Koriko Hatsamura's Story

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Date and Time - April 23, 2014. 6:00 A.M.
Location - Her Apartment Building, 1b.

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"Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning!

A hand escaped from under the blanket cocoon that was occupying Allie Maramack's bed, stretching and reaching out to the cell phone blaring out the lyrics signalling for the young woman to wake up and start the day. Now usually she would be scrambling around like a chicken with her head cut off, and getting ready to go to work but this day she had managed to get the day off. However this didn't mean she was off the hook and could lay around in bed till noon, with nothing better to do that sit around in her underwear and catch up on Netflix. No she had promised, Thomas that she would be up bright and early to help him with Elliot's birthday party. Honestly she didn't know why he had chosen her to help, she wasn't really that close to Elliot other than some idle chatter between the pair when she happened to run into him at Ronnie's place. But to be honest she had helped Thomas because... it was hard for her to tell him no. Those blue eye's, that quirky half ass smile, and the body, what girl would say no if they had any attraction to men. The good thing about Thomas, for the most part it didn't matter that he had all of those things, he was genuinely a nice guy, which in Allie's opinion was a rare commodity. Besides, even if she didn't know Elliot that well, how hard would it be to plan a party for a guy who loved to dance and have fun.

She managed to flip the cover's off of herself and shut off the alarm in one fatal swoop, swinging her legs over the side of the bed, and planting her socked feet on the fluffy purple rug that sat beside her bed. Wiggling her toes a bit before standing up and heading to the bathroom, sleepily scratching her rear she opened the bathroom door, it making a faint creaking sound as she stepped in and it closed behind her. The resounding click followed as she, turned on the shower, beginning her usual morning routine. After a quick shower, Allie stepped out and wrapped her towel around her torso, then she headed over to her closet. It was a laid back sort of day, so it called for a laid back outfit, of course she would change later on for the party but why look like she was up to something before the big surprise she didn't want to blow the secret. Picking out clothes was never a big thing for Allie, if it looked good together she wore it, whether someone else thought it looked good was immaterial to her. When she finally made it back to her phone she saw that, Thomas had already messaged her and was at the Mighty Bean, no surprise there like any one that lived in the area, if they didn't get their morning coffee fix well it was like a watching a bad zombie movie. Grabbing her keys, phone, and her Ipad, after deciding to grab a muffin at the coffee Allie began to head for the door. But before stepping out the thought crossed her mind. She gave a heavy sigh, and walked over to Kori's door, the girl got on Allie's nerve's sometimes but she did her best to be friendly with Koriko. She knocked gently on the younger woman's door.

"Hey.. Kori I'm heading down to the Mighty Bean, I'll catch you later okay?" Allie called through the door.

With that she felt that she had done her part as a roommate and headed out, not like it was a long way to travel a couple of flights of stairs and there you were. Convenient to say the least, especially for people like Allie that sucked at cooking anything. When she stepped through the doors of the coffee shop it wasn't hard for her to pick out Thomas, with a gentle smile and a wave she headed over to him.

"Hey, hows it going? I'm gonna grab a latte and a muffin and I'll be back." she set her Ipad, phone, and keys down at the table with Thomas and then made her way into line to get her breakfast.

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Date and Time - April 23, 2014. 6:30 A.M.
Location - The Mighty Bean

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After Allie had gone through the line and managed to swipe a banana nut muffin before they were all gone, she came back to the table again. And like always he was straight to business, something else she liked about him. He didn't dick around with small talk for an hour before he got to the point of why they were there together in the first place. Allie was a firm believer in getting the hard stuff done now, and you have more time for fun later.

"The Golden Dragon managed to get the DJ I asked for,.... we just need to make sure the gang gets there and behaves."

Allie came around and leaned on the back of his chair checking out the itinerary Thomas had for the party up on his laptop. As for making sure people behaved better, Allie couldn't agree more, last big party they had, a combination of lots of alcohol and heated tempers lead to almost knock down, drag out fights.

"Yeaaaah we don't want a repeat of our last big party, I'll limit myself and try to keep an eye on how many times certain people have gone to the bar. Definitely might want to make sure some get cut off at some point, or we can do a survival of the soberest thing and lock all the shit faced one's in a room and see who survives." Allie laughed a little then went back to her seat and sat down.

She didn't go to clubs that often, but she heard this one was pretty cool, "Hope Elliot likes this place," she shrugged as she started to take the wrapper off her muffin. "But then again, as long as he has good music to dance to, he should be pretty satisfied."

Allie smiled when she glanced over and saw Haley come into the Mighty Bean like a whirlwind. This was pretty typical of her, girl was always wound up tighter than an eight day clock, Allie thought for once she might sit down and talk for a minute. However like usual, she was in a hurry to get somewhere, and apparently didn't realize what time it was. After a quick hello Haley was on her way again.

"Okay, be careful Hay's, and don't forget to keep Elliot occupied until the party." she smiled and shook her head as Hayley zipped out as fast as she came in.

Allie looked over at Thomas, and smiled at him as well as she was sure he was used to fast paced Haley as well. It wasn't long after Haley was out the door that Ben came in.

"Good morrow, do you mind me joining you guys for a bit, or is this a private meeting?"

Allie raised her eyebrow, Ben was just odd sometimes, it wasn't that she didn't like him. She just wondered why he tried so hard sometimes. He was naturally a funny guy, and when he was just being himself Allie thought he was pretty cool. However, it's when he thinks he has to put on a show for a lady sake, and totally over does it that he kind of got on her nerves.

"Good morrow?, I didn't realize I had walked into the Renaissance fair... but grab a seat the more the merrier. Besides means there's less we have to tell you later, saves us time on having to explain crap to people." she took a sip of her latte and moved her chair over towards Thomas to accommodate more room at the table.

Allie could tell that people were starting to stir, and clammier to the Mighty Bean for their fix of caffeine. The next into the establishment was Koriko, Allie managed a smile and a wave. She was glad to see her out of the bedroom up and moving. She worried about the younger girl sometimes, Kori really didn't have any friends. Of course, this was due to her severe personality flaw of being a raging drama queen and a stuck up bitch most of the time, but Allie wished she could put the 'movie star' persona aside sometimes and just be herself. In the apartment, Allie would sometimes catch slight glimpse of the real Koriko, a fleeting moment that was usually dashed the minute Kori said something negative, and superficial about someone else.

"Hey guys. Is it cool if I sit there?"

Allie nodded, "Yeah sure thing Koriko, like I told Ben here the more the merrier". she pushed her seat closer to Tom again to make room for Kori.

Of course, Kori wasn't the last to make their way over to the now bustling table Winter came over as well asking to to join them. Allie was happy to accommodate and soon found herself practically sitting right next to Thomas. Not that she minded too much, Tom was pretty nice company after all.

"So.. Thomas since most of the gang is here should we enlighten them as to what's on the agenda this evening?", she turned to smile at him while taking a long deserved drink of her latte.

Date and Time - April 23, 2014. 6:30 A.M.
Location - His Apartment Building, 2A.

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"Yeaaaah we don't want a repeat of our last big party, I'll limit myself and try to keep an eye on how many times certain people have gone to the bar. Definitely might want to make sure some get cut off at some point, or we can do a survival of the soberest thing and lock all the shit faced one's in a room and see who survives."

Thomas couldn't help but smirk a little at Allie's words. Was it their age or their personalities that made himself and his group of friends terrible drunks. At least he had the sense to drink slowly. He had nowhere near the tolerance of Haley Snow, for example. He could never get how she was able to down so many drinks and still function normally. He took a sip of his coffee.

"Ronnie could record it and post it on her youtube channel," Thomas noted.

"Hope Elliot likes this place," she shrugged as she started to take the wrapper off her muffin. "But then again, as long as he has good music to dance to, he should be pretty satisfied."

"All Elliot cares about is dancing," Thomas told her with a slight frown, "He is good. Good enough to make it, but luck has just as much to do with his career as skill does."

He shook his head. Enough about the future. He attempted a slight grin, "I will have to remind him to spend time with his guests at the bar occasionally. If we let him, he'll dance all night."

Soon enough, Hayley found herself in the coffee shop and, rather than stopping to chat, sped past them. Nonetheless, Thomas had the chance to greet her.

"Don't tease him too much about Ronnie," he warned half-seriously. He knew she was going to do it anyway.

Soon enough, Ben drifted into the Bean and decided to join them. Thomas frowned slightly at Ben's slightly flirty greeting to Allie. He knew it was more out of nervousness than anything, but for some reason it irked him. Nonetheless, he put that thought out of his mind.

"Good morning Ben. You hardly seem to need the coffee today."

Ben had no time to reply when others appeared, forcing Tom to sit next to Allie, rather closely he noticed. This particular booth was meant for four people to share comfortably, but now he and Allie were slightly squished together. Not that he was complaining. It felt rather nice.

Thomas inwardly scowled at himself and forced himself not to dwell on that thought.

"So.. Thomas since most of the gang is here should we enlighten them as to what's on the agenda this evening?", she turned to smile at him while taking a long deserved drink of her latte. He smiled back at her slightly. Now seemed to be the right time to reveal what he and Allie had planned.

"I brought out the Golden Dragon for us tonight starting at 7:00. It will be an open bar and open invitation to the public once we arrive. The food at the buffet will be mostly Southwest Asian, but there should be a good selection of non-Asian food for those of us who dislike Asian cuisine."

He learned over to his laptop, accidentally sliding over Allie's lap as he brought up the address and picture of the nightclub as well as directions from the Mighty Bean.

"The nightclub is semi-formal, so dress nicely. It is close enough to the Bean. It's right outside of Chinatown. Also, try not do anything that might end up on the internet."

Date and Time - April 23, 2014. 7:00 A.M.
Location - The Mighty Bean

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Ben shoved into the booth upon the invitation and took a big bite out of his blueberry muffin. His mouth was too full to respond to Allie's and Thomas' comments. He would never claim that he never spoke with a full mouth, but he didn't want to gross out Allie this early in the morning. He put his guitar straight up next to him to keep it out of everyone's way, which meant it became a bit cosy in the booth they were sitting at. Before Ben's mouth was empty, Koriko showed up at their table and received the same invitation Ben did just a bit earlier. Since she would not be able to sit otherwise Ben put his guitar on the ground as much under the table as possible. Koriko could be a bitch, but she is hot none the less. I would be mean to make her get a chair.

Not even a minute later they were joined by Winter as well. She always seemed either nervous or shy when she was with the group. Ben could not imagine why, she had a cool job and Winter and her fiancée were nice people in general. When she asked to join them Ben got up from his seat. "Morning Winter, please take my seat. I'll get myself another one." Without waiting for an answer he picked one of the loose chairs from the table next to them and put it next to their table with the back towards the table. He sat down and set his arms on the back support. I can't help it, it just sits nice this way.

"Just one moment guys, let me just get Maddie, she'll probably want to hear this." Ben walked back to the counter, he thought he had seen a glimpse of his room mate when he was ordering his coffee. He walked over to one of her colleagues. "Excuse me, I am looking for one Maddisyn L., red hair, big smile, sunshine of the Mighty Bean. You might have heard of her, she's kind of a thing around here. If you could just ask her to come to our table, we have to talk dance moves for tonight." He ended with a wink to the young girl and then walked back to his chair. "I'm sure she'll be here any moment, so what are we up to tonight?Ben asked as he heard Rosa coming up behind him as well.

Thomas told them about the planning for that night. Ben knew the club, he had performed there before with his band, the Holy Happening. It was more than a decent club, and one Ben knew came with a price tag. One of the perks of actually having some spare money. Ben was glad to hear about the food. He didn't care if it was Soutwest Asian, Non Asian or from Jupiter. Every kind of cuisine was perfect for Ben, some of his friends called him food whore, in the nicest way possible of course.

Ben grinned at Thomas' do-not-end-up-on-internet rule. And I was planning to come out of his birthday cake and giving him a striptease.., you can forget about that now. He didn't really know what to think about tonight's party. Sure he was always in for a night in the club, but he wasn't sure he liked the birthday boy very much. Ben had seen the glances between Elliott and Ronnie and he was sure he wasn't the only one. Ronnie was like a sister to him. And a little brother needs to be protective of his big sister, Ben had known that ever since his own sister was diagnosed with Leukaemia. Ronnie had been hurt by guys before, and Ben would do everything he could for her never to feel like that again. She deserves so much better than that... So far he hadn't really been able to find any faults on Elliott's side, but that didn't mean there were none. And if there are, I will find them...

Maddie leaned momentarily against the back wall, hidden from view. She was out of breath from rushing to prepare multiple coffees at once, but the heave of her chest was comforting. She liked the feeling of her lungs hammering against her ribs; if she was breathless, she was doing something right for someone, hopefully. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and ran her fingers through her curls lightly as she let out a peaceful sigh.

"Excuse me, I am looking for one Maddisyn L., red hair, big smile, sunshine of the Mighty Bean. You might have heard of her, she's kind of a thing around here. If you could just ask her to come to our table, we have to talk dance moves for tonight."

She couldn't help but smile as she listened as she listened to Ben's voice. There wasn't anything particularly special about it, or about him in general, but he had the type of personality that blended well with her own, which made life in their apartment a little easier, and also made him one of her good friends. Maddie poked her head around the wall, looking towards Gordon for the approval to leave her station. He gave her a brief nod, or at least she thought he did. Either way, she made her way to the table where Ben sat with several other people, some of which she knew only because of their daily visit to the Mighty Bean, not that that stopped her genuinely happy attitude.

Maddie pulled up a chair and sat next to Ben, flashing him a toothy grin. "The only 'thing' I am around here is a screwup," she laughed, "I think I've given at least ten people the best coffee of their lives and people are still complaining that our coffee sucks!" She didn't mean anything by the statement, just playful teasing, but she was suddenly aware of the fact that she was an outsider among the group. She knew most people by their order and their face, and looking around the table, there were a few familiar faces, but still she didn't know what to think of the people now sitting around her.

"I don't know if I know everyone, or if everyone knows me, but I'm Maddie, obviously," she smiled towards the rest of the table now and gestured towards her name tag, which now felt awkward and heavy on her chest. "So what's going on?" She tied her hair up in a ponytail, letting her curls fall freely against her back, and leaned back in her chair.

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Date and Time - April 23, 2014. 6:50 A.M.
Location - The Mighty Bean

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"Elliot better appreciate the fact that I'm actually going to wear a dress to this shindig", Allie crossed her arms in front of her and leaned back in the booth.

She hadn't really noticed Thomas' accidental brush across her, there was so many people at the table now it was hard not to bump into someone next to you. When Ben came back with Maddie, Allie gave a wave to the red headed Mighty Bean worker. She heard Kori start to go on about wanting to learn to dance to add it to her repertoire, and then introduce herself as the 'actress'. This was typical Koriko behavior when she felt threatened, well at least that's the conclusion Allie had come to over the time of living with Kori. It was always kind of amusing that Kori often made the comment 'You might have heard of me'. Allie hadn't even known who she was when she first met her, and had to google the movies Kori had been in to have the foggiest clue what she was talking about. Unless you were in the know of Japanese movies.... it was likely that whomever Kori said this too had no idea what she was talking about either.

So the fact, that she made it a point to tell everyone she felt threatened or intimidated emotionally by was always amusing to Allie. Kori wore the fact that she was a child actor armor, it was like if she made other's feel insignificant because she had been famous that she didn't have to deal with her own personal insecurities. Allie just wished it would finally sink in that other people didn't really care that she was an actress, and that if she would break down and be herself all this nervousness or feeling like nobody liked her would stop. However Allie wondered if Kori truly knew what her true self was like, all that she knew as a child was being in the limelight. Made Allie think about if she ever had children, she would never put her into acting out of fear of seeing them emotionally inept like Kori.

"Well Maddie we're throwing a party for Elliot, hope you aren't chained to the espresso machine tonight so you can come join us."

Date and Time - April 23, 2014. 7:00 A.M.
Location - His Apartment Building, 2A.

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"Elliot better appreciate the fact that I'm actually going to wear a dress to this shindig", Allie crossed her arms in front of her and leaned back in the booth.

"I don't know. I happen to think you look pretty good in a dress," Thomas told Allie with a smirk. Despite her complaints, Tom knew that Allie liked dressing up for an event occasionally. If he knew her, she probably went out to buy something special for the occasion. It came with being artistically inclined, he supposed. Personally, he was going to wear an old outfit for Elliot's birthday party. He did not care too much about fashion.

He looked up as more people joined the group. He smiled at both Maddy and Rosalina. He didn't know the two girls as well as some of the others, but they were genuinely nice people. From what heard, Rosalina was an excellent mechanic and Maddie never got his orders wrong. His smiled strained slightly when Koriko arrived an started speaking about her (former) acting career. She was pleasant enough to hang out with, but she thought too much of her fame. If he put on less airs, she and everyone around her would be happier.

"And I was planning to come out of his birthday cake and giving him a striptease.., you can forget about that now." Ben joked.

Thomas rolled his eyes, "No one wants to see that."

Date and Time - April 23, 2014. 7:25 AM
Location - The Mighty Bean

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Koriko seemed to be excelling at bitchiness once again when she explained her past to Maddie. She is meaner before 9 AM than most people are all day. If she would have been a bit nicer, Ben would have probably asked her out ages ago. Her movie 'Whispers' was basically a religion to him, he has seen it about 50 times, but never after he had met her. Somehow that magical girl on screen was something completely different in real life.

Winter excused herself and was about to leave. It reminded Ben he had to go as well, or he would be very late. He would already be late as it was. He got up from his seat as well and brought the seat back to the table that it came from. No need giving Maddie any more work to do. Thomas made his statement at the moment Ben got up and put his guitar on his back. "Tom, you should only speak for yourself. There might be many people who would want to see this show and that is the end of the matter." He did not want to wait for anyone to answer and screamed a little bit too loud. "See you all tonight!" After that he held his hands over his ears and walked out while singing the refrain of 'Just the way I do'.

Getting outside he started walking towards the nearest cable cars stop. His ride for this morning was going to be a short one, but he didn't feel like walking up the hill today. While on the cable car he checked his twitter account and from the comments he could see Ronnie had posted another song. He was always most interested in that part of her Youtube life, they shared that passion for music. He liked to help her with these and to sing duets, they usually came out very nice. He saw the next stop was his and he got out.

He was in a nice neighbourhood with some very expensive houses. He rang the doorbell of the corner house and the maid opened the door. He was teaching a 14 year old girl how to play the piano today. It would be her tenth lesson in two months, quite a bit more frequent than most of his students. Her parents paid him well for it, so why not. They had a piano on which they practised, but in the last three lessons she had expressed she would much rather learn to play the guitar. It didn't really fit with the classical image her parent had for her, but then again they were never there. They had played music together the last lesson with the girl on guitar and Ben on the piano.

This time he had asked her to think of what music she wanted to play. They would then figure out how to play it together. Ben found it good practice and had done it himself frequently. "Good morning Francine, what music are we going to play today?" With a big smile on her face she showed him the album cover of Journey. 'Don't stop believin' was a classic and Ben liked her taste in music. He hoped he had been an inspiration for that.

During one of their breaks he got his phone from his pocket and started typing. Hey Ronnie, what's up? Didn't here you this morning. Will I see you a the party tonight? He hit send and put the phone back in his pocket. While waiting for Francine to come back from the bathroom he started playing a tune on the piano to kill some time.

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Date and Time - April 23, 2014. 7:30 A.M.
Location - The Mighty Bean

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The crowd of friends began to disperse, Winter got a call and left with barely a word, Ben had to run off probably to teach some kid how to play Chop Sticks, and Kori well she seemed uneasy still and stood to head out as well.

"Hey Kori, let me know when you're ready to go tonight that way you can drive. I'm gonna try not to drink myself under the table this time, but it's still better if you drive." Allie called out before she was out the door of the Mighty Bean.

She looked around at the others that had not left yet, "Well I guess you all are dismissed until tonight, and remember I want those essays on my desk by Monday." she rolled her eyes at her own stupid joke. "I swear sometimes I just need to smack myself over the head I'm so annoying, honestly how do you guys put up with me?" she laughed a little.

With that she let out a cleansing breath and then turned her attention back to Thomas. "So, what do you need me to do, before tonight? Do I need to pick up something, any specific decorations, balloons, a creepy ass clown?" she gave him a smile while leaning her chin on her hand.

She began to think of Ronnie, surprised that she hadn't seen her at the Mighty Bean this morning. She must have headed out before us all this morning. Allie thought to herself as she waited for further instructions from Tom, "I should probably text her to let her know to take time out of her busy schedule for the party. She felt like she had zoned out for a minute, shook her head and blinked, trying to center herself and bring her attention back to Tom again.

"I swear I'm paying attention Thomas, I just had a thought about Ronnie is all", she put her attention back on him again.

She felt like she was almost staring at him, not that he was hard to look at. It was the complete opposite of that, he was very nice to look at. But she didn't want to make things weird by staring at him either, it was one of those situations where you're uneasy about maybe taking a friendship to the next level, risking messing everything up by turning a friendship into a romantic relationship. Then again, Allie had learned through her experience with Gavin that rushing into something wasn't such a good idea either. Not that her relationship with Gavin had been bad, hell if the circumstances had been different she would have been married to him. Still there was something about Thomas, that just seemed to draw her in, and she felt like maybe they could be something more.

She had known Tom as long as she had lived in the Daffodil and knew that he was a good guy, one of those rare ones that Allie felt like she could trust. Still everything depended on how he felt about it, did he feel anything for her, yeah he made comments, like the mentioning of her looking nice in a dress and there was occasional flirting on his part. In-particular with Allie, and she respected that about him he wasn't the type to flirt with one girl, then turn around and flirt with the next one to pass by. Still it was something she wanted to tread lightly with, they had a decent friendship that she didn't want to mess up, but she didn't want to miss out on maybe having that special person because she was scared. It was all very confusing and she hated feeling that way, so for now she would concentrate on the party they were working on together.

Maddie tried to hide her embarrassment. She not only had no idea who Kori was, or that she was an actor, or that she was famous, but Maddie had no idea how to respond to such a statement. Luckily, moments later the girl got up and left. Maddie breathed a sigh of relief, mumbling to herself, "I hate being put in situations like that." She laughed it off awkwardly, and pulled her legs into her seat, sitting criss-cross applesauce. She watched Ben go, followed by a girl named Winter, leaving her with a girl name Rosalina, Allie, and a guy who she thought was named Tom. Now she looked at Allie, "Is she always like that?" Speaking about Kori, Maddie turned back to look at the door. She had never really met anyone outside of her roommates since she moved to San Francisco, out of preference for a quiet life. She wasn't sure if that's how normal people behaved, or if the girl was trying to show that she was better than some cafe worker, not that Maddie really cared or had anything to prove. But if this was how Kori was going to behave, was it worth going to a party and risking such awkward social situations? Maddie shook off the thought, deciding that if Ben thought she should go, she would.

"Should I bring anything to the party? I mean, it's really no big deal, since I can't really get a gift for someone I don't know…" Her voice trailed off as she glanced towards the counter, seeing Kori's cup still sitting there. She hated when customers did that, but at the same time, at least now she didn't have to take it with her from the table. She let her feet fall to the floor and leaned against the table, holding her head up with the palm of her left hand. She was excited, but also scared, for the party. She'd get to meet new people, and pretend to know anything about dancing, and she could enjoy herself for once in a blue moon. There weren't many opportunities for her to really let loose, aside from singing into her brush handle to the radio in her room, or dancing with her coworkers at Eddi's when they had the free time to mess around.

Really, Maddie should have gotten back to work. She was thankful that Gordon was pretty lenient about this sort of thing and that business was starting to slow, but still, it was her shift and she should be covering it. Still in conversation, however, Maddie pushed this realization to the back of her head. She could work herself into the ground, but that wouldn't give her any friends. She had to step up and do that herself, and the only way to do so would be by being friendly. So she smiled, and listened, and tried to hold interest in the conversation, while mentally preparing an outfit for tonight.

Date and Time - April 23, 2014. 7:30 A.M.
Location - His Apartment Building, 2A.

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Time passed and the group of friends began to disperse until the evening. Thomas listened to Allie's joke with a slight smirk on her face. At times, it did seem like either he or her would take the role of a parent. It was kind of strange. He could only hope Elliot didn't pick up on it and bother him about it. He could be annoying. Justl like a younger brother.

"So, what do you need me to do, before tonight? Do I need to pick up something, any specific decorations, balloons, a creepy ass clown?" Allie asked with a smile, placing her chin in her hand. He grinned slightly. She looked cute that way. He paused in thought. Really, there wasn't much to do. Everything had been arranged and the nightclub was doing all the menial work. Yet, he was reluctant to stop working with Allie so soon.

"We could go on a hilarious road trip to get our hands on a plot MacGuffin for Elliot's party in a race against the clock to bring ito the party on time, all the while meeting exciting new people and getting into comedic misshaps culminating in a life-changing realization and declaration of love. It will be rated R and you will be played by Koriko and I will be played by some Will Smith."

He waited for her reaction, but she seemed distracted. He waved his hand in front of her face.

"I swear I'm paying attention Thomas, I just had a thought about Ronnie is all", she put her attention back on him again. He could not help but stare back. She was certainly beautiful, he knew, and pleasant to be around. Truthfully, he thought he felt... something. He didn't know. He never had the time to date anyone before. The drama back in high school always seemed silly to him. But, now, he was older, and Allie was far from silly.

"Should I bring anything to the party? I mean, it's really no big deal, since I can't really get a gift for someone I don't know…"

Tom blinked. He had been so focused on Allie that he forgot Maddie was there. He inwardly slapped himself. He turned to smile at her.

"Just bring yourself and dance with the birthday boy. Trust me. Elliot won't mind."

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"Oh, how about this album. It sends off this whole sexual, love makin' vibe, you know? Somethin' you need in your life." Willow said as she showed her close friend the Sigur Ros album titled Takk Veronica just rolled her eyes as she grabbed the vinyl record and set it back down. "Shut up. And beside, I already have this album. That was the vinyl I gave to Elliot, remember? It was about a month ago...ring any bells?" Ronnie asked as she continued walking through the lanes of indie bands. Willow just shook her head before looking up, trying to remember. "Oh, right! And the only reason you got it back is because you saw it the morning after you guys..--"

"Willow! Blood hell, can you please shut up. God, I knew I shouldn't have told you." The Brit said as she looked towards the records. "Ronnie, c'mon. I'm just teasing you, you know that. I'm just happy that you're actually moving on from Ashley and to someone better." Willow said as she stepped in front of the older woman with a soft smile on her face. Ronnie just sighed before pushing her aside as she began grabbing some albums that caught her eye from just the names of the bands and even how simple or perfect covers looked to her. "I'm not 'moving on' to someone better, it was a one time thing and mistake, he knows that." The girl shrugged as she and her friend walked to the counter to pay. Willow scoffed in annoyance at her best friend's reluctant just to admit that she actually felt something Elliot. "Hey babe. Hey Ronnie, what's up?" Willow's wife, Hunter said as she began ringing up all of the two girls' vinyl records. "Hey, Hunt nothing much. Your wife's just harassing me about my love live." Hunter just chuckled as she shook her head. "You mean, your none existent love life." Willow chuckled a bit before covering her mouth with her hand as she tried to stop the laughing. Oh, how the two lovebirds loved messing with their best friend.

Ronnie just rolled her eyes before flipping off Hunter. Hunter just blew the Brit a kiss as she handed the girl her two red bags of records. "See you next week, love." Hunt said with a smirk on her face before jumping over the counter to wrap her arms around her wife and lean up to give her a small kiss on the lips. And when it started to last longer than a couple of seconds, Ronnie rolled her eyes before clearing throat. "Excuse me, lovebirds. Willow, you're still on the clock, meaning kiss on your own time." She said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest with a smirk as she spoke to them with obvious sarcasm in her voice. Willow pulled away as she rolled her eyes and let go of her wife.

"Fine, I'll see you at home, babe." The Jamaican said as she started pulling away only to be pulled back into the arms of Hunter. "Alright, fine. Ronnie has you for now, but remember you're mine tonight. Got it? Hunter said with a smile on her face as she kissed her girl once last time before letting her go and going back over the counter. Ronnie smirked as Willow returned to smirk. Ronnie handed the taller girl her bag before waving to Hunter who just tilted her head up and returned to her headphones which was blasting classic rock. As the girls headed outside, they took a seat on a bench right in front of the record store. "So, I know you're bluffing."

"About?"

"Texting Elliot. I know, you're lying. You didn't text him." She said as she looked at her friend with a look of triumph on her face. "What makes you think I'm lying?"

"The fact that my phone has been silent this whole ti..--" Ronnie said as her phone started to vibrate. Willow started to smile as she heard the phone go off. Ronnie looked at her bag before licking her bottom lip and sighing. She reached for her phone before reading it, trying to hide the smile on her face. "My word, Veronica Bond, are you blushing?" Ronnie looked down before shaking his head. "He's just being nice." She said as she unlocked her phone and started to respond. [I'll meet you at your apartment and be ready to go. You know how I feel about waiting.] She sent the text before putting her phone back in her bag and getting up. "I should get going, I said I'd meet him at his apartment."

Willow chuckled. "Okay, have fun." Ronnie started walking away before hearing her friend rush up behind her. "Here, just in case." She said with a smirk as she slipped something her friend's back pocket. "What are you," Ronnie put her hand in her back pocket only to realize what it was and looked at her friend as if she just told a bad joke. "Really? Really, Willow?" Willow just winked before heading back into the record store to spend time with her wife. Ronnie rolled her eyes at her idiot best friend before walking towards Elliot's apartment, not even realizing that she was fixing her hair and her outfit the whole time. She only stopped when she got a text from her 'brother', Ben or as she liked to call him, Benny. [Hey Ronnie, what's up? Didn't here you this morning. Will I see you a the party tonight?]

She started typing back. [Hey, Benny. Nothing much, Willow was being a pain in my ass but other than that, just figuring out what to get Elliot for his birthday. Oh, and I know you didn't hear me, I finally finished sound proofing the whole room, after what? Two years? I'm meeting up with someone but, meet me before you head to the party.] And send. She had yet to tell Ben about the whole...thing between Ronnie and Elliot. Not because she didn't want to but, because she already knew that he was skeptical of Eli and she didn't want to give him any reason not to like him. Right when she was about to put her phone away, she got a text from her ex-fiance about some small movie role in a local indie flick. Sure, she would do it but, she wasn't worried about that right now. When she entered Elliot's building she made half way up the stairs before noticing Koriko. The two weren't best friends, but unlike most of the others she was willing to give to child actress a chance. Not because, she really deserved one but because whenever she bragged about what she did in the past, Ronnie could brag about all the things she has done in the past two years alone because of her 'fame' as some called it.

Ronnie was tempted to just walk up next to her and wait for Elliot to answer the door for whatever reason Kori was there... But, that would be awkward. Hell, for all she knew maybe it was something private and important. "I mean, maybe they're together or something." She thought to herself as she began walking down the stairs and out the door. She sighed before taking a seat on a stone bench set right in between the two apartment buildings. She pulled out her phone and started texting Elliot. [I'll be outside, seems like you have company.] She sent before going on her social networking sites to see what was going on in the world as she waited, like an idiot for her friend to come outside.

---

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Elliot looked down at his phone and seen that Ronnie had sent him a text. 'Company?' He thought to himself with a raised brow. Soon, a knock was heard over his door as he thought that Ronnie was trying to surprise him. "Oh, Ronnie, you always seem to..." But it wasn't Ronnie who was behind the door, it was Koriko. His brows furrowed a little as he wondered why she had stopped by his place. First Hayley, now Koriko? Eli hopes that Ronnie doesn't think of him as a player or something.

A soft sigh escaped over his lips as he looked down at his watch, time was ticking fast. "Oh, come on. Ronnie is waiting for me downstairs so better make this quick." He said towards Koriko as he walked into his apartment for a brief moment, grabbing his Jeep keys and cell phone. Elliot closed the door behind him and locked it then waved for Koriko to follow him down the stairs. "So, what is that you wanted?" He asked towards her, pushing the door towards the outside, seeing Ronnie sitting on a bench, alone.

He turned towards Koriko and put his index finger over his mouth, signaling for her to keep quiet. He sneaked up behind Ronnie and covered her eyes with his hands. "Guess who?" He had asked in a playful tone then turned his gaze back towards Koriko. He removed his hands from over Ronnie's eyes then sat down beside her. "Sorry, Koriko. What is that you wanted again?" He had asked, again. When Ronnie was around, she was his only focused - Nothing against anyone else or anything.