightly before nodding her head in slight surrender. "Well, I mean, that's what I usually get when I stop by."

"That sounds good," he said, nodding in agreement as he pulled out his wallet.

[color=#c7256e]"Don't worry about it,"
she said as she walked to the display, grabbing a chocolate chip cookie. She placed it in the small oven that was typically used for warming up sandwiches. The cookies weren't usually warmed, but Chanel knew him well enough to not really think about doing the extra step.

Collin was appreciative of the kindness that Chanel was showing him, though he was definitely aware that this was just how she typically was. It was hard, after that weird time in Disney, to go back to thinking of her as just his sister's friend. Of course she was going to be nice to him, if that was all that their relationship was again. He didn't want it to just be like that, but he also didn't know how to proceed in any other direction, especially after his attempt during Christmas time had been shut down in what he felt was a harsh way. So, in a move that was probably mirroring what he did at Christmas, though he was ignorantly unaware, still, of how it could be construed in a negative way, he pulled a $100 out of his wallet and dropped it into the tip jar while she was still turned away towards the oven. He didn't want her to notice because he didn't want it to be something she had to thank him for. He didn't even really want her to know that it was from him. He just felt like it was a nice thing to do to return her kindness. "I'm surprised you're working on a Saturday. Maybe you and my sister are a little different. I think she'd kill herself before she missed an opportunity to go to brunch on the weekend," he joked.

Chanel offered a soft smile instead of a polite laugh that would have been more characteristic of her. She actually hadn't been scheduled to work until Monday, but she was covering someone else's shift, which included opening the store. They were supposed to be back by 11, but hadn't come in until about 15 minutes ago. Chanel wasn't completely delirious, but she was still tired enough for it to relax her mood. "I was covering for someone today actually," she said as she prepared the chai. "I'm about to get off though, thank God. Besides, you can't have brunch without working so. Not that I'd expect you to know that," she added after a second. She still hadn't learned her lesson than maybe she didn't really know Collin like that to make those kind of jokes yet (which would be true enough), or maybe he just didn't like them, but she wasn't trying to be rude, evident by her warm smile and mischievous glance. But, just in case, she raised her hand some, like a physical side note. "I'm just...kidding by the way. Don't take me too seriously. Oh, and I warmed up your cookie. I like mine warm but I probably should have asked."

Collin rolled his eyes, the only combative reaction he could have to a comment that had him smirking nonetheless. Again, he had to remind himself that Chanel was just being playful and friendly... something that she seemed to be to nearly every person that she encountered. "I appreciate it," he said as he accepted his drink and cookie. "And I'll have you know that looking this good is a full time job," he added in an equally playful, though admittedly more corny manner, before adding, "Not that I'd expect you to know that." He definitely wasn't feeling as bold as he was in Disney, where he was acting out of character in terms of brazenness, but if she was being friendly, then he could be as well. In a platonic way. They didn't know each other well, but if she could be nice to him in a "my friend's brother" way, than he could be nice to her in a "my sister's friend" sort of way. "Since you're getting off, though, does that mean I get the honor of walking home with you? We could always stop and get brunch on the way. I mean, just to make sure that you can keep up your image for all of your Instagram followers. You'll need something good to top that picture from yesterday. Everyone likes a good, old fashioned brunch picture."

Chanel raised her brow, some confusion but also amusement clear on her face. "I didn't know you were such a brunch fan," she said before looking over her shoulder at her coworker tapping her as she passed. She offered the girl a cute smile and noticed the obvious look she gave Chanel towards Collin, as if he wasn't standing right there. Chanel shook her head and pulled her phone out to check the time. "If you're serious, I just have to do some things in the back, but I should be done in 5 minutes if you feel like waiting. You've gotta share some of your cookie though." Chanel didn't really have brunch money like that, but she was just realizing that she hadn't eaten anything this morning because her body was still physically asleep when she was up at 6 am, so she hadn't eaten all day and she was now, understandably, starving.

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Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Ruby Barr
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M a k a y l a ~ W r i g h t
Hex Code: #FF8400
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Even if Makayla was surprised at the text she received from Brooklyn shortly before finishing up at work, about taking Holly out, she wasn't in a place where she could object. It definitely rubbed her the wrong way that Brooklyn spoke to her in a definite tone, as if she had no choice in the matter, but given what the topic of conversation was, it was excusable. After finding the large wine stain in the living room this morning, and knowing that it was only possible for it to have come from Holly, despite her outlandish excuses, Makayla was feeling very mentally exhausted when it came to her sister. In the many years that she had known Holly, she had been through hell and back with the girl. Holly had gotten on every one of her nerves, and then some. She was a lot to handle, and she probably would have been a lot to handle even for a grown adult who wanted children. Makayla was still a young girl herself, this child wasn't hers, and this child, who was actually a teenager, wasn't a normal teenager at all. In Makayla's opinion, it all fit right in to her nothing-ever-goes-right life, though, because really, nothing ever did go easily for her. It was barely even a woe-is-me attitude. Out of the general population in a developed nation like theirs, her life probably would have been classified as one of the more difficult ones. She had lived in poverty throughout her entire life, was raised in a single parent household where, though she was not physically abused herself, she watched violence and abuse occur daily. Drugs became a normalized part of her childhood, as they were how her father made money. And then there was Holly. Makayla was thirteen when Holly first came into her life, and although her mother had come with her, even way back then, Makayla was the one who was expected to take care of Holly more than anyone else.

Fast forward to now, thirteen years later, and taking care of Holly was second nature to her. She couldn't give her up, even if that was an option, but that didn't mean that she went without thinking about it sometimes. Sometimes she thought about it because she felt like her life would be easier without Holly. Other times she thought about it because she was sure that there was someone out there who could give Holly more than she could. At the end of the day, though, she firmly believed that life had brought them together for some reason. Just as badly as Holly needed her, Makayla needed the girl too. On days like today it was harder for her to think that way, but it was true. Nonetheless, today wasn't the kind of day where she could mentally be too protective over Holly, in an instance where she knew Holly was completely fine. Brooklyn could be cruel and brash in a lot of ways, but Makayla was well aware of how her core was much softer than she let on. She had simply responded to Brooklyn saying "okay thanks", before finishing her shift, and walking home to a pleasantly silent apartment. She indulged in a long, hot shower - something that felt overly needed with how cold it was outside, coupled with how stressed out she was feeling.

When she finally emerged, she was relieved that the apartment was still silent, and that the new text on her phone wasn't one from Brooklyn saying they were on their way back, even though she knew she probably wasn't going to get one of those anyway. Instead, the message was one from an unknown number that was in a group chat with Chanel, reading, "Hey! This is Ruby, the new roommate :). Emily gave me your numbers last week. I just wanted to let you guys know that I should be arriving in about 15 minutes with some movers to bring my stuff up, just so I don't surprise anyone by coming in." Despite recalling that Emily, the girl's old third roommate, had said that the girl taking over her room on the lease was moving in this weekend, Makayla really had completely forgotten about it until now. Since she had received the text about ten minutes ago, she rushed to get dressed. Even if she didn't think it was necessary to be super friendly or homemakerish, and be ready with a platter of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies for the new roommate's arrival, she knew that it was probably best if she at least looked presentable and was friendly and showed her face when the girl did arrive. She could only hope, too, that the girl did so before Holly got back.

Opting against responding to the group chat, because it didn't seem necessary on her part, she instead texted Chanel privately.

To: Chanel
Lowkey completely forgot she was moving in today Image

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Character Portrait: Collin Forrester Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri
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The Crooked Knife was a gastropub located just a minute or two's walk away from their building, so it was a convenient place to stop at for brunch. Collin had been wanting to try another local place, Copellia, that had great reviews, but he wasn't as in the mood for Latin fare this afternoon, and Chanel didn't seem bothered by the first suggestion he gave, so that was where they ended up. Though he knew that asking her out to brunch was living life on the wild side (for him, at least), he also tried to reassure himself that it wasn't that deep. She was leaving work, he happened to see her... it was just two people getting a meal together. While he wouldn't go so far as to call Chanel a friend (not to her face, at least. Had someone asked about her, he probably could have used the label), they did know each other in a way that by now, could probably extend past him calling her just his sister's friend. That was true to him, even if he wasn't considering the alcohol-fueled events of that night in Disney. The mere fact that they had been on vacation together suggested that they qualified as being friends, even if they weren't exchanging friendship bracelets. Nonetheless, Collin was overthinking things as always, and "The Amalfi" cocktails, a blend housemade tarragon infused vodka, blood orange puree, fresh lime with club soda, that he had been drinking steadily throughout their meal, was the only reason why this probably hadn't been too awkward on his end. He had ordered The Southwest Omelette that came with grilled steak, avocado chunks, and pico de gallo, and his sweet tooth had him ordering the creme brulee french toast, served with fresh strawberries and vanilla bean ice cream too. He was just starting the sweeter of the two dishes that had been brought to the table just a minute or two before, as he looked to Chanel. "You've gotta split this with me," he said, pushing the plate towards her before he touched it himself. "I'm gonna opt against taking responsibility for being full because of ordering two dishes, and instead blame you for talking me into getting that cookie at your place... which I will admit, hit the spot."


Chanel wasn't really the frugal type. Certainly by her own standards, she wasn't poor, but she wasn't rich either. She did grow up in a family where budgeting their money was a reality, and she couldn't get every single thing she asked for (although she definitely was spoiled, especially being the first born and only daughter of the family). There were times, though, especially around the New Year when she, like everyone else, was convinced that she would make changes to their past behavior. So that was why she wasn't indulging in an entree, dessert, and cocktail. This behavior was sure to change as soon as her refund check dropped, or until she got bored trying to be responsible and it wasn't entirely reckless for her to be so. In the moment, she also wasn't entirely pressured to keep up. The Govn'er Omelette (that came close to second to the Canadian Kevin Bacon simply by way of its name) was enough to suffice her, along with the glass of water she had. Though when Collin slid the french toast her way, she didn't hesitate to accept. If she could have gotten something, that was what she would have chosen too, but even looking at it, it made sense why Collin would need to share it. "Our cookies are kind of like kryptonite," she said, ushering her fork towards the plate. "Mmm. But this definitely comes close." After a couple of chews, she covered her mouth. "I'm seriously going to have to fight you for this," she said laughing. "Or maybe I won't have to since you seem pretty busy over there with those cocktails." Chanel winked playfully.

Collin laughed, raising his glass and examining it as if he was surprised himself that he had had a few cocktails with brunch. Drinking with brunch wasn't an abnormal thing in itself, so what Collin was more surprised at, was that Chanel was insistent on not drinking herself. She seemed just like his sister, who thrived at these socially marketable meals where all you needed was a cocktail and someone to take a photo of you with it, to rake in hundreds of social media hits. "Which reminds me of how weird you are for not drinking. Who the hell goes to brunch with the intention of just eating? Especially after working all morning." he asked with a playful smile, though he genuinely was curious as to why she wasn't drinking. He wouldn't have thought that finances would have played a role in it, so to him, the most logical answer was that she was going to claim that she was on some alcohol cleanse or something superfluous like that. "Unless you've got some crazy important thing to do later, just know that I'm hardcore judging you for this."

Chanel took another bite, rolling her eyes at Collin's teasing. He was right--it was pretty weird that Chanel wasn't partaking in a few cocktails. Not only because this was kind of her scene, but also because she was pretty much always enthusiastic about alcohol, but that just went to show just how tired she was. Moreover, with her newly adapted financially reasonable mindset, and the fact that she still had to wait a few weeks until her refund check came in, a $13 cocktail seemed crazy. Especially since her meal itself was $16. "Plebeians like me who don't have the money to pay thirteen, sixteen dollars on a cocktail." She glanced at the drink on the table, trying to recall which number this was before shaking her head as she shoveled some food onto her fork. "I seriously can't believe how much money you have. You might have consumed my grocery budget's worth of alcohol and you didn't even blink." While Chanel was teasing him, it was a bit funny in an intriguing kind of way. It really was hard to grasp just how much money the Forrester's had, and she wondered if they even know how much the had since money was such a non-issue for them. "Okay okay. Tell me this: what is 'expensive' to you? Because--"

The vibration from her phone interrupted her. Because her phone was just beside her, she saw right away that it was a slew of random numbers. Her face contorted in slight confusion until shortly after Makayla texted her. "Oh shit..." Like Makayla, Chanel had totally forgot. She was still getting used to the swing of things after a pretty nice vacation of her part, so remembering that her new roommate was moving in was definitely going to be on the bottom of her list of things to remember. She was sure it wasn't that serious, because it wasn't like she had promised the girl to help her with moving in or anything, but Chanel still felt like she should be there just because she liked giving people warm welcomes. Knowing her, she would have likely made it an entire event or something. Instead of responding to the group chat right away, she responded to Makayla first.

To: Makayla
fuuuuuccckkkk. i totally forgot too. i feel like i should be there... are you home?

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Character Portrait: Collin Forrester Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Ruby Barr
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Tossing his head back gently, in a sign of dismay, Collin only returned to a normal position to look at her, just as her attention turned to her phone, to say, "Did you really make me sit here, drinking alone, because of money? Come ooooonnnn," he complained, as if Chanel was the lamest person on the planet, in the most inexcusable way, for doing so. Granted, as she pointed out, he genuinely could not emphasize with her. Unlike what she probably assumed, he understood the concept of money. He understood that if he could buy a bottle of standard vodka for twenty dollars, that it was surge pricing to be charged fifteen dollars for a drink that contained a shot's worth of that same vodka in it, and probably fifty cents to a dollar's worth of additional mixers in it. Even when accounting for the extras that went into the drink price - the money the restaurant had to pay its waiters, and managers, and cooks and so on, plus rent, and electricity and all of that, they were still obviously making a generous profit. He recognized things like that, but when money was expendable, it wasn't something he had to consider in the moment. It was one of those things where he understood the principle of how money worked, but it was all about relativity. Had Chanel had asked her question without becoming distracted by her phone, Collin wouldn't have answered because he would have felt weird doing so, and he probably wouldn't have known what to say, but for someone like him, expensive wasn't blowing a couple thousand dollars on a helicopter trip to the Hamptons. That was something that fell within his family's budget. Spending tens of thousands of dollars on private jet flights, like his father was sometimes known to do, was something that qualified as expensive and hard to justify for him, though. Most of the time, it just depended on the situation. He didn't like feeling scammed any more than the next person, but because money wasn't something that he had to worry about, the unfairness or absurdity of a price probably had to be substantially more than it would need to be for an average person, for him to really care. "And don't tell me you're about to try to not let me get the check, because I'll be offended. I'll play the politically correct card and claim you're disrespecting my chivalry-stressed upbringing, or something," he continued playfully, pushing the plate towards her after cutting a piece off for himself, and deciding that he should focus on finishing the last of his drink instead.

From: Makayla

Yeah I’m home. Let’s hope she’s normal lol.

To: Ruby, Makayla
cool, thanks for letting us know! i'm not there at the moment, but i can't wait to met you later :)!

Chanel only half rolled her eyes in Collin's direction when he seemed aghast that money was the issue for her. He didn't answer her question since she was turned to her phone, but his reaction sufficed its absence enough. When she got the response back from Makayla, it alleviated her nerves a tad bit. Makayla was already a chill person, and her expressing her hope that the new roommate wasn't a weirdo made Chanel smile enough to make her not feel as bad for not being there. While she still felt like she needed to, she considered the fact that Makayla probably wasn't in the same mindset as her and wasn't thinking of this as needing to be some sort of event. In all actuality, Chanel didn't have the energy to be very grandose and welcoming as all she really wanted to do was eat and then go straight to bed, but she knew well enough that she wouldn't be able to even do that in good conscience. It went without saying that she was carefree about many things, but she was particular when it came to making people feel welcomed and as at ease as possible. There was a genuine desire for it, but there was also the selfish bit that was to stroke her own ego so she didn't feel like the exploitative person she believed herself to be. She was able to get those moments out while sugaring, and besides that, it was easier to exploit strangers versus people you actually knew which is why she didn't agree to hang out with Collin just because she figured he would comp her costs. Even she wasn't low enough for that, but she wasn't going to fight him over the bill, even though there was that inner voice prodding her to politely decline.

"All right, all right," she said, holding up a free hand in surrender. "But if I had known you were paying, I would have gotten a cocktail with you. That Strawberry Hickey sounded nice." Even if money wasn't an issue, Chanel also just wasn't in the right brunching mindset. After a long shift and little sleep, she was pretty exhausted and even someone like Chanel had her limits. Of course, the cold did make her all the more lazy, so that likely played a role in it too. "I don't like feeling totally incapacitated, so here," she began, reaching into her pocket and ignoring whatever kind of protests Collin might have sent her way. She slid a nickel and two pennies across the table, giving his hand a light pat. "I know this is just a piece of lint to you, but to us common folk, this is the equivalent of a ripe kidney, so you're welcome." Chanel had been around his sister enough to not feel totally strange about not having to pay for things a lot of the times, and even she couldn't resist dramatizing her socioeconomic status which was certainly far from poor. But still, Collin wasn't at Cara's level as far as relationships went, so Chanel felt a need to make herself a little less uncomfortable by poking fun at herself. "But why are you drinking so much? Because I'm also hardcore judging you."

Collin eyed the change that Chanel had passed towards him with an amused smirk on his face. Apparently, the waitress was going to be seven cents richer, because he didn't know what he was supposed to do with that. Chanel was right that that was like a piece of lint to him, but he was sure that that was how it would be to most people. In his defense, he had a mason jar filled with change on the floor of his closet. Obviously for someone like him, saving up pennies wasn't something that needed to be done to fund a vacation or to treat himself to something special, but he recognized that it was literally just stupid to let change disappear into the cracks of sofa cushions or the washing machine. Still, he wasn't that concerned about seven cents to feel inclined to do anything other than look it at, unsure of how he was supposed to react. Simply because Chanel had pointed out his financial status, he was overthinking how laughing at her action could possibly be offensive, despite knowing that she knew that seven cents was meaningless too.

As the waitress passed by, Collin requested the check. Although they were still finishing up what was left on the table, the pace of the restaurant had picked up, and while he had her attention, eh figured it would be convenient to get that out of the way. "Unfortunately for you, hardcore judging me over drinking on a Saturday just makes me wanna hardcore judge you even more," Collin countered, leaning back in his chair and stretching out his arms before finishing off his drink. "I'd classify it under a thing called 'living a little'," he continued with a joke, before placing the empty glass on the table. "Admittedly, it's something that's kinda new to me, but I'm pretty sure I'll get used to it." That was more Collin-like, at least in terms of being more humble than playfully cocky. "I'm working for my dad once classes start up again, so I'm taking advantage of this winter break while it's still here. You stuck doing an internship this semester too?"

Chanel shook her head, purposely stuffing her mouth full of food to delay the need to speak. In actuality, it wasn't that odd for her to say that no, she didn't have an internship, but in her mind, it seemed so bad because all of her friends seemed to be making moves while she was slowly but surely losing certainty over her life choices day by day. One of them included if she was even in the major she wanted to be in anymore. She had already taken time off from school, and against her parents wishes. She had convinced herself (mostly because she had to convince them of it too) that that would be a time for recalibrating and she could finally devote her time to planning the next few years out appropriately. That, of course, didn't happen, and she came out of that semester and three months knowing less than she did before. If she switched anything up, it would delay her even more, which would cost money she didn't have and didn't want to ask her parents for (out of guilt, embarrassment, and fear of rejection). Then on top of that, something she realized the other day, she was on track for her brothers to graduate before her which was something she knew she'd never live down. "Nah," she said once her mouth was emptied. "I'll probably do one over the summer though. If I can find one that pays enough, that'd be great. Killing two birds with one stone."

She considered joking that his dad should give her a position out of pity, but then she realized she didn't actually have any clue what his dad did. It was embarrassing because she felt like she should have known by this point, but she couldn't for the life of her recall a conversation she'd had with Cara where it came up. "Wait, what does your dad do? He...owns something," she tried, figuring that was the most reasonable thing because it always seemed like super wealthy people owned fancy things like buildings and islands and political votes. "Or he doesn't... I feel like I should know this."

"I feel like you'd be the type to get some internship at Vogue or something," Collin offered. He didn't have any basis to think that, other than that he felt like Chanel looked like the kind of girl who could be on the cover of a magazine like that, so it fit her vibe. "He owns an investment management firm, yeah," he confirmed, at her question about his father. The world of finance was a confusing one, even for Collin who had grown up in a household where the terms were often thrown around and incorporated into dinner-table conversation more frequently than questions about school or how the day went. "So basically people or companies or governments that wanna invest their money and make a profit give it to his company, and they do the investing." With a more relaxed smile, he pushed Chanel's change back towards her. "You should learn the stock market. Maybe one day you'll be able to turn this seven cents into seven million dollars, or something," he joked. "Something tells me that you're not a Wall Street kind of girl, though. What kind of place would you wanna intern at? Starbucks?"

"I think working at a marketing firm could be pretty cool," she admitted. "At least from what I think I know about it. I haven't really thought about it, but just something that's creative and not dull and boring," she said before winking. "Like finance. I seriously didn't peg you as a numbers guy. Especially since it didn't seem like you were counting those cocktails," she laughed. "I almost forgot you weren't...y'know," she said, not wanting to accidentally be overheard by a staff members. "Do you just use your fake casually, like, all the time? I was scared as hellllll to use mine outside of going out." It didn't seem to fit her personality since she was a bit of a party girl and even know she still liked going out with her girlfriends for a good time, and she enjoyed not having rules to follow. She was a carefree and careless person, especially back then with an ego to match. It was something she couldn't explain, but she was just always incredibly cautious. Even in practice it didn't make much sense, but she figured if she got her I.D. revoked at a club, she could just not go there anymore and she probably could just pay to get it back. Working things out in broad daylight switched things around because she wasn't sure what would or could happen, but anticipated it to be a lot worse. That, and she felt more exposed and likely to get caught then than at night, and that was an issue simply because at the time she was afraid of her parents finding out. Because even now they gasp when she has a glass of wine during the holidays, it was understandable why she would be petrified of them catching her drinking underage. "I honestly think my parents would have tossed my body over a bridge or something."

Not meaning to totally change the subject, she tried backtracking. "I feel like the best creative ones are over the summer anyways. But they're also typically all damn summer which means I probably won't get to travel too much. Are you and Cara gonna traverse the globe or anything? If you do, feel free to pack me in your suitcase."

Collin nodded. He could see her in marketing too. His father often warned him that it was an over saturated field, but in New York, what wasn't? If anything seemed overly populated in New York, it was finance. It seemed like every person he knew was trying to get into the field in one way or another. It was where the money was, so it made sense, and if you wanted to do finance, New York was the place for it. Still, he was sure that Chanel was the type of person who would thrive in a field like marketing because as she referenced, it was a creativity-based field, and she seemed like the type who could be proficient in that. He was kind of glad that Chanel changed the subject, because he didn't want to explain that he was only pursuing finance because of his father's influence. He didn't want to seem like that unoriginal and drive-less kind of guy. "It's a lot easier to use it at restaurants. Waitresses don't really care like bouncers or bartenders do. I guess they know that expensive alcoholic drinks mean a bigger tip for them," he admitted with a shrug. "But yeah, I agree. The only thing with summer internships is that you've got more competition, though. So many people come from out of state to get the good ones, so sometimes it's better to do it during the year if you're already living here, you know?" The only reason that Collin was doing an internship this semester was because it was part of his course-plan and he was getting college credit for it. His advice was well-founded though. He knew that many of his childhood friends who went to school out of state all planned on getting internships in the city when they returned home from school this summer. Then again, it was possible that that influx of kids looking for internships would be leveled out by the increased offering of them during the summer months.

He didn't have any summer trips planned out, but Chanel's question did have him wondering what he was going to do this summer. If his father had anything to say about it, it would be interning again, full-time for the company. Collin wasn't even sure if he'd survive doing it part-time this semester, so part of him wanted to book some international trip now, just to avoid that. "Doubtful," he commented. "At least doubtful that I'd do it with her. I know you won't admit it because you're friends and all, but my sister's a huge bitch," he said seriously, before cracking a small smile. "I'd have to be suicidal to willingly go on vacation with her again, alone at least. I usually spend most of the summer in the Hamptons. What about you? Big plans outside of that possible internship?"

"Not the Hamptons," she snorted with a coy smile, conveniently ignoring the snob about her friend. Summer seemed too far away to think about seriously, but that was simply because she didn't anticipate it to be as enjoyable as she hoped, though that could have been her displeasure for the upcoming semester clouding her judgment. Additionally, it was likely her family wouldn't be go on any trip this summer because of the one they just got back from. "I think I'm playing it by ear though. More than likely, the only 'big' plan will be my hair thanks to the summer humidity," she said, preemptively cringing at the inevitable volume she got in the city during the hottest months. It wasn't something she necessarily disliked, because she did like her big hair, but Chanel still had her limits, and it did kind of suck when you left the house thinking your hair looked good as is, only for it to completely transform after being outside for 10 minutes. "My family just got back from Morocco, so we'll probably chill this year, y'know? The obligatory cookouts and such. That's if they don't totally abandon me for being a total fuck up and calling them for help every five minutes. Oh!" She pointed her finger out, noting that she just remembered something. "But Makayla and I are getting a new roommate, Ruby, which should really help out with the rent, much to me and my parents' excitement. Butttt, of course she's moving in today and I totally forgot. Like, I get I totally don't need to be there, but I just wanted to have something nice prepared so she felt welcomed, you know?" she said before shaking her head to her own question. This was clearly an isolated incident that wasn't super relatable. She saw the waiter behind Collin a couple of tables down and redirected her attention back to him. "Are you sure you don't want me to pitch in? I wasn't expecting you to pay or anything. I mean, only a little because free cookie and all," she said, adding in a bit of humor for her own benefit, just because she didn't want to feel like she owed Collin anything, even though she knew that was unrealistic.

Collin couldn't tell if he was just unfriendly, or if Chanel was just a homemaker in the making, but he couldn't relate to her claim that it seemed necessary to welcome a new roommate into the apartment. He supposed that girls were different though. He had lived with a roommate during his freshman year of college, and though they were friendly, they rarely interacted in the apartment, or out of it. With guys it was just easier, maybe. Not being ultra-friendly wasn't as offensive as girls sometimes construed it to be. Then again, Collin knew for a fact that Chanel was extra-friendly so maybe it was that, too. "I'm sure," he said, rolling his eyes, though still smiling. He wanted to comment that that cookie had been good enough that he was still indebted to her, even after this, and that it warranted him taking her out to dinner one night this week, but he wasn't that confident. "If you ever meet my dad, you can thank him," he said, purposely knocking his own role in paying the bill day a bit as he pulled his credit card out of the check holder and signed the receipt before sliding that back into it. "I'm good if you are," he said. His drink was empty, and she seemed ready to get back to her apartment for this new-roommate deal, so he didn't feel rude standing up and sliding his jacket on.

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Character Portrait: Collin Forrester Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri
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After the filling brunch, Chanel was definitely ready for a nap. Because she was talking to Collin, her eyes weren't as heavy as they were when she was working, but now that it had been a couple of minutes since her last bite, she was starting to feel the food settle and the wave of sleepiness return. The warm car opposed to the frostiness outside only assisted with that feeling, but nevertheless, it wasn't that obvious that she was so tired. As anyone who interacted with her for a mere few seconds could tell, she was an entertainer, and even when tired, talking to people energized. Still, she readily looked forward to the warm bath she planned on having. Anticipating it, she wiggled in her seat, smiling ear to ear. "I'm going to take the longest bath when I get home," she said. "And thennn, I'm going to take the best nap of my life and then I'm going to wake up and eat these leftovers and then pass out again until next Thursday." After thanking the driver, she stepped out into the cold, pulling her coat closer to her chest. It was probably not that surprising that cold weather wasn't her favorite; summer was a much better much for her equally warm personality.

Before they approached the door, Chanel nudged Collin's arm, slowing down as she fumbled in her bag. "You wanna wait a sec?" As she went through her belongings, she didn't bother to elaborate, instead choosing to pull out a small vape and holding it up. "You can have some if you don't judge. I just don't know how the new roommate is, and she said something about movers so." Taking a long pull for herself, she gently bobbed from side to side with a mischievous grin, trying to entice him. The main reason she had it on her was because she used it during her work breaks. It provided a nice enough buzz to get her through the day. She held it out to him with a smile before pulling it back to her. "Unless you're going to be a snitch again. Then I'd actually have to kill you."

Collin tucked his hands into his pockets. It was cold out, but not necessarily unbearably so. Had he been walking home alone, it probably would have seemed worse, and he would have been more anxious to get inside. The slower they walked, the more time he would have in the company of someone that he was beginning to see he really enjoyed, so he didn't object to her stopping a few feet away from the building when she pulled out her vape. He rolled his eyes, his mouth open and ready to object to her claim that he had ever been a snitch, when his phone started to ring. The sound of it in itself surprised him since: A. he normally always kept it on silent or vibrate and B. he rarely got actual telephone calls. As he pulled it out and saw his grandmother's name on the screen, it became less surprising though, since he was convinced that she had no idea how to send a text message, even though he retaught her how to do it every time he saw her. "It's my grandma," he said, looking back at Chanel with a hint of sheepishness in his expression. "If I don't take this, she'll send out a search party to make sure that I'm not missing," he added more playfully. "So, hopefully I'll catch up with you later." He was tempted to leave it at that, and he took a few steps away from her and towards their building, since he planned on taking the call as he walked upstairs because of how cold it was out here. However, before he pulled the door open, in the spirit of her own teasing related to Disney's mishaps, he had to add, "Just make sure you don't leave that anywhere where Holly could get it. We wouldn't want a round two of you being so careless," before slipping into the building.

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Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Riley Paige Character Portrait: Hudson Taylor
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Hex Code: #8365A1
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Riley wasn't the most animated person. Being pretty casual, she didn't fall into the category of a lot of people around the world, especially her age, who felt the need to pull out their phone and document every small detail. Now, though, she had an itch the pull out her phone, not so that she could take a picture of Hudson, but so that she could text Zoe. She wouldn't have regardless, because she didn't hadn't heard from the girl yet, nor did she know her that well, but it also wasn't that serious. It was just one of those moments where you wanted to look around to see if this was being captured because, at least in her mind and apparently his, what were the chances? If she was being completely honest, probably not as low as she was make it out to seem. She was mostly perplexed since she had just been talking to Zoe about him. It made total sense that he would live nearby, it was just even more interesting that they lived in the same building. Of course, Riley would have rather run into him at a different time. She wasn't in revealing clothing, but it was just a part of her personality to want to look and act a certain way, but just as such, she responded to most inconveniences in the same manner, and it was just by making note of them in the back of her mind. In this moment, it didn't prevent her from breaking her typical stone-faced look to smirk.

She took a second glance at the bag in her hands, as if it had just appeared there, because she was confused about why he would want to carry it for her. Clearly, he was just being polite, but it was just trash. Since he was coming downstairs, empty-handed at that, she figured he knew about the trash chutes. Unless he just lived on the fifth floor, which was also a possibility. When they had run into each other, Riley was already in the motion of going around him, and in the brief seconds they had interacted, she hadn't completely stopped. It wasn't mean to be rude or like she didn't want to talk to him, but Riley naturally wasn't a huge conversationalist and even still assumed that Hudson would just say hi. She did, however, pause in action at his question, so that she just a step above him. With a soft chuckle that sounded unintentionally demeaning in her ears, she shook her head. "No, I think I got it. Besides, I usually have a twenty-four hour window before I let someone carry my trash for me." Her tone and what she was saying didn't entirely add up, since she was evidently just trying to joke. With her current friends, it was actually a running joke, Riley's deadpan style of delivery. Whenever her friends would reminisce over the early part of their friendship, they never failed to mention all of this misconceptions they had about Riley like how they thought she wasn't that friendly. Perhaps to their point, Riley didn't find it that funny to keep bringing it up, but she recognized that maybe she did feel a little self-conscious about it because she didn't like feeling as though she was being mean to people. Thinking about this, and the fact that she had to move to the side of the stairwell to allow space for two people coming up making her a bit closer to Hudson, she followed up with, "You look like you could use the workout though, so." She handed the trash bag to him before beginning to continue up the flight of steps, not realizing that maybe she was better off stopping at the previous joke. He looked undeniably well-built, though, so it seemed pretty silly to think that anyone, especially him who seemed like a laidback guy, would take her comment seriously. Although with guys, sometimes it was hard to tell. "Do you live on this floor?"

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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Hex Code: #c7256e
Outfit: This
While Chanel didn't necessarily enjoy the cold, she wouldn't deny the fact that she was a complete and utter stoner. Adding the fact that she could be very bougie, having to wait a while to smoke when she wanted to do so now made standing out in the cold for a few moments longer seem all the more manageable and reasonable. She noted the moving truck just outside of the apartment and for a flicker of a moment wondered if that was for her roommate. It was around the time for new leases, as was evident with all the new people she had been seeing in the building, so it could have been someone else. Even still, seeing the movers continuing to unload the items from the vehicle made her enjoy her weed more since she was sure that, given her luck, those guys belonged to her new roommate. All the more reason she needed to take her time, because for whatever reason, in her mind, having an entire moving crew signaled that the girl was likely funny about drugs. With Chanel herself, in a way she had a moving crew, but they were all relatives. Her immediate family and some uncles. She grinned fondly in memory as she recalled one of her uncles--the one that really can't be taken anywhere because he doesn't know how to behave--got into a heated debate over baseball with some stranger on the sidewalk. He wore a Yankees hat wherever he went because he always needed a gateway to let people know that he almost played pro before his shoulder gave out.

To pass time, and because the cold was starting to ruin her ability to enjoy smoking, she called the only brother she really had any casual relationship with, Devon. "What's up, little boy?" On the other end, she could hear her brother sigh before she had to pull the phone from ear because of a lot of blockage. Before she got to irritatedly ask him what the hell he was doing, he was back to the phone, sounding no less annoyed. "Why can't you ever just text me?"

"Oh my god, I can't believe how freaking rude you are."

"People don't talk on the phone anymore, Chanel!" As with anyone who was receiving negative feedback over an innocent action on their part, Chanel was a bit offended and prepared to argue with him, taking a deep inhale before her brother cut her off. "And you always call when you're doing something. Like if you're just trying to do something and not really talk. Like if you're grocery shopping or like smoking or whatever." Chanel had actually been in the middle of putting the vape to her lips but yanked it away after being called out. "Delete my number, bitch," she told him as calmly as she could, but when she was met with his obnoxious laughter, she got even more irritated. Her smoking plans officially ruined, she decided it was time to go back inside. "I don't care if you laugh. I'm gonna be laughing too when I block your ass. Boop. You're blocked. Don't ask me to cash app you shit either. You can starve." Devon was typically when she got a taste of her own medicine as far as personality went. They had similar ones, and as such, they were always a lot closer growing up, but that also meant they fell out a lot more as well. With her youngest brother, she got a small taste of how obnoxious she could be to people who didn't take her well. He had the same big laugh as she did, which was especially annoying when you were irritated with him. "Are you done?" she grumbled as she began punching in the keycode for her building. "Thanks, Cha. I really needed that."

"What you need is to get your ass kicked. You're seriously lucky you're in Pittsburgh otherwise I'd beat your ass. When you want to eat out with your friends, don't text me. Your ass can sit in the cafeteria eating soggy ass cereal for all I care, bitch." It seemed like quite the jump in conversation, but this was pretty typical of them. They weren't as vulgar when they were at home because they were in front of their parents, but they did bicker all the time and get under each other's skin. There had been many times where they would be going at each other's throats just to swiftly return back to normal. In fact, Chanel was just about to ask him if he decided when he was going back to school since he had mentioned staying at his friend's apartment for a while. Talking about home had reminded her, and she didn't get the chance to interrogate him about it because she was sure it had something to do with a girl since he was so lazy and liked being at home where he didn't have to worry about laundry or groceries. Before she got the chance to, she saw Roman exiting the mail area only a couple feet away from her. His brow was perked and there was a slight smirk on his face, letting her know he'd heard at least part of her going off on her brother. She quickly turned on a sweet smile. "Oh, hey Roman!"

On other end of the line, she heard her brother gawking. "Oooooh, who's Rom--"

Putting her phone in her pocket, she continued to the stairs. "Is it still acceptable to say Happy New Year?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Ruby Barr
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ROMAN || KILLENS
Outfit
Hex code: #11519E
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Hex Code: #c7256e
Outfit: This
Roman was definitely amused by the bit of Chanel's conversation he overheard when she walked inside. He hard her before he saw her and had thought that it sounded a bit like Chanel. It only became funny when he saw that it actually was her and watched her face change upon seeing him. Thankfully for Chanel, he didn't hear her brother's coo-ing, which would have been entertaining for what could only be obvious reasons to anyone who actually knew the structure of relationships on the fifth floor. Even just looking at the two, they didn't seem compatible, though Roman wouldn't deny that Chanel was a pretty girl. "I would think so," Roman said lightly. His interactions with Chanel were rare and never quite monumental, but even still, he did have a tendency to be frosty towards her, even by his own standards. It seemed necessary in order to balance her overly warm personality, but because she had managed to humor him, and his day had been relatively smooth, he wasn't as short with her. "But you did tell me that yesterday."

"Oh, right, right," Chanel said, climbing up the stairs. She'd slowed her pace down so that he caught up with her, something that wasn't all too surprising given that Chanel never seemed to catch on that Roman was hardly ever in the mood to talk to people he wasn't actually friends with. Today was a bit different, and he didn't mind entertaining things, if for no other reason than because he was intrigued by seeing her try to save face. "Siblings, man," Chanel grumbled while rolling her eyes. "You know how they can be." Roman nodded lightly, not because he actually understood. He was an only child and didn't have any sibling-like relationships with anyone in his family, but he knew enough people with siblings to be able to fathom it. It wasn't that hard of a concept to grasp, and he considered his relationships with Nick and Brooklyn to be very sibling-like, and given by what he had overheard from Chanel, it reminded him a lot of his own back and forth with Brooke. "Actually I don't," he said, deciding to leave it there before he saw Chanel's face change. "Only child and what not."

"Oh wow, really? That's super cool! Is that why you act so spoiled?"

"Excuse me?"

Roman wasn't actually offended by what she said, but more so taken aback by her gall. Chanel definitely didn't come across as an instigator or the purposely tongue-in-cheek kind of person. And even though it was clear she didn't follow social boundaries to the T, she wasn't like Holly who just couldn't process social cues if her life depended on it. Almost immediately after his reaction, Chanel burst into a fit of laughter. "I'm just kidding, sorry, sorry. I just wanted to see your reaction is all. You don't seem spoiled. Just quiet. My brother is like that." Because she didn't clarify that she actually had two brothers, and she wasn't talking to the quiet one she just mentioned, Roman felt her experiment was more fitting, but the additional information was still surprising in his eyes. "Do you ever wish you had any siblings?"

Roman still wasn't sure if he could totally transition from such an awkward moment in the conversation as smoothly as she could, but clearly she was just being silly, which was quite fitting in what little he knew about Chanel. She was all over the place and bubbly, but the past minute did prove that you didn't really know people until you knew them. "I guess all kids would like someone to play with, but I didn't play much as a kid anyways, so never posed much of a problem, I suppose." He could already tell that Chanel was about to focus on the latter half of his sentence, so he decided to continue. "Brooke and Nick probably give me all I need as far as the brother-sister thing goes, so I think I'm good on that front."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Chanel didn't really see him and Nick interact a lot, but a lot of the times when she did happen to see Roman, she saw him with Brooklyn. Or maybe she was creating false memories since she didn't see either overwhelmingly often, but yet she knew that the pair were close. If she had any doubts about that, then the Disney trip definitely solidified it. Overall, Roman was still pretty quiet most of the time, but he was by Brooklyn a lot, and she did manage to catch a bit of his personality come out then. "That makes sense though. You two seem really close. I actually thought you two were a thing at first," Chanel said, this time unintentionally being tongue-in-cheek. Usually Roman pondered so long that she thought he just wasn't going to respond, but this time he was quite quick to.

"You mean when she was dating Nick?" She wasn't sure if the tightness in his voice was actual irritation or if he was just trying to point out her hiccup, but she was now wishing she had kept that tidbit out. Of course, she hadn't thought that would come across as meaning she thought they were hooking up when she had a boyfriend, although at the time that is exactly what she was thinking because she had never been around a guy that was that comfortable with his girlfriend being super close with another guy. Though Chanel's track record with men was already shitty, so she didn't have the best sample population to go off of. She looked at Roman for a second, who wasn't looking at her but instead just looking straight as they continued their ascent. His face looked much calmer than his tone, but she still felt the need to profusely apologize for insinuating that he had been hooking up with his friend's girlfriend. Instead, she just tried dodging that she ever thought such a thing. "Uhhhh, I don't... Mmm, were they dating the entire time? Maybe I have my information confus--"

"Nick's a piece of shit, don't worry."

Chanel's mouth hung slightly agape, unsure how to reorganize this conversation so that it wasn't what it was. It was then that she caught Roman's glance and saw him smirk. He shook his head then. "It's fine," he said, seeming as though he was going to just stop there before perhaps seeing the confusion still on Chanel's face. She didn't actually know the extent of the three's friendship, and so didn't know that Roman wasn't actual just talking shit about his best friend to some girl he didn't know or seemed to even like that much. Him saying it was fine just seemed like he was saying that didn't need to freak out because he was talking crap. "We all are. That's why we're friends." Chanel slowed her pace down as she processed, still a bit at a loss for words, but she nodded anyways as she followed behind him.

"Can't take what you dish out?" Roman said, not in an accusatory manner, but in genuine interest, though the seriousness of his tone inevitably hinted at sarcasm. He noted Chanel's eyebrow twitch; it was a very passive aggressive detail, but one he noted and also found humorous since this was perhaps the most serious he'd ever encountered Chanel. He didn't automatically think that she had been faking being nice this whole time, even if that was sort of the case, but it did seem like he had witnessed a slight glitch in the system. It was evident that she wasn't catching on that he was just trying to make her squirm, if for no other reason than to get even, but she clearly thought he had taken her comment about him and Brooklyn seriously. It wasn't the first time he'd heard that, and wasn't even really that surprising, but since Chanel had demonstrated a different side, he decided to play into it. "Calm down," he said as they neared two others on the stairwell. "For a second I thought you actually had a decent sense of humor."

"Right..." Chanel muttered, some annoyance in her tone that Roman wasn't sure if he was imagining, but turned out that he wasn't when she followed up with, "And here I thought you had more range than just two emotions." Before she got the chance to apologize, which he could tell was coming going off the look in her eyes, he quickened his pace and entered the hallway, leaving her behind, but not without getting a final word in. "I knew it was impossible to actually be that nice." It wasn't to be rude for the hell of it, though he knew that's exactly what it was. He had seen some worry in her face, something that he didn't understand because he hadn't taken the conversation as seriously as she had, which is exactly why he wanted to leave things on a cliffhanger and with the ball in his court. Why was she acting so funny over nothing? He had gotten a quick glimpse of a different side of Chanel that he didn't want to see disappear just yet because he was intrigued. It was absolutely unnecessary, and demonstrated the cruel side of his personality since it was never fair to exploit someone's emotions as such, but Roman was never the humanitarian to begin with.

Chanel regretted it as soon as it came out of her mouth, not knowing that Roman was purposely just trying to get that kind of reaction out of her out of simply curiosity from her her conversation with her brother and her comment on him being spoiled. It seemed to be a conversation gone wrong because it wasn't as smooth as one would expect a typical conversation to go, but she didn't know that that was what actually intrigued Roman. Of course it was hard to tell when he just ended up walking away, seemingly annoyed with her. Chanel didn't like hurting people's feelings or causing a rift, and to somehow annoy the most boring person on the hall wasn't an achievement that Chanel wanted to take ownership of. She knew she annoyed him regardless because he was typically curt with her, but this time she knew she kind of deserved it because of what she perceived as tension between them. She saw him getting to his apartment when she was nearing Cara's. She hadn't even noticed that the girl standing outside was actually outside of her friend's apartment until Chanel passed the door and caught a glimpse of Cara. Instantly backtracking, she waved to Cara behind Ruby. "Hey, girl!" She was then in an awkward moment between feeling the need to apologize to Roman before he disappeared into his place and apologizing to the girl Cara was talking to. Roman was already unlocking his door, so she said just waved and offered a "Bye, Roman!" She got a short "Later" from him, which in her eyes meant that it was the end of the world because she had pissed someone off, when in reality Roman was actually being nice since his go to response would be to just go into his apartment and ignore her.

Knowing that was something that would have to be dealt with later, she turned back to the other two. "Oh, sorry," she said to Ruby, not meaning to interrupt whatever conversation they seemed to be having. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I'm Chanel, I was just saying hi," Chanel explained, waving to Cara one more time. "I'll leave you two to it."

Setting

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Character Portrait: Chanel Nasiri Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Ruby Barr
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Ruby Barr
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Hex: #A52A2A

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C A R A - F O R R E S T E R

Location: 304 W 14th Street
Outfit: This
Hex Code: #1BB3F5
Ruby really and truly didn't understand where the animosity that Cara's words were laced with was coming from. As far as she knew, they were friends. Or friendly. Friendly was probably the better word. They were family-friends, if anything, who had always existed on mutually friendly terms. Just now, Ruby felt like she had been cordial and kind to the girl, so why she was being met with such harshness was confusing. She considered that maybe she just had never known Cara well enough to know that she was, quite simply, a huge bitch. Maybe at the family functions they had attended over the years, she had done a good job at putting up a facade of being a decent person, just to impress the adults present. From the little that Ruby knew of who Cara socialized with (mostly due to their age gap), she could guess that Cara did run with those "exclusive" minded girls, who thought they were better than others, but this... this seemed like something out of some cheesy high school movie. She was caught off guard that someone she had a history with, albeit one lacking much depth, would be nasty to her for no reason. It left her feeling compelled to text her mother once this conversation was over, and ask if she recalled the Forrester girl ever being this way. Right now, she tried to remain a good-willed demeanor, but one that also came with a bit of confidence and assertiveness.

"Yeah, so I'm not trying to be a bother, but I'm just really confused about what you guys meant when you said that I was screwed, moving in here. I just kind of would appreciate knowing what to expect, I guess, since it seems like you have some insight on it that might be helpful." Okay, so that wasn't as confident-sounding as Ruby wanted it to come out as being, but she wasn't typically a dominant person, and she truly wasn't trying to be a nuisance. She just wanted clarification, and she didn't want it to come in the form of sass or cruelness.

Cara smiled. She was glad that her follow-up comment to Brooklyn's remark had gotten to Ruby. She was sure that the few minutes she had spent with Holly had only allowed their words to resonate more deeply. This was Cara's worst side showing, but it was one that existed, for sure. In reality, she loved Holly and thought that she truly was one of the most innocent and pure people on the planet. At the same time, she knew that if you didn't know her well, you could easily be... freaked out by her behavior. Cara thrived on watching others who had a leg up over her in other realms, feel uncomfortable. It felt like the playing field was being evened out, even if in reality, it wasn't. "I really don't think you want to know," she responded with a cynical chuckle, though she continued a beat later. "But if you must know, then you're fucked because you're moving in with a free-loading drug addict and her..." Even if Cara had never disliked Makayla very strongly, her true colors made her opinion of the girl come off far more negatively, especially in light of the events at Disney. She did pause though, because Cara's conscience did have her second-guessing just how insensitive she could be about Holly. Just because she liked Holly though, didn't mean that she couldn't be... honest. "'Mentally challenged' AKA basically-neglected sister." To Cara, that sounded nice. She was speaking more poorly of Makayla and whoever raised Holly, than Holly herself, she believed. She was going to continue to explain that Chanel was the only decent part about her situation, when the girl appeared herself, saying hello, before apologizing for interrupting them.

Cara was comfortable with talking poorly of Makayla when she knew that no one was going to snap back at her about it, or correct her, but she wasn't going to continue knowing that Chanel was friendly with the girl. Instead, her smile softened some, in a way that felt more natural in her dealings with Chanel. She wanted things to seem normal, like she was being nothing but pleasant to Ruby, so she said, "Hey! No, you're good. This is actually your new roommate, Ruby. I was just telling her about how great Makayla and Holly are." Though her facial expression and tone made the comment seem genuine, in context, given her recent neglectful behaviors towards the sisters, it could have come across as being more questionable. "Ruby's parents are good friends with my father," she said, focusing on Chanel, as she figured that their relationship needed some sort of explanation. "Small world, huh?"

Ruby had not been given the time to process what Cara said about her roommates before the third roommate appeared. Cara's shift in demeanor was something that Ruby noted, though her mind was too busy lingering on the terms "drug addict", "neglected", and "mentally challenged" to really analyze why Cara had suddenly started speaking in a more cheerful manner. It was definitely not a good sign that she had suddenly developed a headache. Stress was something that Ruby was usually great at managing, but she was really being pushed to her limits right now, and she was truly tempted to pay the moving guys double just to reload the truck with her things.

She had hoped that coming over to Cara's would give her clarity that would leave her feeling better about her situation, but it hadn't. It had done the opposite, really, and so she didn't hesitate to turn away from the blonde in the doorway since clearly, there was no support to be offered there. Her smile was more tired now than it would have been without this grim backstory she had been preempted to, but she smiled nonetheless at Chanel. "Hey, it's nice to meet you." In her way of being petty right back, though it was a meek gesture, and one that could easily be overlooked as simply being busy and forgetful, Ruby didn't "thank" Cara for her help or say goodbye, and instead, took a couple of steps across the hall to where she had set her box down. "But yeah, I'm that new roommate," she added with a small laugh. "My moving crew should be done in a few minutes, but I'm sorry for having them coming in and out." She felt compelled to continue, if only to seek reassurance that maybe this girl was better than the image of the other two that she had been predisposed to. "One of the other girls was telling me that you're a great cook... or at least I think she said that was you. I'm doubting there's anyone who actually fits the 'eight feet tall' claim that was made about the 'other roommate', better than you," she added with a laugh, momentarily forgetting Holly's name, as her identity was overlooked in Ruby's mind with the terms mentally challenged and neglected.