Jeffrey Brooks's Story

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After their date, Jeff’s life settled back into his normal routine. Anne had pestered him for details, and he was honestly a little surprised when she seemed to approve of the date. It was “very sweet,” but still “not her style.” She very quickly got Jeffrey to let her see the picture Eve had sent him, and though he declined her offer to help cyber-stalk her, Jeff was pretty sure Anne did it anyway.

They texted a lot; Jeffrey wanted to get to know Evelina, but she danced around some subjects. It was fine, really, she didn’t know him very well. He just assumed she had an embarrassing family or something. The beginning of a relationship was really tricky to navigate, and he liked Eve a lot, he hoped it would work out, so he didn’t push. He was starting to think he may have blown it, though. Evelina seemed really busy, and Jeffrey was willing to accept that she was too busy to spend more time together, but something in the back of his mind worried that it was an excuse not to see him again. What if she didn’t really like him, after all, but was too scared to tell him?

He was in the middle of studying when his phone went off, and he took a few minutes before checking the message. When he did, he couldn’t help but smile, and quickly shot a text back.

Evelina
Sure! I’ll see you then. :)

He had a little time before then, so he finished up the section he was studying, but he didn’t want to risk being late, so he left way sooner than he had to. It was fine, it gave him some time to grab a bite to eat on the way. He wound up getting to the building right on time, and gave a small smile when Evelina looked up at him. Butterflies took flight in his stomach when she walked over and hugged him, and he happily returned the hug. He followed her into the back room, absently looking around when they were back there. It felt forbidden, being in the back room of a store. It was also much smaller than he’d imagined.

Jeffrey couldn’t help but grin when Eve said it was good to see him again, “Yeah,” Was all he really managed to say, but before long Eve was talking again, so he didn’t really have time to dwell on how he should have said he was glad to see her, too, or that she looked really nice, or that her smile was the sweetest thing he’d seen all week. Anything he’d said probably would have sounded cheesy or awkward from him, anyway.

When Eve took out the concert tickets, and asked him to come to a concert with her, Jeffrey didn’t know what to say. He didn’t really like concerts that much, but she obviously did. “Umm,” But then she quickly reassured him, saying she understood if he was busy, and suddenly the idea of not going no longer felt like an option. “No,” He said, a little too hastily, maybe too harsh. Gentler, this time, “No, I-I’d love to come. With you.” He visibly cringed, that came out wrong, “The… The concert. I’d like to go to the concert.” He was making it worse. “Sounds fun.”

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Evelina was a bit surprised with the sharp ‘no’ that Jeff had said, startling her a bit at first.At first she assumed he was saying no to coming to the concert with her. She was a bit disappointed, but did understand, she was going to go regardless if it was with someone or not. But when Jeffrey spoke again, saying he would like to come to the concert, of course in a cute and awkward way, she was excited. “Really Jeff?” She questioned at first, but when he assured that he would go and it sounded fun, she wrapped her arms around him in excitement. “Oh my god. Thank you. You’ll enjoy yourself, I promise.”

As she let go of Jeff from her hugging him again, they must have taken a few steps back because when Eve let go, she stumbled into one of the tables and lost her balance. After knocking a few things off the table Jeff luckily caught her, making her giggle a bit in his arms. “Hey Jeffrey…” She started to say, looking up at him for a second. “Might want to watch where your hands are going.” She said giggling again at Jeff being cute and awkward as he helped her up while he apologized and she adjusted her coveralls and fixed her hair a bit. “It’s fine. Anyways. Break is almost up and I still gotta eat something I head back to the front.” Evelina brought up, she rather just continue hanging out with Jeff, but knew she had to get back to work.

“Yo Eve, I don’t want to know what you two were doing back there, but you better have kept it clean.” Chris, Eve’s manager said as they walked by. “Shut up, we were just talking.” “Sure, and thats why your hair is messy.” He said before walking into his office. Eve walked Jeff back to the front of the store and handed him his ticket for the concert, ignoring Chris last comment. “Let’s meet up at like seven in front of the venue. Oh, and eat beforehand.” She said before getting on her tiptoes and kissing Jeff. She smiled before turning around and heading back to the break room to eat a granola bar, excited and anxious for later tonight. Eve just hoped Jeff would enjoy himself, but she had a plan to make sure he did.

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Jeff smiled as Evelina hugged him, promising he’d have fun. Honestly, he wasn’t sure he cared about how fun it was- a chance to spend time with Eve wasn’t something he wanted to turn down. Besides, seeing the things she enjoyed and was interested in would be a good way to get to know her better.

As Eve broke the hug and took a step back, she bumped into the table and stumbled. Jeffrey instinctively rushed to catch her, wanting to at least keep her from getting hurt. Luckily, it only took him a few steps to get around the edge of the very table that had tripped her up. He could feel the heat rising in his face when Eve told him to watch where his hands were going. He’d wrapped an arm around her to brace her and keep her from falling, and his hand on her chest certainly hadn’t been the intended goal- he was fairly sure she was mostly teasing him, but found himself saying, “I am so sorry,” Even as he helped steady her, “I didn’t mean- I wouldn’t just-” He reminded himself that he sometimes needed to say less when Eve just brushed it off with a comment about how her break was almost over. “Oh,” He hadn’t meant to sound as disappointed as he did; he was going to see her again later, after all. But every moment with Eve felt exciting and new, and it wasn’t something he was eager to give up.

But he understood, so he quickly added, “Of course.” And followed her back towards the front of the building. Chris (who Jeff didn’t know, but he could discern that the guy also worked here) gave Eve a hard time as they came back into the front of the building, and Jeff found himself awkwardly glancing between the two of them until Chris disappeared into another room. Jeff had to wonder what kind of stuff Chris must do in the back rooms of this place to immediately assume that’s what everyone else would do.

Then Eve handed him his ticket, and told him they’d meet there. That made sense. He nodded, and then Eve kissed him. He didn’t know why, but that was the last thing he would’ve expected. As if the fact that they’d kissed already had been wiped from his mind. He smiled, and almost forgot to kiss her back. He said, “I’ll see you later.” Before she turned to go to her lunch, and he left to go home until the concert.

Anne was very excited that Jeffrey hadn’t scared Evelina off. Apparently she’d kept tabs on his dating life since she moved in, which was weird, but she claimed she had a bet running with Jeff’s last roommate. He wasn’t sure if that made it weirder or more understandable, but he decided not to think about it too hard. He was worried about being late after he’d made Eve wait around before their last date, so he made sure to show up to the venue a little early this time, and picked a little spot just out of the way where he could wait.

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The rest of Eve’s shift was a bit hectic, a little bit because of it being the weekend and that's when they had their most business, but mostly because her mind was distracted about her plans tonight. She was usually always excited to go to concerts and music gigs, but not only was this Beautiful Strangers coming back for a homecoming show and she would be spending more time with Jeffrey. She was only concerned with the possibility that he wouldn’t enjoy himself since it didn’t seem like his type of thing or music, though Beautiful Strangers did have some more mainstream hits that he would probably enjoy.

Evelina left work a little early, already clearing it with Chris about her plans tonight of going to the concert and saying she’d make up the lost hours next week. She rushed home and tossed her phone on her bed after selecting a Beautiful Strangers playlist to get her ready for tonight, music playing while she started getting ready for the concert. It took her a bit to figure out what to wear, she wasn’t one of the type of people to wear a band’s merch to a concert, but she knew generally what she was gonna wear. While Eve didn’t make much and didn’t buy her clothes from high-end stores, but rather just discount stores and other places to get some cheap, she was still able to make outfits come together nicely. And when it came to alternative fashion, it wasn’t much about the brands but more so the look.

After finally pulling up her skirt over her fishnets she sat down on the edge of her bed and put a couple more tears and rips in the tights, adding more of the distressed look to them before standing up and throwing on her crop top and oversized button up. She did a little spin in the mirror feeling good about the current outfit and making her decision to go with it.
Eve went back to getting ready, slipping on a choker and then cleaning off her face from the make-up she had on at work and applying a new layer. She also decided to draw one of the band’s logos on her cheek; a heart with a no sign over it and the band’s name on a scroll. Eve had drawn on her face many times for other concerts, so she was able to do this pretty easily without messing up.

Eve got a bit distracted and realised she might be late if she didn’t hurry up and head out. She did one last check in the mirror before grabbing her phone and heading out the door, cutting off the music so it wouldn’t be blaring in the hallways of her apartment or on the side of the street as she headed to the venue. A bit more of a bounce could be seen in her step as she walked down the street, grabbing a small wrap to eat on her way so she wouldn’t be starving when she got there. It would be a little ironic if after telling Jeff to eat, that she didn’t. But she knew she had to have some sort of food in her system for the night, since she did plan on having at least some alcohol.

It didn’t take Eve long to get to the location, and quickly saw Jeff sitting off to the side. “Jeffrey!” She shouted as she waved and headed towards him, giving him a hug after he stood up. “Thank you for coming!” She blushed a bit as he replied, commenting on how she looked. She grabbed his hand and led him towards the entrance for them to stand in line. It would still be a bit before doors opened, but it was good to get in line early, plus it was always fun to people watch.

When the doors opened and the security started to let people in, the two of them didn’t head to the stage yet, since they had their seats reserved. Eve usually got pit tickets, but wasn’t sure if Jeff would have enjoyed that, plus seat tickets were significantly cheaper for a pair. Though the seats they had were still pretty close to the front and usually for media, which her connection to ALLternative Sounds was considered. “Hey, I think we should get some drinks first, if that’s cool right you, and I’m not talking soda.” Evelina said with a smile and a wink to Jeff as they got in line.

Eve knew they would ID her so she knew Jeff would have to pay for them, but felt bad and awkward asking him to, but then she had an idea pop into her head. “Hey Jeff?” She started, before handing him some cash. “I gotta head to the restroom real quick and freshen up, I’ll be right back.” Eve said with a kiss on the cheek and ducking under the rope that connected the stanchions, and heading into the bathroom. After going to the bathroom, Eve adjusted her hair and made sure she still looked good, she headed out and met up with Jeff, taking the drink he held out for her. “Thanks. Wanna go look at some merch before we take our seats?” She asked as the two of them walked over the merch booth.

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“Oh I’m glad she liked the gift! Honestly, I wasn't sure if she would like them or not.” Eve let out a shrug as the two of them arrived at the merch table, and both getting distracted about what to get. She just settled on a new beanie with their band name on the front and logo on the back when Jeff asked her for something, and then spun his hand around. Evelina was a bit confused and just spun around and felt him holding something up to her and mumbling to herself. “Yeah I get it, I’m short.” She joked as they both got to the cashier.

Eve was reluctant when Jeff offered to buy her the beanie, once again not feeling good about him paying for her stuff again. “Fine.” She placed the beanie in his hand and waited next to him as the cashier rang everything up and gave them the stuff back in the bag. She quickly drank the rest of the cheap beer the venue was selling, and held Jeff’s for him while he put his wallet away.

“Lemme.” She said quickly as she stuck her hand in the bag and pulled out the beanie and put it on her head. “Looks good?” She asked, and then blushing when he replied. She watched him finish his drink and took his cup for him and threw it away. “Another?” She said with a wink as the two of them headed back over to the drink stand and got two more drinks, the guy pouring them recognized Jeff and didn’t ID him this time, not giving enough care to ask someone for their ID again. They heard the last few mic checks and Eve looked over at Jeff. “Oh, lets get going!” She grabbed his hand and led them through the venue.

It didn’t take them long to get to where their tickets said they would be, and quickly got situated. “Hey Jeff?” Eve paused, looking at Jeff. “Thanks.” She gave him a kiss, and shortly after the lights on stage came on and Beautiful Strangers took to stage.

Throughout the setlist Evelina was singing along to every song and lyric. She tried getting Jeff to sing along, but he didn't know all the lyrics and kept messing them up. Eve found it cute and kept re-assuring him that it was fine, even though it made her smile and laugh every time. The two of them got a few more drinks over the night and this just continued them enjoying each other’s company, dancing around each other during the upbeat songs, and Eve hugging and swaying with Jeff during the slower ones.

Evelina busted through one of the side doors of the venue laughing and skipping the two steps that led to the sidewalk. “Jeffrey. That was awesome. I hope you had as much fun as I did.” She said with a bright smile on her face, and hugging him. He started talking but she raised a finger to his lips. “Shh…” She said quietly and grabbed his hand, leading him around the side of the building. As soon as they were out of sight, for the most part, she wrapped her arms around his neck and started kissing him. The addition of the alcohol in her system made her a bit more flirty and touchy. She gasped a bit when Jeff seemed to lift her up a bit with his hands under her butt as they continued to make out.

“Jeff...” Eve pulled back for a second. “Can we go back to your place?” She said quietly and slowly, giving him another kiss on the neck.

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Jeff smiled when Eve let him buy the hat for her; he liked doing little things for people. When she put on the hat and asked him how she looked, “You look gorgeous,” He answered. He probably would have said that regardless of what she was wearing. He downed the rest of his drink, and nodded enthusiastically when Evelina suggested grabbing another.

It was always nice when the person serving drinks recognized you; it saved some time, and you were spared from that weird jittery nervousness you get for the first several years where you know you’re allowed to drink, but you still feel like you’re going to get caught breaking some sort of rule. They were finishing the sound checks as he handed Eve her drink, and she grabbed his hand to lead him to their seats. He glanced around as they got situated, trying to prepare himself for the energy of the evening. He hadn’t been to a lot of concerts; he went to a few with his sister- when none of her friends were available- because their parents didn’t want her to go alone, but he didn’t usually actually participate much. He figured this one would be a little different, at least as far as his expected participation level went.

He heard his name, and turned to look at Evelina. He smiled when she thanked him. Before he could respond, she kissed him. He was a little stunned, but the concert started shortly after, so he didn’t feel the need to really react.

Jeffrey had clearly never heard any of these songs before. He was pretty sure he stood out as the guy who knew nothing about the band but got dragged along anyway, but he made the best of it. Eve, at least, was amused by his mistakes while trying to sing the songs. He got the hang of the chorus on most of the songs by the end, at least. It was fun, and the drinks certainly helped the enjoyability on his end.

While he certainly didn’t match Eve’s energy following her out of the venue, he did share in her laughter. He returned her hug, and said, “Yeah, I-” Before Evelina interrupted him, pulling him around to a secluded area. He raised an eyebrow, and then she kissed him. This went on for a few minutes, Jeff lifting her up both as a way to be closer and an excuse to grab her ass.

When she suggested they go back to his place, he nodded, “Yeah,” Then, what she was asking dawned on him, and he repeated, “Oh! Yeah.”

The journey back to his apartment was mostly uneventful (Eve was a little handsy, but Jeff didn’t mind in the slightest), and it wasn’t until they got to the door of his apartment that he realized that things might be a little awkward if Anne were there. Luckily enough, she was out. “Here we are,” He said, and after locking up behind them, he turned to say something to Evelina, only to be met with her lips crashing against his. With- seemingly- nothing left to say, he gently pushed the two of them apart to show her to his room.

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Evelina giggled to herself as Jeffrey repeated himself and stammered a bit, before returning the kiss and grabbing her wrist and pulling him towards his apartment. Eve behaved most of the way back to his place, occasionally getting touchy and Jeff telling her to stop or playfully swatting her away. Whenever he would tell her to shh, she would just say shh back to him jokingly. Eve was already a natural flirt and she enjoyed her company with Jeff, the alcohol in her system just brought it out a bit more and made her a bit more bubbly.

As the two of them entered Jeff’s apartment, she heard Jeff say something, but didn’t really pay much attention to his words, instead meeting him for another kiss. Eve was quickly herded into the bedroom, once again Jeffrey stopped to close the door behind him as she crawled onto the bed and turned around to face him. “So… do you happen to have any handcuffs in here?” Evelina giggled. “It’s okay if you don't, just, fun to use you know…” She said with a wink, pulling Jeff into her and on top of her as she laid back onto the bed, giggling in between the kisses.

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The morning after, Eve was woken up by a ray of sunlight coming through Jeff’s blinds and went to pull the blankets over her face when her wrist got yanked back. She let out a groan as she remembered she still had one wrist cuffed to Jeff’s bed frame. It was more of an in the moment suggestion to Jeff to keep one cuff on as they cuddled before falling asleep, and she was slightly regretting it now. “Jeff…” She mumbled over to the body next to her. “Jeffrey.” Eve repeated again after getting no response. “Ugh. Fine.” She mumbled again, reaching for the key on the nightstand next to Jeff’ having to stretch over him to reach it.

It didn’t take Eve long to get herself free, though Jeff did half wake up and mumble something before going to sleep, but Eve just gave him a kiss on the forehead before rolling off of him. She couldn’t recall where all her clothes were, so she just slid her boyshorts on and grabbed one of Jeff’s shirts on, it being a bit big on her.

Eve strolled into the kitchen and quickly headed towards the fridge and moving her hair out of her face, almost hitting herself in the face with the cuff still attached to her wrist. When she opened the fridge she was just looking for some orange juice or even a bottle of water, but was just met with different types of nut milks, cans of LaCroix and orange juice with no pulp, but continuing to dig around a bit. “Hmm… interesting things…” She mumbled to herself, before letting out a light squeak as she found a bottle of orange juice with pulp. She quickly took it out of the fridge and started looking for a glass.

“Eve!” A voice came from behind Eve, almost dropping the orange juice in her hand. She turned around quickly, confused about who this was and how they knew her name. Though Evelina was the stranger here, standing in someone else's kitchen in just her underwear and a shirt that’s too big on her, she ran her hand through her hair. “Uhm… hi?” She said sheepishly. “Or I’m assuming you are. Not sure how many pink haired girls Jeffrey would bring by.” She said with a chuckle, walking over and getting two glasses out of the last cupboard that Eve hadn’t checked.

Evelina was a little thrown off by the forwardness of this girl, and then it finally clicked that this is Jeff’s roommate he talked about. A character He had called her. “Yeah, you must be Jeff’s roommate.” The girl nodded at her and offered to pour the orange juice for them. “Pulp? Good choice, Jeffry thinks I’m crazy for liking pulp.” Eve giggled to herself, taking a sip of the juice. She heard the clink of the cuff against the glass and quickly switched hands to try to hide the handcuff around her wrist.

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That morning, while Jeff was still dead to the world his roommate, Anne, was up and getting ready for her day. She didn’t have a ton on her schedule for the day, but she had to do some shopping, visit her brother, and she was considering catching a movie. As she was putting on the finishing touches of her makeup, she heard someone rummaging around in the kitchen. Thinking it was Jeff, she decided to ask if he wanted to go to see a movie with her later. He needed to get out more, and she didn’t want to go alone. When she saw who was standing in her kitchen, she gasped. “Eve!” The exclamation left her mouth before she even realized she was going to say it.

Anne was 100% sure this was Eve. She’d been stalking the girl on social media, and after a short exchange, they were standing in the kitchen with a glass of orange juice each. Anne politely pretended not to notice the handcuff at first, but after a second she couldn’t help herself. “Jeffy still sleeping?” She asked, rolling her eyes, “I swear, he sleeps through everything besides his stupid watch vibrating. You’ll have to read him the riot act for not unlocking you.” It was part “he’s the worst, I know” and part “I noticed the handcuffs you don’t have to hide it, I’m totally not judging you.” Then, as if the idea of introducing herself hadn’t occurred to her before, she added, “Oh, I’m Anne! I love your instagram.”

After a few minutes of talking, mostly about what hair dye Evelina uses, Jeff finally woke up and, upon seeing that Eve was nowhere to be found, he threw on a shirt and some sweatpants and made his way out of his bedroom. Saying, “Oh,” When he saw the two women talking to each other. “Good morning,” He directed at Eve, “I see you’ve met Anne.”

“She’s so nice,” Anne interjected.

Jeffrey smiled, and ignoring Anne asked, “Feeling okay? We’ve got aspirin and Advil if you need something.” He seemed to notice, then, that she was wearing his shirt. He felt some heat rise in his cheeks and cleared his throat, “Sorry if you tried to wake me up,” He said, face apologetic, “I’m, uh, a heavy sleeper.”

“Jeffrey,” Anne said, crossing her arms in an attempt to look serious.

”Yes?” Jeff replied, clearly not taking her seriously. Anne darted her eyes towards Eve, trying to subtly clue Jeffrey into the handcuff situation. He got the point, as evident by the fact that he started stumbling over whatever it was he was trying to say by saying, “Oh, I uh… Umm…”

Then Anne directed her attention to Eve, smile bright, bubbly, and genuine and said, “I was gonna drag Jeff to the movies with me later, because, I mean, who goes to the movies by themselves? But if you’re still around later you’re totally free to join us.”

”I don’t get to say no?”

“Do you ever?” At that Jeff sighed. This was clearly a conversation they’d had many times, and he never got his way.

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The two girls chatted for a moment, Evelina trying to relax and not be as anxious, though it was a bit hard with her current situation and outfit. Luckily Anne switched the topic to something she felt comfortable discussing and would have an easy time talking about-her hair. One of the few things Eve prided herself on. She shared a few of her tips on getting the max color out of hair dye, using mostly Manic Panic and adding a few other tricks to making it work, even jokingly offering to help dye Anne’s hair sometime.

It wasn’t long until Jeffrey finally came out, Eve flashed him a smile before taking a sip of her orange juice, nodding as he mentioned her meeting Anne. “I’m fine, got some juice. And it’s okay, we had a rough night.” She replied to his questions and his concern about him being a heavy sleeper.

Eve giggled as Jeff stumbled over his words as the two roommates talked, her just sitting on the stool drinking her orange juice until Anne offered the idea of Eve going with them to the movies. “Oh, uh. I would, but I only have the clothes from last night.” She started to say, before an idea came to Anne’s mind. “Oh! I have to go to the mall today, we could just get you something then, plus a little bit of other fun stuff! We could have a girls day out!” Anne said giggly. Eve let out a light chuckle, trying to think of an excuse to get out going on a girls day out,’ but Jeff quickly commented that it would be fun and Anne took that as Evelina agreeing to it. “I’ll finish getting ready, you grab your stuff and we will head out. Jeff, help her out of that thing.” She said with a stern look towards him, before turning around and heading back into her room.

Eve let out a bit of a sigh. “Well, you were right, she is a bit of a charact- ow.” She started to talk about Anne as she ran her hand through her hair, but the handcuff tapped her in the face. Jeff came over and made sure she was okay, ushered her back into his room, saying Anne would be ready before she knew it and to have fun. Evelina wanted to say something about not wanting to go, but just decided to just deal with it for now. How bad could it be just going to the mall? She does it all the time.

The two girls met in the kitchen after Eve took a quick shower, Eve giving Jeff a kiss which made Anne giggle and Jeff saying her to hush. “I’ll text you when we're done Jeffy.” Anne said after showing her phone to them and seeing the uber was here. Eve giving a small wave as they left for the mall

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When they got to the mall, Anne spoke about her nail appointment and how they could probably fit a spot for Eve since Anne was a regular. Eve tried to nicely say no, but Anne just took it as her not wanting to be an inconvenience for the workers. “Come on, you’ll love it. They have these new acrylic nails too that I love.” Anne said, grabbing Evelina’s wrist and gently pulling Eve into the nail salon, and getting her set up with a mani-pedi, the same as her own. Eve took too long to pick a color so Anne just chose to match hers; Anne’s were done with all silver with sparkles and one pink nail, and Eve’s were the opposite with all pink and one silver with sparkles.

As Eve went to pay, already knowing it would be a big amount compared to how she normally paid, she couldn’t find her wallet and realized she must have left it in Jeff’s room and started freaking out. Anne just laughed and said it was fine, that today would be a treat on her and her dad’s card. Eve felt bad and embarrassed about it, but just smiled and said okay. She quickly pulled out her phone and texted Jeff, taking a bit longer than usual due to not being used to these types of nails.

AwkwardCuteGuyJeffrey
heyyy! i mustof left my wallet in ur room. can u make sure and just set it aside 4 me,? thnxz


Eve sent the message, giving up towards the end of trying to fix any typos, and Anne quickly came out of the shop, seeing the name she had for Jeff in her phone. “You know, it’s not a wrong description of him.” She laughed before the two of the continued into the mall

Anne quickly saw a sephora and said they totally had to go inside, since Eve wasn’t able to do her make-up before they left. Eve had only been in a Sephora a few times since it was out of her price range. She drifted towards the cheaper area, just looking at more monotone colors, but Anne had talked one of the workers into doing Eve’s make up, the worker loving their plans for a girls day and then a movie with Eve’s pretty boy. The worker used colors Evelina hadn’t really used before, but was told they went well with her eyes and hair. Applying a gold ombre eyeshadow and an orange-red lipstick that she was told fused together well, as well as blending a rose blush onto her cheeks and bringing everything together. She usually focused more on eyeliner than other make-up when getting ready, so everything felt like a bit much, but Anne seemed to think it looked amazing so it couldn’t have been that much.

Anne talked about going to some shops, but knew they needed to find clothes before anything else. The two of them went into numerous stores, Forever 21, Brandy Melville, Urban Outfitters. Evelina felt out of place in these stores she ever saw from the outside and maybe only liking half an outfit that would be on a mannequin, so Anne took charge in suggesting clothes and tossing clothes into the fitting room for her, and Jeffrey’s roommate was not against buying anything that Eve said looked remotely good. Eve tried getting some comments on what she usually wore, stuff usually with a tear in it or a bit rough. She eventually caved on an outfit that went along with some jeans that had some rips in them, though she wasn't a fan of the rhinestone jewels that were on the back of them. Eve quickly changed into the outfit after leaving the store, but had a few other bags from the stores they went into.

Anne kept complimenting Eve saying she looked amazing, but then paused and did a double take, and thinking. Something was off with Eve’s outfit. “Everything okay?” Eve asked. “Hmm. I think it's the choker, clashes with everything else.” Anne commented. This surprised Eve, she almost always wore a choker, part of her signature look. “Really? But…” She started talking before Anne interrupted her. “Yeah, trust me, it’ll be better with it off.” Eve sighed and pulled the choker off, stuffing it into the bags. “Perfect!”

Lastly they stopped by a hair stylist since Eve also didn’t have her stuff to style her hair before they left. Eve was adamant on not doing too much, using her colored hair as an excuse. They did a simple blow out of her hair, something she’d last did in high school for a dance. This one of the few things she liked that Anne paid for, as it brought out the different shades of pink in her hair. She was exhausted after all the walking and shopping, but Anne was still full of energy.

She was exhausted after all the walking and shopping, but Anne was still full of energy. But she did havve a bit of fun with all the trying on clothes and seeing stuff she normally wouldn’t have ever given a second look. “Let’s get some Starbucks real quick, and we will had back to my place and put down these bags and let Jeff have a look at you before the movies.” Anne said taking her phone out and texting Jeff. Eve simply nodded and said okay, just ordering whatever Anne got before heading back to Jeff’s and Anne’s apartment.

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“We’re back Jeffy! Come take a look at your new model of a girlfriend!” Anne announced as they walked in, and put down half of the bags of stuff they bought from the mall, Eve carrying the other half. Evelina blushed as she walked around the wall in the hallway and looked at Jeff, giving a shy and a bit embarrassed wave. “Hey…” She said with a smile behind her blushing cheeks.

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Jeff decided to do a few things while the girls were gone: some light cleaning, studying, catching up on a tv show he was supposed to be watching with his sister. When Eve texted him, we quickly went to search his room for her wallet. Once he spotted it, he sent back a reply.

xxEvelina
Found it! I’ll put it on the kitchen counter for you. :)

Now, Jeffrey wasn’t a particularly nosey person, but when he picked the wallet up he accidentally opened it up, and then his curiosity got the better of him. It was a surprisingly empty wallet. He’d gotten the impression that Eve maybe didn’t have a ton of money, but he hadn’t expected to find that she was… Completely broke.

Immediately, he felt guilty for snooping, and put the wallet right where he said he would. A lack of cash in her wallet didn’t mean anything, he reasoned, lots of people didn’t carry much cash. But this is New York, he reminded himself. So many places were still cash only, it was silly not to have any.

He decided to go back to the things he’d been doing before the text, but found himself drafting text after text to Eve, only to delete them every time. Would she believe that he hadn’t meant to snoop, or would the invasion of her privacy be too much, all the same? He was a little scared to find out.

Finally, though, he got a text from Anne that they would be heading back to the apartment soon, and not long after that they were back in the apartment like a whirlwind. Jeff didn’t bother to correct Anne when she called Eve his girlfriend, instead focusing his attention on Eve.

She looked… Different. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not, honestly, he was drawn to Evelina because of her more unique sense of style in the first place, and here she was dressed exactly like Anna would. But he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. He’d learned long ago, thanks to his sister, that it was sometimes better not to start commenting on specifics when women were trying something new. For all he knew, Eve had a blast and loved going out with Anne and buying new and different things.

Jeff smiled at Eve, ”You look great,” He thought, then, that might come off the wrong way, so he added, ”You’re really beautiful. I mean- you’re always beautiful, but you look really, uh… Nice.”

Anne laughed from across the room as she was setting down her bags, ”Real smooth, Jeffers.”

Jeffrey cleared his throat, ”Did you guys pick out a movie?”

E V E L I N A KLIMA

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Eve let out a smile as Jeff gave her a compliment, but it was a bit bittersweet. Of course he would like this. Anne dressed like this, and this seemed more onbrand for him, but she took her mind off things. “Thanks.” She said shyly, taking her wallet back and tucking it away as he asked about a movie. Eve had completely forgotten about the movie, the reason her and Anne went shopping. “I actually forgot…” She said a little embarrassed, but Anne spoke up. “There's this new movie that came out, I’ve been wanting to see it, but think you two would enjoy it a bit more.” She spoke, bringing up the movie review on her phone.

A romcom. Not the usual type Eve would watch, more into horror movies or documentaries. The three of them eventually made a choice and headed up. They agreed to just leave most of Eve’s shopping at Jeff’s, more so Anne saying she should have some clothes at his place, to fill up some of his empty closet space. Evelina actually enjoyed the movie, though she did notice Anne giving hints to Jeff like putting his arm around her, as well as just about making him buy the popcorn and slushie they shared. As the movie ended, Jeff offered to walk Eve home, probably another idea by Anne, but she dismissed it saying she had things to do. The two of them exchanged a quick kiss, not wanting to make it awkward for Anne, but she didn't seem to care.

Evelina got home and quickly got out of the outfit and stuff she wore, letting out a deep breath of relief. She felt like she was someone else in the clothes. She then panicked when she couldn’t find her choker, remembering she put it in one of the shopping bags she left at Jeff’s place.

AwkwardCuteGuyJeffrey
omg! i left my choker, its in 1 of the bags from shopping. plz dont lose it, hold onto it for me!!!!! D:

She sent the message, then decided to send another.

AwkwardCuteGuyJeffrey
oh & im home btw :D

Eve tossed her phone aside and flopped down on her bed, reflecting on the day. A lot of good happened in her mind, but still trying to figure out Anne. She was a lot for Evelina to handle. But she did enjoy the time she spent with Jeff, turning over and watching her phone as she fell asleep.

The next few days the two of them texted a lot, but both were busy and hadn’t hung out yet. Jeff was being silly and took random pictures of her choker around his apartment and out, as if it was going on an adventure. These always made Eve smile.

She had awoken today already running late for her shift at Target and rushed out of her apartment, doing her make-up on the bus and stumbling into work as she , not realizing her socks were off shades of red from each other. Luckily today would be a short shift for her and she could head back home and finish the laundry she wanted to do before work.

As Eve was hanging up clothes people had left in the dressing rooms, she heard some commotion before her, a group of friends laughing. She ignored them for the most part, having a feeling she shouldn’t even ask if they need help anything. “Look at this girl over here, trying to dye her hair to make her life seem interesting, but working here.” Evelina rolled her eyes at the remark and just continued working, trying to ignore them as they laughed. “Probably to make up for whatever mental illness she might have.”

“Hey!” Eve turned around quickly, getting ready to say something back to them and not caring about getting another warning at work. But as she turned around, she saw the last person she expected to be hanging out with these people, Jeffrey. Eve froze for a moment, mind going completely blank. The group was also quiet for a moment, before another one of them took charge. “What is it little rebel, not used to seeing people who aren’t trash?”