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Realistic or Modern City Living

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Brooklyn's response wasn't the one that Nick was looking for, but he guessed that he couldn't say that he was surprised by it either. Brooklyn was never as interested in smoking as he was. Her vice came in the form of alcohol. In a way, they were kind of opposites with the substances they chose to indulge in. Brooklyn often over indulged in alcohol, and Nick definitely used more than his fair share of weed (even if he stood by the fact that it wasn't even remotely as bad for his health as alcohol would be). He liked drinking too, but the buzz wasn't as easy to maintain nor as smooth as the one he got from marijuana. While alcohol left him inebriated and unable to function after some point, he felt like he could smoke as much weed as he needed to to get through the day and still be productive. Granted, his definition of productive probably didn't align with the mainstream one, but it was still what he preferred. At least Makayla was down to smoke, though. Nick didn't think that he could get away with justifying doing it on his own, at least not without Brooklyn giving him more of an issue over it. Makayla was the scapegoat he needed to allow him to seem like he was just doing a nice thing, while really also getting the fix that he was craving.

"Wouldn't it be sick to smoke on the beach? We should do that later, I'm sure I'll be able to get Brooke on board once I get a few drinks in her," he suggested. Even though they didn't live that far from beaches, close enough that they could be accessed easily as a day trip at least, Nick didn't go to them much. They were always so overpopulated and he didn't like the idea of going all the way to a beach and then also having to come all the way back. It killed off whatever relaxation he was able to obtain while there, and just made the day feel pretty useless. Having a beach at their disposal, just steps from where they were staying, was a whole different story though. This whole weekend was something that would be a once in a lifetime experience for most people, and likely for them too, since he didn't see Cara having any reason to ever invite them again. The thought of rolling a fat joint, sitting down in the sand, and watching the sun set seemed like a dream right now. It would be way too weird to do it alone with Makayla; not because Nick would feel weird personally, but just because he knew the situation itself had the capability to look strangely intimate even if it wasn't. However, with how many people he was sure would be at the party later on, he was sure that he would find someone to join them, even if it wasn't Brooklyn.

"Let's see if Chanel wants to join us quick," he said as they approached the main house, and instead, continued on past it. Though he knew that it was a potentially dumb move since it would just delay the process and maybe get them caught up in having to eat first, he hoped that the food wasn't ready yet. Since it was Chanel's birthday, he felt like it would be impolite to come back smelling of it without at least inviting her first. Brooklyn and Roman were stopped a few feet away, and they just caught the end of whatever was happening between the two that ended in Roman causing Brooklyn to fall to the ground.

Though Nick's expression immediately darkened, he was aware of the friendship that Brooklyn and Roman had, and how they were only playing around. Still, seeing Brooklyn being pushed to the ground, especially outdoors, just bothered him. He didn't like anyone putting their hands on her, but especially not roughly. Increasing his speed just a bit so he was a few paces ahead of Makayla, he dropped the things in his hands onto the grass and grabbed Brooklyn's arm to help her to her feet. "We good, bro?" he said sharply to Roman. He wasn't looking to start anything because again, this was just Roman, but there was other ways to joke around. Putting his hands on Nick's girl like that wasn't one of them.​
 
If Roman hadn't started to come at her, Brooklyn wouldn't have minded him using her phone. She wouldn't have appreciated him snatching it from her like that, especially after Holly had just nearly broken it by startling Brooklyn into dropping it into the sand, but she wouldn't have cared about him using it. It wasn't like she had anything on there that she minded him seeing, and if he happened to scroll upon a nude that he didn't want to see, then that was on him for being nosy.

When he pulled her around, grabbing her arm, threatening to break it, and then jerking her forward so that she ended up falling backwards, any willingness that she originally had in letting him use her phone disappeared, though that was probably the least of her concerns anyway. Nick and Makayla came upon them, and Nick helped her to her feet, though she would have been just fine doing it on her own. She had used her hands to break her fall, but must have put a little too much weight on the left one, as it was suddenly throbbing with a stinging or searing sort of pain. It wasn't the pain so much that bothered her, as it was Roman's stupidity. The two of them played around like this; it was just part of their relationship. She had been the one to initiate the physical altercation anyway, at least in terms of giving him a purple nurple, but she also didn't think that was equal to him pushing her to the ground. Either way, Brooklyn wasn't hypocritical enough to think that it was done out of anything other than playfulness.

She typically would have gotten up, smacked him across the head, and grabbed her phone, but this time, she only did the latter. She was mildly embarrassed by ending up on the ground now that Nick and Makayla were there watching, as Brooklyn preferred to have the upper hand in situations and being tossed to the ground spoke to how she didn't win this one here. Snatching her phone from his hands, she said, "Fuck yourself," though it didn't come out with any ferocity attached to it. It still aligned with their typical way of communicating where it would potentially come across as being aggressive or unkind to an outside (and it was), but the underlying meaning behind it was somehow endearment.

She flexed her wrist back and forth a couple times to make sure that it actually wasn't injured despite the pain, before brushing away whatever debris had ended up on the back of her legs. "If you wanted to see Nick's dick pics that badly, all you had to do was ask," she huffed as she took a few steps in the direction of the pool area. ​
 
"You can fuck off too," Roman said with a scoff once Nick appeared with understandable irritation in his voice. Just like Nick, Roman's aim wasn't to get into anything, but Brooklyn was fine and had it coming. In fact, he was too focused on finding an Uber to even try to take his friend's response to an extreme. Besides, he would be gone in just a couple of minutes anyway. As soon as he-- Got another phone in his hand. As if it were his own phone that had just been snatched away, Roman looked back towards Brooklyn with annoyance and incredulity. He looked to Nick to as if to confirm they saw the same thing, and started towards Brooklyn. If the situation was slightly different, he would have gone after Brooklyn for no other reason than to snatch the phone back and finish what he started. Since that wasn't the case, though, he stopped by Nick. Nick had a phone. "You better finish what you start next time you want to try and assault me, freak," he called out to her.

"I'll say it again," Roman began as he turned to Nick. "It's going to be either you or her that lands me behind bars," he said, alluding to the illegal amount of drugs that Nick had in their apartment, and the fact that either he or Brooklyn were going to end up in jail for killing the other. "Let me--" It was then that finally noticed Makayla. While he eyed her up and down, he didn't acknowledge her further before turning back to his friend. As his attention redirected, he noticed the things sprawled on the ground that Nick had dropped. "What the hell, mate?" he said with a laugh as he playfully pushed Nick's shoulder. "'Bout to go all Rocky on me, yeah?" He threw a couple of playful punches at Nick, making popping noises with each blow. Even though he was more undoubtedly playing with this friend of his, he was actually being more forceful than he'd just been with Nick. While just as before he wasn't moving with the intent to harm, if he had used the same amount of force with Brooklyn that he was using with Nick now, he'd definitely be overdue for fist to the jaw. It went without saying in general, but especially when he towered seven inches above the girl, only an actual prick would hit or push a girl with the same force as another guy. While his gesture was playful, the way in which his hips were squared, the toe of his front foot placed so that it was in straight line with his back heel, and how his arm gradually twisted as his punch landed spoke to how moving this innately regardless of the context was not learned through play fighting.

"Don't you know I'll take both of you?" He wrapped his arm behind Nick's head, briefly pulling him into a headlock. "For real, man. We're just taking the piss. You know I'm not gonna actually hurt her." His tone was still light, but had temporarily become more serious now, though it softened the same as it did whenever he was around his closest friends. "And between you and me? I really only got cocky because she obviously isn't armed," he said since Brooklyn was only a coverup and a bikini from being bare ass naked. "Which I don't want to risk testing next time I see her, so let me see your phone so I can call an Uber and get out of here before she comes back with a rock or something." Was he joking that he only pushed things with Brooke because she clearly didn't have a shank on her person? Sure. Was he lying that he might have, even if just for a second, reconsidered his actions had she been fully clothed? Nope, not entirely. "So have you just been in need of a girls' getaway or are you trying to get a taste of the Hugh Hefner lifestyle now?" Or as much as one could with Holly being here and therefore everyone assuming the role of babysitter, but that went without saying. ​
 
Chanel's jaw dropped as much as her eyes widened at the audacity of Roman telling such an assaultingly terrible lie. Who did he think he was kidding? "He told you that?" She leaned forward, hardening her gaze to better focus on the words Cara was saying because she simply couldn't believe it. "But literally why would he lie about that, and to you?" Chanel wasn't questioning the credibility of Cara's statements, but rather that of Roman's mental status. She knew that his brain was probably a little fried from the activities her partook in, but Jesus Christmas. Was it that bad? "I mean of all people, really? Did he seem really off last night? Like, I don't know, but I just feel like you have to be strung out to one: not even remember how you got where you are, but then two: to make up such a nonsensical story like that and three: think it makes sense." After another thought, she pushed Cara some. "You know what, stop it! You're pulling my leg. Were you too drunk to not pick up on him being a smart ass? Like, I know it's Roman but I would like to think my expectations shouldn't be that low. When we get back, we might all need to stage an interven--"

Interrupting her in a blaze of energy and words shooting a mile a minute, Holly appeared. She was frantically going on about Roman, and the Grinch, and her presents. At first, Chanel's mouth fixed into a frustrated pout when Holly announced that Roman called her weird. Obviously not that deep, especially with it coming out of Roman's mouth, but he should have known that that was basically the equivalent of calling Holly a home wrecking bitch. After she explained what led to that comment in the first place, Chanel's mouth turned from a pout to a colon and forward slash. Still, she followed Cara's lead and feigned concern. Chanel tried not to baby Holly, but sometimes it was so damn hard. After Holly sat down next to her, Chanel pulled her into for a hug, squeezing her cheeks until she made a fish face. "Glub, glub," she said. "You are so stinkin' cute, you know that? I just want to squeeze you, and squeeze you with alllll of my love!" After giving Holly a good, snuggly embrace, she let her go. This was just as Cara turned back to her after the encounter with her staff. Chanel pursed her lips disapprovingly. "Don't demonstrate such behavior in front of our child, Cara," Chanel said. "The beach was nice and relaxing, but some people have way more exciting stories. There were crab thingies! There were tides to out run!" she announced dramatically. "There were sand cartwheel races to win! There were seashells to collect! Help me out, Hols, c'mon! And we had a marathon race from the beach, and Holly obviously won since her legs are short and thimble, and my are long and take forever to pick up."

She took a sip of her own drink then, knowing that would be enough to give Holly something to focus on while also exuding some energy. It was also a win-win situation because it was, of course, always a joy to see Holly delighted in anything, especially when they were mundane things that people typically ignored. She stretched her arms above her head, rotating them back and forth to let the sun kiss every inch of her skin. When she noticed Brooklyn making her way down, she waved. "Ah, there they are! Brooklyn is literally so hot," she said with amazement. Chanel looked back over to Cara, holding her hand up to signify for her to stop before even starting. "We all know it's true. Two things can be true at once." She turned back towards the direction Brooklyn was heading from, catching a glimpse of some of the commotion that was going on behind her. She tilted her head some as she focused a bit more to process what she was seeing. Afterwards, she shook her head accordingly and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Get your boys, sis!"​
 
Now that Brooklyn was walking off, Nick decided to interpret her response as being pretty unbothered. It was probably a bit ignorant, maybe tainted by him just wanting to believe that so that his plans to go smoke didn't need to be halted in favor of going to console her, but either way, he didn't take the "fuck you" that she slung at Roman to be a sincere one. While he knew Brooklyn well by this point, she was "angry" so often that sometimes it was even hard for him to tell whether she was just being playful or actually in her feelings about something. Even when she was actually upset, he then had to figure out whether it was justified or not, and then when the answer was no (as it often felt to be), he had to figure out whether he was just going to play into it and apologize or attempt to butter her up to move past it, or whether he was going to refuse to admit wrongdoing/feed into her pettiness. The former was usually the smarter choice, and definitely the route that Nick had been favoring in the past few months now that their relationship had normalized once again. He lightened up considerably as Brooklyn strolled off towards the pool area, chuckling at Roman's playfulness as he gathered the things that he had dropped onto the grass. "See, bro, a rock would be the least of my worries. You know how many times I've almost been knifed by her, and you're over here thinking she really won't do it?!" his exclamation of shock was nothing short of playful, but he probably wouldn't have said it if Brooklyn was still in earshot. He didn't mind Makayla hearing it because again, he was saying it playfully, but by now, he also knew that his dysfunctional relationship with Brooklyn was no secret. His own actions in the past had basically ensured that, and as bad as it was, he wasn't even really bothered by that. Brooklyn was more than he was, which was why he wouldn't have joked about it in front of her, but Nick didn't really care as much about what other people thought about them. He understood the faults in their relationship on an internal level and grasped how detrimental it was to them and their future, but people knowing that they fought didn't mean much to him at all. No offense, but it wasn't like Makayla or Roman were two people living lives of such class that they could really judge him.

He tossed Roman his phone, barely even thinking about the reasoning behind Roman's request until the boy opposite him had already caught the device. "You're really about to head out?" he asked, more curiously than judgmentally. It seemed lame to leave such a nice place when it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to have access to it. "We're about to light up if you wanna chill for a minute before going. I was just telling Makayla about how I've got us all hooked up for tonight. I mean, I wanted to give some of it to Chanel, but I've got good edibles and my favorite strains on hand" he offered. "Cara's got a whole lunch thing going on too, and I know it's gonna hit the spot after we finish." He didn't have reason to believe that Roman had run into Cara just minutes ago and had a whole discussion with her and therefore already knew about the lunch plans, just as he didn't know that they had gotten into it last night. He really still wasn't entirely sure why Roman was here in the first place, and had just mostly accepted that he must have invited Roman one night when high and completely forgotten that he had done so. ​
 
"Yeah, we did a lot, a lot!" Holly agreed excitedly. She leaned forward, trailing her finger across the condensation on the outside of her glass of lemonade to draw a heart. Chanel's recollection of the morning had reminded Holly of just how fun it had been, and her reference to the crabs in a cheerful voice almost immediately changed the story of what had happened in Holly's memory into one where Chanel had actually liked the crabs. "And we also saw dol—" Holly was about to claim that they had seen dolphins in the water, which she did believe to be the truth despite Makayla insisting to her that it had just been seagulls floating on the water, but Chanel called out across the lawn to where the others were. Holly's attention immediately jumped to what was going on in the distance, but Brooklyn was already on her feet by the time she looked. "What are they doing?" she asked, getting out of her seat as she looked towards the others with intrigue.

Cara couldn't lie to Chanel and inform her that she hadn't even seen Roman last night because the conversation turned to one about the girls' day at the beach just a few seconds later. She smiled with amusement as Chanel outlined the activities that they had partook in, and it made Cara wish she had gotten out of bed at least a little bit earlier. She knew that she hadn't been in the mindset for it and that she would have been too snippy to have enjoyed it (or allowed anyone else to enjoy themselves for that matter), but she loved how silly these two were. Holly had a way of reminding her to appreciate the little things in life, the things that she hadn't appreciated since she was just a little girl. Despite being able to acknowledge how beautiful it was to live on the beach, for example, it had lost its wow-factor to Cara. It was just an everyday thing and most that it had to offer bored her. She nodded along as they detailed their day, listening intently as she sipped her drink. She caught the commotion going on in the distance too once Chanel pointed it out, but she gently pulled on Holly's arm to get her to sit back down. If Roman had called her "weird" the first time Holly went over to him, she doubted that things would end any more pleasantly if she engaged with him again.

"The boys are probably just being silly," she advised, pushing her sunglasses back over her face to avoid squinting as she peered over at them. She assumed that they were just playing around but it was oh so Roman-like to stay here unwanted and cause a commotion. He couldn't even take Cara's act of goodwill and just act like a normal, civilized being. "Your grilled cheese looks good, doesn't it?" she said, pushing Holly's plate a bit closer to her. It was definitely the least sophisticated of the orders that had been placed for lunch, but it was what Makayla advised Holly would eat. Cara was well aware of the picky taste buds the girl had after going out to eat with her so often, so she wasn't surprised. "And who's excited for Chanel's party tonight? I'm sure Holly knows more of your friends than I do," she guessed, just based on how those two lived together. "And your brothers are coming, right? That'll be cute."

Holly was more interested in Brooklyn than she was in the boys, so when Cara dismissed the situation as involving the boys, Holly obliged and sat back down. The grilled cheese in front of her did look good! It was cut into four triangles just like she liked, with a brown and crispy top and cheese leaking out the sides of it. She poked it and determined that it was still too hot to eat, though it probably wasn't truly. She just wanted to talk more than she wanted to eat. "I'm excited for it!" Holly volunteered with her tone giving proof to the statement. "I know all of Chanel's friends! Well mostly! Because sometimes they come over and sometimes I see pictures of them in her room and sometimes I hear her talking on the phone to them and sometimes I just want to say hi to them too but Makayla says 'if you even think about going near her door, I swear to god, it's not going to end well for you', so then I don't, but I still know them. What are the names of the ones I know, Chanel? And I know her brothers too!" she said, speaking with enthusiasm as she looked to Cara. "Devon and Eli! And they really like me and I think they wished that they lived with us too, right Chanel? And they're tall, and they know me, right Chanel? They know me more than they know Cara and Ruby and Brooklyn, but not more than they know you because you have the same parents as them."

Not that Chanel had many other options, she nodded in agreement as Holly turned to her to confirm her rapid fire statements. She was actually impressed that she had remembered her brothers' name. Even if she had gotten the general gist, like their initials, she would have been surprised considering that she still didn't seem to understand that Roman was British and what that meant. Less surprisingly, though, Holly had met her family in the past. While Chanel was typically the one to frequent them, sometimes they would take a visit to see her. It was mostly her brothers who came to see her if she was the one being visited; namely her youngest brother, Devon. The running joke in the family was that the two of them were more like twins than he and Eli. While out of the family, Dev was definitely the one who had been visited her most often, but in reality he was visiting her to place more than he was her. Out of respect for Makayla, whenever he did come to the city to get into whatever it was he and his friends got into, Chanel would make him crash in her room instead of on the couch where Holly would see him. There were a handful of times, though, where he managed to fail at the one rule she had in place for him, and end up on the couch. He was to Chanel what Holly was to Makayla when it came to apologizing for the behavior and disregard of their younger siblings.

"I'm surprised you remember their names." Chanel chuckled. Dev certainly hadn't forgotten Holly's given the handful of encounters they had had, but the rest of her family was also acquainted with the girl. Obviously, it was just Holly's inability to be forgettable, but it also wasn't unheard of for Holly to pop in to say hi if she was Facetiming one of them in the kitchen. "But yep, you're definitely the most famous one to them out of everyone else back home. I'm sure they're excited to you too."

Holly's smile widened as Chanel confirmed her suspicions that her family knew her better than they did the others, because in her head, that meant that they liked her better too. She looked to Cara then, as if that would somehow translate the same way to her, and carry just as much weight as it would to Holly. "But that's okay, Cara. They still like you too, I bet!" she said, placing her hand on the girl's arm in a comforting manner momentarily before turning back towards Chanel. "Let's play a game!" she suggested excitedly, glancing again at her sandwich which she still deemed to be too hot to be touched. "Everyone's going to say 50 of their favorite things about Chanel, since it's her birthday! And you can't take something someone else said! It has to be special!" she declared excitedly. It was a "game" she liked to play every year with Makayla on her birthday, since compliments were usually the only things that Holly could afford to give her as a gift. Granted, the game usually ended prematurely with Makayla telling her to stop and save some things for next year, but Holly still had fun nonetheless.

While someone like Roman would probably find it difficult to think of a single positive attribute Chanel possessed, Holly's suggestion of each naming 50 seemed entirely realistic to her. She could probably think of 5,000 different things! At the same time, it probably spoke, at least to an extent, to her inability to really grasp numbers and their relation to the world. "My favorite things about Chanel are how she's very tall, she's very nice, she's very sweet, she's very funny, she likes to be healthy, she likes candles, she's not scared of dogs, she... her name is very pretty, she's very smart and she helps Makayla with her homework a lot, she... she always smells good like a lollipop, she never is mean, she can reach any bowl, or plate, or cup in the cabinets, she has a lot of money and a lot of stuff, she knows a lot of stuff, she dresses very nice, her skin is so soft, and her mom is 5'7!" She definitely didn't list 50 things off (which was probably for the best), and she drifted between actually stating things she liked about her and just stating facts about her, but the laugh that came about after it spoke to her own pleasure at the self-proclaimed feat. "Now you go, Cara!" she insisted enthusiastically, barely pausing for a breath. "But don't say any of the ones that I said because you have to be unique!" she reminded, laughing again just because the word "unique" sounded sophisticated to her.

Cara cut a small piece of her salmon, but initially paused before putting it into her mouth. Holly had jumped over to the idea of playing a game, which she then explained entailed all of them going around and saying what they liked best about Chanel. Since it was just the three of them at the table right now, it was a cute idea (minus the idea of each of them saying fifty different things), but Cara wasn't quite sure how well it would go over once the troublemakers arrived. Even people like Nick and Makayla who were decent enough would probably fall flat, but then again, as Holly demonstrated with her endless supply of compliments, anyone who attempted to top that would probably fall flat. The way that she spoke wasn't outlandishly unlike Holly, not to any point where Cara felt compelled to give Chanel some sort of questioning side glance. Still, even though she was well acquainted with Holly's uniqueness, she sometimes wondered if it had always been this bad. Some days she seemed harder to follow than others, or the scattered nature of her thoughts showed more transparently than others. "You took all of the good ones!" Cara teased once she had finished chewing, then washing it down with a sip of her drink. It was strong but smooth, cold and refreshing.

She watched in the distance as one of the event planners led a crew of landscapers towards the front lawn, and out of sight from them. While the control freak in her felt compelled to venture around the property, inside and out, to make sure that everything was being prepared just as ordered, she was also still attempting to remain tuned in to her desire to relax a bit. She hired the same event planning team that her family used for all of their own events, so she also knew deep down that she didn't have good reason to worry, even if it was just in her character to want to feel like she needed to complain about something. "You're right though, her skin is so soft and she does smell like a lollipop," she offered with a giggle as she stroked Chanel's arm. "How in the world do you know how tall her mom is, though?" she questioned. "You're supposed to be my best friend, Holly!" she teased. ​
 
She mimicked Cara in stroking Chanel's other arm after the blonde hyped it up, and she laughed at the touch of it, though still satisfied with her statement. "Because Chanel told me one time!" Holly answered, as if it was as simple as that. It was as simple as that, but with how frequently Holly liked to make things up just because they were funny or because she wanted to play "pretend", it easily could have come across as just a guess. It also related to Holly's strange way of processing and holding onto (or more frequently, not holding onto information. There wasn't really any rhyme or reason for the seemingly obscure things that she sometimes recalled. They weren't usually blatantly important--actually, that was the kind of stuff that she missed most frequently. She probably only recalled that line from the conversation she had with Chanel months ago for some trivial reason like having then imagined what it would be like if Chanel's mom was five-seven-bazillion feet tall and thinking it was funny in the moment. "And that means that she's a lot taller than Chanel because Chanel is 22!" she exclaimed, as if that made any sense at all. In truth, with the way that her brain worked, there was no significance in the numbers of someone's height. If Chanel had claimed to be 10' tall, not only would that not strike her as absurdly unrealistic, but it would still take a long of word-problem coaching for her to understand that 10' is taller than 5'7.

"But you still have to go, Cara!" she insisted, referring to the game. "And I am your best friend!" she added, gleaming with excitement over the mere claim. "But Chanel was my first real best friend in the whole world after Makayla!"

"Brooke-itty, Brooke-itty, Brookkkkkkke-lyn!" Holly called out as soon as she noticed that the other blonde was approaching the table. "Chanel's skin is soft, that's why we're feeling it!"​
 
Brooklyn removed herself from the vicinity of Roman's stupidity and headed over to where the girls were sitting, though she second guessed whether that was even a good idea as Chanel called out to her obnoxiously. That girl was a whole different type of annoying. Maybe not Holly level, but--well, actually, maybe she was Holly level annoying. She wasn't throwing disgusting vermin at her, but she always had little unwanted comments to offer, and that was close to being just as bad. Plus, Chanel was just as annoying in the cheerful and friendly sense as Holly was, but without the pity factor that made it sometimes force-ably bearable. She wanted to eat though, and even if Brooklyn wasn't the most etiquette obsessed person in the world, she also didn't feel comfortable just going inside and demanding that Cara's staff make food for her, separate from what Cara had already told them to do. Besides, the weather was beautiful, and sitting outside to eat by the pool sounded nice... minus the idea of sitting with them. On the bright side, Holly was already sitting between Cara and Chanel, so at least that was one experience she got to avoid.

"Cool," Brooklyn answered, trying not to sound too bitter as she glanced at the trio. Why they were touching Chanel in the first place to discover that her skin was soft was a question Brooklyn had, but she didn't even want to ask and open up the can of worms that she's sure Holly's explanation would be. She sat as far away from the three girls as she could at the table, and within seconds, someone was carrying over a plate of food to her. "Would it be possible to get a vodka soda with a splash of lemon?" she asked the man, who reassured her that he would bring one out for her. Again, even if Brooklyn was comfortable with being without manners in certain situations, her tone had shifted to a kinder one when addressing the man. Not only did she know what it was like to have to serve ungrateful people, but she knew what it was like to exist around the Forresters, so being nice seemed extra warranted. ​
 
"Yeah. I didn't plan on you and Brooke holding me hostage." While his tone was dry, it went without saying that his arid tone came with an innately lighter note when he was with Nick and Brooklyn. The latter was a hit or miss since that one was always determined to get on his last nerve, but neither of them actually bothered him, even though she certainly did the most out of the two. Roman actually didn't remember the part of the night that led to him being stowed away in one of the many guest rooms, and while that should have been enough of an indicator to him, since he was a few months removed from last night being the norm, his mind didn't immediately go there. He wasn't clueless enough to think that they didn't have their reasons and that they didn't do it as friends, but he also didn't think anything had happened last night after he spoke with Cara. That he was still walking was either a miracle, or spoke to how damaged his organs really were to still be able to down as much alcohol he did last night and not end up with a tube down his throat.

Roman looked behind him and towards the beach. It would be a long trip back, and he couldn't think of the next time he'd have a view this solid. It wasn't like he was going to run into Cara if he didn't leave right away, and so what if he did? He would follow her lead and things would be as they were before now. He didn't need to worry about stepping on her toes, especially when it was virtually impossible to avoid doing so. "Fair enough." He offered Nick his phone back. "It's been a minute," he said to Makayla, but only looking in her direction after the fact. This wasn't his first time smoking with her, but he didn't do it that often. Their paths actually didn't cross that often, which was odd considering he felt like came across her sister and obnoxious roommate more than he cared for. Roman wasn't the type for unfamiliar company, but unsurprisingly, he didn't actually mind Makayla's presence. She was chill and stayed out of the way, the latter of which seemed intentional at times. If there was one thing he did remember about her, though, despite their few run-ins, was just how much she could smoke. Subjectively, Makayla was a shrimp, but even objectively, she was a tiny girl. The amount that she could smoke had him wonder at times how many bodies she had stowed beneath her bed. Perhaps her chill demeanor was misleading, but it definitely made him curious about what kind of life stressors she was trying to manage to be able to smoke the way she could. Then again, if Holly was his dependent, and he only had weed, he'd probably be the same way. "You still smokin' half your body weight in weed?"​
 
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Saturday, June 8, 2019 || 10:30 PM

"Mom and Dad are going to beat your ass."

The previous night, she has waved off Makayla's surprise and concern over such a large gesture of celebration from her friend. Even after knowing Cara all this time, she still was surprised by just how much money this girl really had. It wasn't even her money--it was her father's. Chanel still vividly recalled her own father giving her a hard time about handouts when she was just fifteen and working part time at a local shaved ice shop over the summer. God forbid she didn't want to blow her entire paycheck on Taco Bell. Of course, Chanel was still unknowingly victim to the first born daughter syndrome, and was more of a daddy's girl than she was realized. The times she was recounting weren't entirely unwarranted on her father's side, but that was besides the point as far as she was concerned. And she was a little bit as she stood next to her youngest, and undoubtedly mostly annoying, brother as they both stared in awe at the acrobatic dancers before them. "This smells like postbellum tenant farming, and if you listen closely," Devon began, only pausing to smoke the cigar he'd been holding onto and posing with all night. "You can hear the collective disappointment of your ancestors. Your great-grandkids will still be in debt to this family by the time they have kids."

"This is exactly why I didn't want you here." Chanel said, unable to convey her actual annoyance towards him because the alcohol in her system wouldn't allow her to ignore the warm feeling inside her. As her brother wrapped an arm around her and leans his head onto hers in a fit of laughter, it was only more troublesome to try to not laugh along, even as she pushed him away and straightened her dress. She already knew that even he wasn't joking, this would remain a secret for the simple fact that their parents would flip the state on its head if they knew her brothers were drinking illegally. If they were two hours shy of their twenty-first and even sipped a bit of wine, her parents would have tweaked. All three of them knew to take this to the grave with them, not because of the severity of this birthday party, but because their teenaged children drinking was the more damning offense. "Relax," he said. "You know I wouldn't do anything to put me and my sugar mama's relationship in jeopardy."

"Stop calling her your--"

"Fine. Your sugar mama," he corrected, albeit entirely missing the point, and Chanel was certain the obtusion was intentional. "And future sister-in-law. Not too long until you have little Drake nephews running around. Don't worry, you can have the guest house when you're too far deep into student debt with nothing to show for it and Mom and Dad finally abandon you and I take your place as the favorite."

Chanel inhaled her retort and grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the waiters passing by. There was no point in ruminating just how much she was fucked when she could just enjoy the limited present--pun unintended--and have a crisis tomorrow, or the day after depending on how hungover she was tomorrow. While she felt good, despite her brother doing everything in his power to irritate her, she would have been to the point of blacking out if her brothers weren't here with her. It was a hard balance to maintain not wanting to be bogged down with feeling the need to babysit and wanting to ignore that your little brothers were here so that you could properly turn up. In all fairness, most of their encounters had either been by chance or on her end. For some reason, she was convinced that one of them was going to lose a finger, or an eyeball, or worse before the night was over.

"Drinkkkkkk." Dev pressed his hand on the bottom of the glass, raising it to Chanel's lips.

"When's the last time you had water? And stop smoking that thing!" Dev pulled his hand away from her as she tried to snatch the cigar from him. "And where's Gabe? Why aren't you watching out for him?"

"This is why we've been avoiding you all night. We knew you'd turn into a crackhead whenever-- Perfect timing!" Dev spotted Cara at the same time she did, but with the way he reached his hand out and smiled ear to ear, one would expect that this was his best friend and not hers. Once Cara was close enough, he took the tip of her hand in his and guided her the rest of the way, the way one might do at a ball. "I was just talking about how I needed to thank you for keeping her alive all this time. I had no idea what a bore she was until tonight, so thank you for doing the Lord's work. But if I may," he began, his arm casually but to Chanel, annoyingly, around Cara. "Whoever's job it is to keep this bitch drunk and happy and off my ass is doing a really bad job. Has she always been this underwhelming?"

"I can hear you, jackass."

"Sorry, I was just asking if you've always been this underwhelming. I'd ask you directly, but with the way your self-awareness is set up... Now, Cara, if you were to look at my sister, and look at everyone else here." He spanned his free around in front of him, motioning to the rest of the room. "How many more shots would you say she needs to catch up with everyone?"​
 
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Behind glassy eyes, the party looked even more magnificent than Cara could have envisioned it to. Granted, it would be impossible to tell that she felt that way since her event planner's team had been torn to pieces for at least one hundred things before the night had even begun, but that wasn't what mattered now. What mattered now was that so far, everything was going perfectly--and even if it wasn't, Cara was too drunk to tell. Luckily, her level of intoxication wasn't exorbitant, at least not compared to the crowds of people who were here. In addition to Chanel's friends being here, many of Cara's friends were here too, and with that being said, the fact that she was in good spirits spoke to how well things had to be going. It wasn't like Cara would have went without any of the details of the party if it was only going to be Chanel's friends here; Cara was self-absorbed enough that she wanted the party to be luxurious for her own enjoyment, just as much as she did for Chanel's. It was probably mostly privilege, but the particular nature that she had regarding certain things was nearly OCD-like. If she was in enough of a bad mood, even the sight of a polyester sweater in a store she thought had even a semblance of class to know better than that could make her do an immediate about-face out of there. Still, she knew that her friends would be the first to point out any shortcomings of the night, and not necessarily in a way that was meant to be critical. It would come out in the same way that things sometimes came out of Cara's mouth--innocently intended in a truly concerned manner, but clearly hypercritical, out of touch, and demanding. While Cara would never realize that the comments they made were just like the ones that came out of her own mouth, she would be able to take offense to them when they came out of their mouths, so it was truly for the best that the party was going so well.

She became separated from her own friends for a reason that she couldn't even recall a minute after leaving the group, but the alcohol in her system kept a smile on her face, even if it was a mildly confused one. "Ooooh, yes," she purred, accepting a drink from a server who passed by. She wasn't even sure what it was as she sipped it, her taste buds only sharp enough to decide that it was smooth enough to be consumed, even if she couldn't decipher its contents. Simply because it was the path she was on, she soon found herself in the guest house, which was just as lively as the outdoor scene. Between the music, and the lights, and the ambiance, and just the general energy that the crowd was giving off, it was hard to not feel entranced by it all.

It took a few seconds for her to realize who it was that she was approaching, but even under second's worth of a guise that it was a complete stranger whose hand she was holding, Cara was still smiling because she was in that good of a mood. When she realized that it was Chanel and her brother, the smile only widened, and she giggled as he playfully teased Chanel's unimpressive drinking habits. As the words slowly processed in her brain, a momentarily concerned look clouded her face, as she placed both hands on one of Chanel's. "Are you really not drinking?" she pressed, seemingly ignoring the glass in Chanel's other hand. "Are there not enough servers? I'll literally kill them if they messed this up," she insisted, her eyes grazing past the two in front of her as she searched for someone to bash for this non-existent problem. The last of Devon's words only seemed to process in her head then, as she nodded. "Yeah, yeah, let's get you some shots! She is literally not allowed to be sober on her birthday!" she agreed, before adding, "I'm like positive I told one of them to be within ten feet of you at all times with a full tray." She tossed back her own drink as if it was nothing, a move that she had been pulling too frequently tonight for tomorrow morning to be even remotely present, before taking one of each of their hands within hers and pulling them towards the patio outside, and over to the nearest bar. "What are we taking?" she asked, before giving a group of girls who had rightfully been at the bar before them a death glare as one of them innocently brushed against Cara. She had to remind herself that it was probably one of Chanel's friends--which thankfully, she was able to do before opening her mouth. "And where's the other one of you?!" she asked, referring to the other Nasiri. "You better hope that he's not hanging out with the people from our floor," she advised. "At least with all of our friends here, the classlessness of their presences is overridden." ​
 
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Even if there was still a lot of alcohol, and a lot of kids chugging their body weight of said alcohol, Ruby still found herself appreciating this party more than the one that transpired last night. The fact that it was themed probably made it easier to enjoy, as she didn't feel like she was tossed into the middle of a frat party when everyone was dressed up and looking so dapper. Plus, tonight's party had a purpose: celebrating Chanel... even if she hadn't seen Chanel in a few hours. It wasn't something that Ruby felt bad about, simply because she knew that Chanel had (what felt like) a million friends here to socialize with. She saw the girl every day, and even besides that, it wasn't like they were best friends or anything. They were roommates who got along well, and while Ruby thought that she was a sweet girl and probably would call her a friend, simply because it wasn't a term she felt needed to be used in special cases, it would have been bizarre for her to have been clinging to Chanel's side all night. The point was that knowing that this party had an intended purpose of celebrating someone she cared about meant that Ruby could force herself to feel more comfortable in a setting that normally wouldn't have seemed overly attractive to her. Even if hanging out with a bunch of people she didn't know, many of whom were overly intoxicated, wasn't her "thing", she could still appreciate the entertainment, the food, and even some alcohol herself. She probably seemed like a prude compared to the rest of them, but Ruby did enjoy drinking. Just not to a point where she couldn't think straight, or where she would spend the next morning with her head in the toilet. She loved a nice glass of red wine, a hot bath, and a book, and as she was drinking tonight, a martini or two never hurt anyone.

"Do sharks go to sleep at night too? Do they make beds out of seaweed? What do they use for blankets? Are you allowed to go in the ocean when it's dark out? Look at all the stars! You can't see them in the city because we're closer to the moon here!" Holly's questions rattled off in a typical manner, leaving not even a second in between for Ruby to attempt to answer them. She was used to this by now though, knowing that Holly didn't really seem to expect an answer to the questions anyway. It seemed to just be her thinking out loud, probably only able to vocalize a small fraction of the many thoughts that were coursing through her head at a mile a minute rate. Ruby had learned, especially after taking care of Holly on her own, that while it was easy to linger on and view the few times that Makayla would snap at Holly in a critical lens, that she was actually remarkably patient with the girl because she really never did slow down. Even living with Holly, Ruby got a taste of it. They were much better roommates than one would think after just experiencing Holly for a few minutes, but even so, between the hours of six in the morning and eight at night, Holly never slowed down. If you were her caretaker, you were listening to her talk for fourteen hours straight, but not only that--she also could act impulsively, touching things that she shouldn't be touching, playing with things that weren't toys, and wandering away at the slightest distraction. Ruby had initially thought that Makayla was just being sarcastic when she had made an offhand remark about how a gum wrapper on the other side of the road was enough to have Holly walking into racing traffic until she had to take care of her herself, and found that even taking her eye off of her for half a second could lead to the girl disappearing. She was a lot of work. It wasn't Holly's fault, and even how tiring she could be didn't begin to take away from how innocent and loving she was, but it simply put things into perspective.

Now that Ruby was acting as a medical professional in her life too (something that she honestly still felt somewhat uneasy doing), she felt compelled to put more thought into Holly's tendencies over just brushing them off as "how she was". It wasn't normal for someone to think as quickly and in as scatterbrained of a way as Holly did. It wasn't healthy, and it clearly limited her functional abilities.

Makayla and Ruby had taken advantage of the thirty minute gap they had without Holly while she showered, leaving Ruby scrambling to fix her appearance as Makayla put Holly to bed. She was still reapplying the lipstick that had smeared on her face when Makayla came into the bathroom, telling her that Holly had fallen asleep barely more than a minute after her head hit the pillow, but she finished up quickly and headed outside with her.

It was silly, but Ruby hadn't yet told Makayla that her old friend Eli was coming to the party tonight. In her defense, she had only found out a few hours ago, as her mother had called her after lunch to tell her about the lunch they were throwing for her brother and his newly-appointed fiancee tomorrow. She nearly demanded that Ruby show up with her made-up boyfriend, a rouse that Ruby had stupidly created around a year ago after her mother wouldn't let up about her being single at her age. The stars aligned and it just so happened that the friend she had claimed was her boyfriend was in the Hamptons, and after a pleading phone call, Eli agreed to come to lunch with her tomorrow. It wasn't like he was really her boyfriend, and Makayla knew better than anyone that Ruby wasn't interested in men to begin with, but for some reason, she still felt weird about the whole thing. It was really just self-imposed guilt and weirdness--she felt hypocritical, because she also felt some sort of way about Makayla not wanting to go public with whatever they had. She also didn't want to admit that her parents were homophobic in fear of Makayla being understandably uncomfortable by that and wanting nothing to do with her. It was just a weird situation all around, and Ruby's longstanding discomfort with having to address her sexuality in the public forum was probably at the center of the whole thing. She knew that she had to tell Makayla at some point, since this all meant that she wasn't going to be able to commute back to the city with her and Holly, but she continued to put it off, even after Eli texted her to say that he was on his way to the party.

"Random question," she began, as they made their way outside. "But has Holly been keeping up with her meds?" She spoke in a more curious tone than authoritative, as she truly was curious, though just as much from a medical standpoint as she was from a roommate standpoint. A few weeks ago she had added Clonidine to the girl's Adderall regimen (that had been carried over from her previous doctor), but she was sure that by now that they would be seeing some sort of benefit, or at least side effect. Holly was a tiny little thing to begin with, and Ruby already was hyper cautious when medicating kids, especially with more than one thing, and doing so to someone she lived with made her feel even more uneasy. Plus, Ruby liked being able to solve problems. Holly was very unique for a lot of reasons, medically, socially, and well, in nearly every aspect one could think of, and so Ruby had little to go off of. Makayla's insurance refused to cover the cost of an MRI, something that wasn't surprising but still frustrating. Psychiatrists were the only doctors who didn't get to see the organ that they were treating, and in a case as already complex as Holly's, anything that could point her in the right direction would have been helpful. "The Clonidine really should have slowed her down or done something noticeable by now." She really did like to keep doctor and roommate separate, and she even had Holly and Makayla come to her office every week just to make it "official", even if she wasn't charging them, but with Holly's increasingly sporadic behavior this trip (or maybe just Ruby being around her more to notice it), it didn't seem out of place to bring up.​
 
Makayla hadn't waited for her high to wear off before starting up with the drinking. In fact, as soon as she, Nick, and Roman had finished smoking, she started drinking with lunch. The buzz that the two drinks gave her only really enhanced her high, and that carried her through a nice, long nap on the beach, through dinner, and up until the party started. Even as they all got ready, she had still been high enough that she didn't feel inclined to pregame, and that said something, considering that being with Holly in any place other than their house was stressful in itself for Makayla, and the alcohol she had access to here was free. It spoke to how good the stuff Nick had used to smoke them out was, though that wasn't surprising. Makayla always suspected that he saved the really, really good stuff for himself. He smoked them out quite frequently, and everything he did give them was always good - she definitely wasn't complaining, but whatever this was was really good. She definitely planned on asking Nick for more later, which wasn't something she typically did. She accepted it when it was offered but even with weed: her one vice, the thing that kept her sane, she tried to avoid "begging" for anything. She hoped that she crossed paths with Chanel at some point. Considering the size of the party, she wasn't holding her breath over it, but using the birthday girl as an excuse to light up seemed like an easy way to get high herself.

Even though her high had worn off by now, Makayla had been drinking since the party started. Ruby was gracious enough to keep her company while she and Holly hung out in the quieter areas of the party - the spots where she knew Holly couldn't cause too much trouble. The fact that Cara's house was so expansive made that easy too, since there were so many rooms to explore that weren't being used by the party. She wasn't as reclusive as Ruby seemed when it came to big parties, but Makayla similarly wasn't pressed on being a social butterfly. As long as her glass remained full, she didn't mind wandering around the expansive mansion and surrounding property and drowning out the sound of her sister talking about anything and everything. When she finally convinced Holly that she truly was tired and needed to sleep, she was just tipsy enough that slipping out of her dress to have a little bit of quick fun with Ruby in their bedroom sounded like the perfect idea. The perfect idea, it certainly was.

Though it left her feeling exhausted for a few minutes afterwards. the endorphin rush that came with it had her in a good mood, and Holly sinking into a deep sleep only a few minutes later made it even better. Now, all she needed was a refill or a hit of that good shit Nick had. Either one would do for now.

She found herself instinctively slipping her hand around Ruby's as they reentered the party scene, but she released it almost just as quickly once Ruby asked about Holly's medication. She completely understood that Ruby wasn't asking it in a manner meant to sound interrogating or chiding, but things like this just were a soft subject with Makayla. It wasn't fair in this case, as Ruby had more than proved herself of being a hugely helpful advocate for herself and Holly in the system, but there was enough history with that system that even this good experience didn't erase the way Makayla felt about it overall. Her childhood would have been enough to make anyone find it hard to trust "professionals" who claimed to be trying to help you, but then add in how disgustingly wrong Holly had been failed by those same people, and it went without question. Then, on top of that, the years of raising Holly, a white child, as a young, single, woman of color, and the amount of judgmental comments, claims, and remarks disguised as attempts at "helping" had her not only wary of people in the system, but detesting those people. It was never what she did right, always what she did wrong. These same people never seemed to give a damn about Holly when it was her white abusive, drug addicted, vile mother raising her, but when Makayla stepped up to the plate and sacrificed everything for that same kid, suddenly everyone had something to say.

Yes, Makayla was fully aware that Ruby wasn't one of those people. It had taken her time to realize that, but in Makayla's defense, it had also taken Ruby time to realize that Makayla wasn't what her preconceived notions of her wanted to believe too. Even knowing that Ruby was speaking with good intentions though, the suggestion that Makayla was being neglectful bothered her. Had Holly been keeping up with taking her medication daily? To the best of Makayla's ability, she was. Makayla gave her the medication every day. She didn't force Holly to swallow it in front of her like a prison guard would an inmate, but she also had no reason to believe that Holly wasn't taking it. Were there days when she honestly forgot to give it to Holly? When she woke up with her head spinning, or when Holly spilled an entire carton of milk all over the kitchen two minutes before they had to leave, or she hadn't made it to the pharmacy before running out of the previous month's supply, and it just completely slipped her mind? Yeah, but it wasn't a daily occurrence. It wasn't something that she felt would be impacting Holly enough where Ruby needed to be concerned. "Yeah, I give it to her every morning, just like you said to," she answered, refraining from adding anything that would come across as being overly defensive. In addition to the comment making her feel like Ruby was critiquing her ability to care for Holly, it also made her feel defensive of Holly - again, maybe unfairly. She knew that the way Holly behaved wasn't normal, but she couldn't help but to feel that if Ruby was so bothered by it, that she didn't need to hang out with them if she didn't want to. "I think she's fine, though. I mean, I don't know if medication will ever be able to help her. Not to minimize your expertise or anything, because you know I'm down to try stuff that you think will help, but if the only thing hurting her was a chemical imbalance that a pill could fix, she'd have been dealt a much better hand of cards than the one she was actually dealt."

Makayla had been wary of medicating Holly for a while, partly because she didn't trust the system, but also because medicating someone for something that was hard to concretely diagnose in the first place seemed almost dangerous. She knew that Holly didn't just have your typical ADHD. She had underlying issues that were far more complex and severe than a medication could fix, and she didn't want someone to just drug her up, turn her into a zombie, and call that a success. Again, she didn't think Ruby would do that, but it was the system that Makayla knew, and Ruby was a part of it, whether she identified with it individually or not. Every professional she had encountered seemed to prefer that she shut up and disappear, and that that was the solution, so she had no reason to believe that they wouldn't do the same to Holly, especially on the poor man's insurance, where they couldn't make a buck off of taking the time to actually explore her history.

Shit, now she really needed Nick's weed. "I know you're going to say no, but please, please, please will you consider smoking with me if I get Nick to light up again tonight?" she asked, opting to take the conversation in a different direction. Then again, it wasn't a completely unrelated direction. Makayla was sure that medicating Holly naturally would do her more good than the pills she was taking, but she also knew that Ruby was the type who would be horrified by her even asking if she'd consider certifying Holly for a medical marijuana card, so she kept that train of thought out.​
 
You wouldn't hear the words come out of Brooklyn's mouth to prove it, but yes, she was impressed by what Chanel's party turned out to be. All things considered, she knew better than to expect it to be some embarrassing attempt at a themed party. With the amount of money that the Forresters had, it truly wouldn't have surprised Brooklyn if they paid Leonardo DiCaprio to show up and revive his character of Gatsby in itself. With that being said, if she knew they were essentially capable of that, them being able to put together what they did wasn't surprising either. Brooklyn considered herself to be a fan of the finer things in life, but to an extent, she was an impostor in that world. She did make a surprisingly good living considering her career choice and she wasn't hurting for money, but she also had no business dropping a grand on a winter jacket just to make herself feel better. She liked to think that she was just as knowledgeable as Cara was on how to live well, but she also knew that even uttering those words out loud would be laughable because it was so blatantly false. She sat on the laps of men who chased the lifestyle that Cara's father had provided her with, but that was as close to understanding it as Brooklyn could get. Some would say that lifestyle she had been raised in before her family erupted into a fiery ball of dysfunction was eons better than the one that Makayla had been raised in, but there really was no way to even compare Cara's privilege to anyone else's in that sort of matter. Walking around this party (in addition to just being on this property for the past day) spoke to just how disconnected the rich were from the rest of the world, and just how different Cara was from the rest of them.

It was a theme that could so easily (and deservingly) be viewed in a grim and vile light, but admittedly, it was hard to even care about it tonight when Brooklyn was able to take advantage of it. The liquor was flowing, the entertainment was spectacular, she had Nick by her side, and remarkably, Chanel's friends weren't quite as stupid and annoying as Brooklyn wanted to paint them to be, so she was having a good time. She hadn't had to deal with Chanel, Cara, or Holly since the party started, so that had to play into it too. Again, it wasn't something that Brooklyn would admit to, but she didn't really despise the three as much as she claimed to.

Chanel was just an annoying mosquito always buzzing in her ear; she was harmless, but her little comments got under Brooklyn's skin. Maybe it was because she was more insecure than she cared to let on, or at least she had become so after Nick cheated on her. Chanel was obviously gorgeous and model-esque, and knowing that she hung out with Nick here and there, even if it was just for "business" on Nick's part, irked her. Not so much that she would demand he stopped selling to her or smoking with her, if only because she didn't want to seem insecure, but enough that Brooklyn found her presence to be more annoying than it deserved. Even her innocent and playful remarks, the ones that just stemmed from her being dumb and friendly, found a way to rub Brooklyn the wrong way. In truth, she knew that Chanel was probably just as dangerous as Holly was--which wasn't much. Her party giving them all an excuse to take advantage of Cara did have Brooklyn seeing her in a better light, however. Maybe exploiting her for her overbearing friendliness for more freebies in the future would make her more bearable. Cara deserved the wrath that Brooklyn slung at her, but by now, Brooklyn was also very aware that Cara hadn't owed her anything at the time that she and Nick had their affair. Well, she owed her common decency, which she failed to provide, but it was Nick who owed her respect and trust, and it was he who had destroyed their relationship, not Cara. Brooklyn still wouldn't dare call her a friend, but by now, she felt like her relationship with Cara was... neutral. She didn't treat her any differently than she treated most people, which still wasn't warm and fuzzy, but also wasn't vengeful. It was easier that way, especially considering that Cara basically did mind her business and didn't bother Brooklyn in their apartment. Holly was a story in itself; one that didn't need to be told, as it was fairly straightforward on their interactions. She was wildly annoying and bothersome, but almost everyone had a soft spot for her, Brooklyn included.

Even if she didn't despise them as much as her outward persona would sometimes suggest, spending the night with Nick, but surrounded by strangers, was just what she wanted. She was only tipsy now, her high tolerance a blessing and a curse, but she was in good enough spirits that if she did run into any of said three, she probably would be able to deal with it and maintain a good mood. "I wish you'd dress up like this more often," Brooklyn said through a smile, pulling on his bow tie playfully. "It's a good look for you. Roman, too. Where is that toolbag, anyway? If I catch him hooking up with some ugly slut and attempting to bring herpes back to your apartment, he'll end up in the pool again tonight, but this time fitting the Gatsby theme, I swear," she insisted, though the bitterness lasted only a second before she distracted herself with kissing Nick.​
 
"No, I know, I know," Ruby responded, nodding thoughtfully and stepping over Makayla's change in conversation for the moment. She was aware of how unique Holly's case was. It was one of the biggest reasons for why she had offered to take her on, after hearing Makayla complain about the male psychiatrist that their insurance plan had recommended them to. Even when you could find someone who had availability in the psych world, the likelihood that they accepted insurance was very slim (and Ruby was no exception to that, so she couldn't talk), and the likelihood that they actually took time with their patients was even slimmer. When it came to taking the time with her patients, Ruby did feel like she didn't skimp there. Maybe it was because she was still fairly new to the profession when compared to people who had been practicing for forty years and were likely reaching their burnout point, but she also just thoroughly enjoyed having a full picture of the children she was working with. She did talk therapy in addition to pharmacotherapy, something that many psychiatrists didn't offer, so she was never in a position where her clients were leaving before the end of their scheduled session to allow her to cram more patients in for the day. In fact, Ruby was at a point where she technically was no longer taking any new patients. She was comfortable with the amount of money her current clientele were bringing her, and she didn't want to overwhelm and overbook herself.

She didn't think that Makayla was trying to insinuate that she was treating Holly poorly, but she also felt like Makayla was underestimating how much she agreed with what she was saying. Of course she knew that Holly wasn't the kind of person who would be "cured" with medication. Holly was a sporadic sort of open book. Sometimes she would talk about past trauma without prompt, oftentimes inappropriately placed in the conversation they had been having, and other times, she wouldn't respond at all to Ruby's attempts at getting darker things out of her. She recognized that Holly needed therapy just as much, if not more, than she needed to be medicated, and Ruby was doing her best to provide that. However, Holly couldn't even eat a meal without getting up ten times to try to do other things, and she couldn't finish a sentence without starting a new one that related to a completely different topic. In order to be able to productively delve into her deep-rooted trauma, she needed to be at a point where her brain would allow her to address it. It wasn't healthy for her mind to be functioning the way it did, in just the biological sense. If medication could get her mind to slow down, she would at least have a chance at exploring her past and the things that had occurred that were potentially unknowingly influencing the way she behaved today.

"It's just that if she's not stable enough to sit down for ten minutes to eat without jumping up fifty times because things distract her, or if she can't finish a sentence because her mind is taking her other places, then therapy won't really be useful for her. If we can get her to a place where she has some sort of control over her head space, working through things will be so much more productive, you know? Like, even Chanel agreed earlier that she seems to almost be doing worse than she had been, lately. Maybe we can try the instant release Adderall instead. She would have to take it three times a day, but if she's taking her current stuff daily like she should be and it isn't helping, changing it up might be a good option." Her tone purposefully remained as light as she could keep it, as she didn't want to offend Makayla and also didn't want to ruin the night, but also felt like addressing this was kind of important. She smiled then, opting to... compromise, even if she knew it would make her uncomfortable. "I wouldn't ever smoke anything, I feel like I would be able to convince myself that I could feel every individual alveoli dying off with each breath," she explained with a laugh. "But I'll come and hang out while you guys do it, if that means anything." There was a potential that she would become hypoxic from not breathing in an attempt to not inhale any of it in a second hand manner, but Ruby also was half-banking on Makayla feeling like her more sober presence would kill the mood anyway and tell her it was fine.
 
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It was still amazing to Chanel how this did feel like a different time period. It was so on par, she was half expecting the stock market to crash the following morning. As she was led away from what used to be a guest house a mere twelve hours, leaving behind the acrobatic bartenders and velvet furniture, she was greeted with even more glamour. Hours into the party and she was still having a hard time not being completely awed by everything. On the lawn area just beyond the pool was a group of women dressed in flapper dresses and feathery head pieces, tossing around fiery batons. They were certainly dangerously close to the balloon displays, but given that there were literally dozens of them outside--and inside--it was virtually impossible to avoid.

"Tequila!" Devon clapped his hand atop the bar in declaration. He pointed his fingers in their direction, counting beneath his breath before turning to the bartender. "Seven, please; three of those for the birthday girl, and a...Bee's Knees to help wash it down. Is this a rotating menu or have I seriously managed to not get through the cocktail menu yet?" As they waited for their drinks, Dev turned to Cara, but looked around behind her and then behind himself. "That is...a good question. He's probably smoking or trying to gamble."

"He's really good with card...things. He wants to go to Vegas for their twenty-first because he's convinced he can come back with all our debts paid."

"Chanel, you know you can't say such things in front of Cara," Devon said--again, as if Cara was his friend. "I know debt is not in your vocabulary, please excuse her poor coming through. We're still training her." Chanel rolled her eyes and leaned her arm on the bar. She knew she didn't have anything to worry about, but it was hard to really let loose when she felt like she needed to make sure Dev didn't drown in the pool because he was deliriously drunk and got a leg cramp, and that Gabe didn't get shot in the chest for counting cards. If Devon wasn't such an idiot, she might have been able to relax a bit more, but the shots that were being placed before them actually did have her looking forward to rushing the process. Annoying as he might be, Devon was a good time.

"Don't talk to my friend like she's dumb."

Devon gasped incredulously. He placed an offended palm to his heart before straightening his suit jacket. "I would never. I, an upper middle class Wall Street tycoon, am simply translating. I also realize that an upper middle class Wall Street tycoon is not something that exists. Cara, please excuse our impoverishment jumping through so loudly."

"This, Cara! This is why I tell you to be grateful and kind to your little brother, because you only have one and he's not this." She waved her hand in an repeated upwards motion, referencing the idiot in front of her, who gave a pretend hair flip in response. When the drinks were ready--two lined up in front of Cara and her brother, three lined up in front of her--she wiggled her shoulders excitedly. "Okay, okay. I'm putting a lot of faith in this photographer because I don't plan on remembering any of this tomorrow."

After she downed the first one, she went for the lime, but Devon quickly grabbed her hand. "Take it like a champ!!" He cheered her on as she tossed back the other two, each one pulling a more distasteful facial expression. "One more, there we go!"

"That wasn't three already?!"

"No, sweetie. You're just clearly a lightweight." Devon quickly gave Cara a wink as Chanel turned away with her shot. He would take his chances with breaking whatever law there was in place against drugging people. In his defense, he knew how many shots of Tequila was needed for his sister, and a surprise shot was always nice for good measure. As he slid her cocktail towards her, she stamped her feet in a mini tantrum. "I'm going to be on my ass in, like, half an hour. I'm going to kill you!"

Devon didn't bother to respond, though he also didn't have much opportunity to before a group of girls was hugging Chanel from behind. While he didn't recognize them, the unison shrieking the lot did when Chanel turned around spoke either to how well Chanel knew these people, or how good the Tequila was.

"Yes, ponytail!"

"Come on, blue dress!"

"All right, lip. stick!"

"While she's distracted, there's no one on your floor that Gabriel shouldn't be hanging out with, right? I've met her roommates, and...I'm assuming there are others? I might have ran into them, but I can't say for sure."​
 
Makayla was receptive to what Ruby was saying. She didn't mind advice from Ruby anymore, but there were still times like now, where she couldn't help but to feel like Ruby just didn't get it. At the same time, Makayla didn't like to think of herself as being easily triggered. She was really making an effort to believe that most people acted with good intentions, even if it wasn't what a life's worth of history had proven to her. Ruby was different, and she was genuine, and she had been extremely helpful to Makayla over the past few months. From watching Holly for weeks with no notice and no compensation, to advocating for her in the school system and ensuring accommodations were provided (that Makayla had requested time and time again in the past with no success), to getting Holly on SSI and allowing Makayla some breathing room in their monthly budget...she had done more than Makayla could thank her for. By now, she recognized that Ruby wasn't secretly out to undermine her character or ability to take care of Holly. She truly wanted to help, even if the way she approached it rubbed Makayla the wrong way some times. Right now, for instance, it took Makayla a moment to pause to keep herself from asking Ruby why she and Chanel felt inclined to discuss Holly. She would have let Ruby know that if Holly was such a bother, she would make sure she stopped interacting with them. They didn't need to be observing Holly or taking the time to analyze whether she was doing better or worse (even if it wasn't so much of analyzing as it was just interacting with her daily). It was easy to become defensive and want to believe that people were saying things will ill intentions, and Makayla was trying to break that habit, despite how hard it was. If Ruby wanted to adjust her medication regimen, so be it. Makayla wasn't a doctor. Did she think that it was realistic that she would be able to keep to a schedule of feeding Holly pills three times a day instead of one? No, but she wasn't going to argue about it. As always, she'd do her best and just attempt to roll with it.

"Didn't they teach y'all the medicinal qualities of marijuana back in school?" she asked in a playful manner, though she was mildly curious. Makayla wasn't the type of person who cared at all about what other people did or didn't do. In fact, Ruby not being a smoker made life easier for Makayla, because it meant that she didn't ever feel compelled to share her small stashes with her, when she had it. She still figured that someone in the medical field who was apparently so educated should know just how politicized the plant really was, and how widely the benefits of it could aid the patients of those in the medical field. "I'll just ask Nick for a little. I don't have to smoke it with him, and then maybe we can go down to the water or something and chill for a little? I'm sure he's with Brooklyn anyway." Nick's earlier proposition of smoking on the beach still sounded nice, and even though he was the best kind of person to smoke with simply because of how chill he was, she preferred Ruby's company. She knew Nick wouldn't mind having Ruby there, but she also knew it would be less awkward for everyone if it was just the two of them. Before she could begin to text him though, Roman approached them. Normally, she would have just smiled in passing and kept it at that, but he approached her in a way that signaled he was purposely coming their way, so she offered a "Hey," as she slowed her pace.​
 
Nick drove a hard bargain without even realizing it. Roman chose to stick around and smoke with him and Makayla simply because it was a nice spot and the idea of trekking all the way back to the city without a little buzz was a painful one. Unsurprisingly, Roman was no stranger to Nick's product, nor the quality of it. Perhaps that was why he wasn't drooling at the selection Nick told him about, or maybe it was because he was sure he had completely ruined his tolerance from smoking so much. It could be considered cheating to some, but weed was really what got him through the hangups of going cold turkey. He didn't need it for those purposes anymore, but sometimes he smoked more than he needed or even being wanted to because the habit of consuming something on the regular was not one he had shaken. While still something that lingered, that tick was becoming more and more infrequent. He was confident that he wouldn't be hit the way he did, so maybe his tolerance really had dropped or he simply forgot how good Nick's stuff was, but he still rode a good high for the better part of the day. Outside of the time spent losing his phone--that he always had in his pocket--and realizing that it was dead upon finding it, and that he needed to get a charger to charge it so that he could call an Uber to go home--because Nick or Makayla with their smartphones obviously weren't an option--he found himself also losing his window of opportunity to leave because of the time spent retrieving the wallet he had apparently lost last night. When he finally did get his phone charged, a coworker who was at the company party the other night gave him a ring and informed him of the lost item. Despite not being too far from Cara's place, the trip took two hours longer than it needed to. While it was quite the tale on its own, the largest wins was that he got his wallet, and a suit that he wouldn't be caught dead wearing under any other circumstances. For starters, Roman had too much pride to accept something like that--from a coworker no less--even if it was needed for an event he actually did want to attend. Secondly, cobalt and velvet were two things that didn't exist anywhere near the realm of his formal attire.

He coasted on the tail end of his high through a couple of drinks. He was still feeling nice and fuzzy enough to where he didn't need to top off, but a smoke break in the midst of all the festivities also felt like an opportunity that needed to be seized. Roman, fortunately, had not been dumb enough to touch the Blackout brownies that Nick brought. He was, however, dumb enough to save that for later on in the night. He wasn't ready to black out just yet. The party had been going strong for a few hours, and stronger yet, but even he didn't want to turn in too soon. Some of it could be due in part to the assistance he had in not feeling so tightly wound and anxious, but even Roman wasn't so cold and stern that literal acrobats were bartending in what used to be the guest house. This would have been his third attempt to search for Nick, getting distracted by something or someone along the way. This time, he headed away from the old timey car that everyone was using as a photo op and sent Nick a text.

When he spotted Makayla, he typically would have gone about his business without really acknowledging her, but he was feeling good, and she was basically a friendly associate for the next couple of hours, or until he was sober again. Whichever came first. Even now, he wouldn't have really done anything besides acknowledge her, but because they had smoked together earlier, he figured she might want to join in this time around too. He locked eyes with her and gave her a short head nod. "Oi oi." When he closed the gap between them, he fell in line with the way she was walking, which also happened to be the way he was going. "You haven't seen Nick by chance, have you? Come find him with me." He pinched the air between his fingers and raised them to his lips. "Unless you're good--" It was then that he saw Ruby. His eyes narrowed for a second, wondering why she was standing so close to them, before he realized that this was Ruby. He tilted his head back and laughed. "Rubes! I didn't even recognize you, mate. Could I be honest with you, though? Sometimes I forget you even live in the apartment. Oi, don't you two share a flat?" He placed his hand over his mouth, gradually answering his own question, and nodded. "With Chanel, right. I always thought Cara, Collin, and Brooklyn were the strangest pairings. You've got em beat. At least you and Chanel have someone to keep Holly company because I can look at you and tell you don't take anything besides vitamins." Roman wasn't trying to be a dick, but you couldn't always smoke your way into a new personality. For those who knew Roman well enough, it was well intended enough, especially if it was considered how that statement would have been phrased if he was sober. As was typical of him, he was stranger adverse, and between the two, Ruby was that strange figure. It made Makayla seem more endearing, if for no other reason than because she was the familiar party. "You're missing out. This girl's tolerance is a sight to behold."​
 
Nick considered himself to be a pretty simple guy, if for no reason other than that it didn't take much to entertain him. He was typically content just existing. He could spend the day watching TV, getting high, sleeping, drinking a few beers and eating leftovers and still consider it to be time well spent. He did enjoy things that more people would find to be enjoyable, like going to art museums, or concerts, or sporting events, but he didn't need those things to fulfill his desires for fun.

He had never been to a Gatsby themed party before, and outside of Halloween parties, he couldn't recall ever going to any party that was themed to an extent where you had to dress up to fit the mold. In truth, had you asked him if he wanted to go to a Gatsby themed party back at home, at someone else's apartment or even an event venue, he would have passed. If Brooklyn insisted, he would have went begrudgingly, but it just didn't seem like his thing. Apparently, that was only because he had never been to a party thrown by Cara. The location in itself was still enough to leave Nick in awe, but the way that they had transformed an already magnificent estate into something that was so cool it could have been the set of a movie was something else. He had never seen "The Great Gatsby" movie before, nor had he read the book. It might have been assigned back in high school, as Brooklyn claimed it "must have been", but Nick had never been much of a studious kid. He wasn't dumb, and he wasn't oppositional or defiant, but if he didn't want to do something, he wasn't going to do it. If anything though, he chalked it up to laziness back then. He was the kind of kid who spent most of his classes with his hood pulled up over his head, and his head resting in his arms against the desk. His teachers gave up on chastising him for sleeping through their classes eventually, and Nick was content with just barely getting by with the minimal work he put in. He didn't regret it, even today. He still believed that school didn't make people smart, and that investing in an education was stupid. Life experiences were worth more. There wasn't a teacher or textbook that could teach you street smarts and common sense, and school smarts meant nothing if you didn't have those two.

Needless to say, Brooklyn's remark that compared Roman's potential fate to the grim fate that Gatsby met went over Nick's head. He knew that the story related to the Roaring Twenties and was about some rich guy, but that was just about where his knowledge on the topic ended. Considering the party's meticulous attention to detail, he didn't really need to know anything more than that anyway. It seemed like every corner you turned, there was a new sight to be seen that was more spectacular than the last. Brooklyn seemed to be amazed by it too, which was good, because she was in a good mood, but also had Nick convinced that she would compare their wedding to this one day and expect him to somehow be able to shell out a trillion dollars for the party. Even so, he appreciated the night so far. Brooklyn was so beautiful that she didn't even need to dress up to prove it, but when she did, it just reminded Nick of how out of his league she was. She was mesmerizing to look at, and the way that her eyes lit up when she laughed or smiled made it impossible for Nick to not do the same. He had half a mind to pull her back to the main house right now just to rip that dress off, but he was pushing to be patient, since the night would end that well either way, and putting it off gave them time to enjoy this once in a lifetime party.

"I haven't seen him in a while," Nick remarked once Brooklyn finally pulled away from him. They began towards one of the bars, where Nick ordered a Bees Knees cocktail for Brooklyn, and a Manhattan for himself. As they strolled through the party, still enchanted by the performers and acrobats and just the setting as a whole, he asked, "You think I should ask Chanel if she wants some coke? Since it's her birthday party, and all?" He was half-certain that he could convince Brooklyn to do it too, which seemed like a fun idea.​
 

elijah king

location Ruby's friend's birthday party

tag lauren. lauren. and cure cure

Elijah had been surprised when he had seen Ruby's name show up on his phone screen earlier in the day. He knew her from back in high school, when he dated one of her friends, and still considered her to be a friend to this day. They weren't attached at the hip and he could go months without talking to her and not think twice about it, but she was that kind of truly good person who never made it difficult to pick up right where they had left off the last time. Elijah found it easy to get along with a variety of different kinds of people, so even if he couldn't shotgun beers with Ruby, he could still enjoy time spent with her. They would ocassionally get dinner together or see a movie, and he enjoyed hearing about her life. She was a brilliant girl and had such a good heart, too. She was the kind of person who supported her friends no matter what. She had been there at the grand opening of his bar, even though he hadn't expected her to show up, and just in general, she made it clear that she put her friends before herself. Even if she wasn't the first person who he would call if he was in trouble, it was nice knowing that he could call her if he ever needed someone, knowing that she would always be there for him.

He had always felt like she was too kind to him, actually. It wasn't that he had ever done anything wrong to her, but he just sometimes felt like such a sinner sitting next to someone so saint-like. With that in mind, he knew that he couldn't say no when he texted her months ago explaining that she was lying to her parents about them dating. It was something that he laughed off at the time, mostly because it didn't require anything out of him. She said she had sent them his picture, and that was really the end of it. When she texted him today, he had honestly forgotten about the entire ruse until she brought it up, explaining that she desperately needed him to come play the part tomorrow at some family event. Considering that he was already in the Hamptons for a friend's wedding, there was no reason not to help. Family events were usually awkward as it was with a significant other, and Elijah had no doubt that one with a fake significant other would be even more awkward, but he was usually pretty decent about playing it cool in those situations. He rarely let things get under his skin, and he was comfortable with making small talk with strangers. After all of the years of knowing Ruby and her having his back, it was the least he could do for her, so he agreed to meet up with her tonight, sleep over, and head over to her parents' place in the morning.

She said that they friend she was staying with was hosting a big party tonight, which he was down to attend. He had drank himself into near liver toxicity the night before, but he rebounded and was good to go. As he sat in the Uber on the way to the address Ruby sent him, he called Harlow, the general manager of his bar. She was more than just an employee though; the two had hooked up on more than one occasion, but they both seemed to see it as just something stupid that happened when they were drunk. It wasn't deep, and besides, Harlow had just started dating one of the new bartenders there. It was whatever. Eli was pressed over it.

"Boy, what are you bothering me for this time?" she asked immediately upon answering the phone. The muffled sound of people and music in the background was a good sign. He didn't really have a reason to be calling other than to make sure that everything was okay, and that the place was burning down. He knew it wasn't; it never did when he took a day off before, but he spent a lot of his time there, and just felt compelled to obsessively check in when he wasn't there.

"Just checking in. Is it busy?"

"Too busy for me to be wasting time talking to you, yeah."

"Did everyone on the schedule show up?"

"Yeah. Zaria wants to know when you're going to train her behind the bar."

"I'm not about to get shut down for her, so I hope she's joking. Send me a picture of the numbers when you get a second, and before you close, too."

Their conversation ended just a few minutes before the Uber driver pulled into a huge estate. All the houses in this area made mansion seem like an understatement, but what he was pulling up to now seemed like a whole different ball game. Maybe the fact that there were so many people there, even just outside in front where he was pulling up to, made it seem all the more grand.

To: Ruby Barr
Hey, I'm here. How do I find you?

He wasn't just going to stand out front, waiting for Ruby to answer, and instead, ventured inside of the house that truly seemed like it could have been a replica of the one he had seen in The Great Gatsby movie. There were people hanging from the ceiling doing acrobatics, musicians that looked like they came straight out of the 20's playing music. He passed by a cigar rolling station, and watched as people rejoiced over a win at a roulette wheel. Somehow he ended up with an Old Fashioned drink, but he didn't object to it being handed to him by a server who, similarly, looked straight out of a time period from a century ago. This party put the wedding he had been at to shame, and that said something, considered just how great that had been,

It didn't really bother Eli that he didn't know anyone here. He knew that he would find Ruby eventually, and until then, he made himself comfortable with drinking his drink and exploring the party. There was so much to see that he was able to finish his first drink without even making a dent into everything that there probably was to be fascinated by. He found himself outside within a few minutes, and approached what appeared to be a bar. It was surrounded by people cheering over someone taking shots, and Eli waited for it to die down before slipping through to place his own order. "Three shots of tequila in one go?" he said to the girl, eyeing her with playful suspicion and a hint of approval in his tone. "Seems like a tall order for someone who looks like she works a runway for a living, but I won't hate," he commented with a small laugh. "I'll take whatever she had...plus one more," he said to the bartender, when it was his turn to order.


coded by weldherwings.
 
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Cara laughed as Chanel and her brother went back and forth. She didn't think anything of Chanel insisting that only having to deal with Collin was better than having to deal with her twin brothers. Even though the two versus one argument prevailed, Cara still wasn't convinced that even the two of them tag teaming together could be any more annoying than Collin could be. At least Chanel's brothers annoyed her in an outright manner. Collin, on the other hand, was just annoying by merely existing sometimes. He didn't have to say anything or do anything stupid; she could just feel the stupidity coming off of him as if it was airborne. Cara found Chanel's brothers to be entertaining, though she couldn't say that she knew either of them very well at all. In fact, outside of being introduced to them a few times in person, she didn't think that she had truly spent enough time to get to know either of them to have much of an opinion on them. Devon seemed energetic enough to embody that same charisma Chanel had, and the other one seemed a bit more removed, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Three shots of tequila mid-evening never did anyone much good, but Cara also didn't find herself telling Devon that Chanel needed to pace herself. It was her birthday party! The point was to blackout. Cara wouldn't deem it a success if Chanel woke up tomorrow feeling even remotely well. "Um..." Cara paused at Devon's question to think. It wasn't a pause that was meant to be suggestive of what the answer to his question truly was, and was justified given the amount of time her brain needed to think remotely straight right now. If he already knew Makayla and wasn't turned off by that, then... well, Cara didn't think they had anything to worry about with the other ones. Sure, Nick was a violent drug dealer who assaulted people for no reason; Roman was an ex-heroin addict with an unappealing persona; and Brooklyn was a vile sex worker, but, other than that... yeah, they were pretty much harmless. If anyone had anything to worry about, it was probably Cara, because their inability to act like civilized human beings would probably end in half of her family's precious belongings ending up on Facebook Marketplace, or wherever thieves went to sell their stolen goods. It wasn't even something that Cara would think to consider though right now, so she shrugged to Devon. "I mean, they're all pretty harmless. They're not people that I would enjoy hanging out with, but it's her birthday, and you know how she's too friendly," she rationalized, opting to blame them being here fully on Chanel while she was still distracted with her friends.

Cara didn't even notice the guy that came up on the other side of Chanel until he was already leaning over and talking to her. He was cute, or else Cara would have hit him with an "Excuse me, but no. Just no. No one wants to talk to you, no one wants to hear what you have to say, no one wants you in our personal space, so please do us all a favor and move along.". He looked familiar, but not to a point where Cara could actually place it. She ended up concluding that he was one of Chanel's friends, or a friend of a friend, that she had seen in an Instagram photo, or something. She couldn't look to Devon to share her excitement because what brother would be giddy watching a guy flirt with their older sister, and the sister part of her wanted to shoo him away in the same way she would do to Collin it he was standing by while she flirted with some guy. She wouldn't do that though, but instead of giving Chanel any space either, she took her shot and requested another two and a glass of water from the bartender. "One more?" she said, pushing one towards Devon once they were served.
 
Makayla didn't expect Roman to approach them with as much vivacity as he did. He wasn't bouncing off the walls, and considering who Makayla shared a room with, she was no stranger to energy, but because Roman's personality was typically subdued, if not unwelcoming and abrasive, it was a noteworthy shift. Makayla didn't doubt that he was more likable in the company of his friends, but she didn't know him well enough to really be privy to that side. Perhaps it was surprising, considering that she had went on vacation with this man, but Makayla and Roman were both similar in that they typically minded their own business. Makayla had enough to worry about on that trip, and in her daily life living just a few doors down from him, to really care to get to know him, and he seemed to feel the same way about her. If anything, she appreciated him for being more than content with just receiving a nod or small smile in passing over demanding an actual energy-invoking friendship. There was no need for anything more, and both seemed to realize that. Considering all of that, it did strike her as odd when he approached them and began to talk and even joke, but she could brush it off as just being related to the energy of the party and alcohol. She, too, didn't sit in her shell 24/7. A few shots of Patron and Makayla could talk up a storm too.

Had she been alone, she probably would have agreed to go off to find Nick with Roman. It had been what she had been planning on doing anyway with Ruby, but Ruby being here made her feel like it probably wasn't the best choice to do with Roman. She was already pushing her luck and Ruby's comfort level by wanting to smoke around her at all, so expecting Ruby to be comfortable doing that around others seemed a bit unfair. Ruby was an adult and could exist on her own for a while, obviously, but Makayla didn't want to be selfish. Ruby had just spent the entire evening humoring Holly and keeping her company (and sane), so pushing her to the side so she could go get high didn't seem like the right move. Makayla wanted to get high over getting drunk, but she would take what she could get because it wasn't like the latter was a bad option either.

"Enough of a tolerance that I think I need to take a t-break," she responded with a laugh. "I think I'm probably just gonna drink for the rest of the night, but he's not in the main house if that's of any help to you," she offered. She didn't know for a fact that he wasn't in there, actually. Considering how large the house was and how much of it Makayla hadn't even seen, Nick and Brooklyn easily could have been inside. She supposed that Brooklyn would have came out complaining though, if they had been in their bedroom, with the way that Holly had been running through the halls talking loudly enough that Helen Keller would have been able to hear her. Since Roman did seem to be in a more friendly mood, Makayla cracked a smile herself. "What's it like, having to play third wheel to those two, anyway? How'd you get tangled up in that...loving relationship?" she joked, making note of a bar in the distance and slowly starting towards it. She knew that Brooklyn, Roman, and Nick had known each other before moving into the building that allowed Makayla to meet them, but she wasn't sure she had ever actually heard the story on why they were all friends, or if they had been childhood friends or something. For all Makayla knew, Roman could have been Brooklyn's cousin. ​
 
While her brother whispered with Cara, Chanel was fully distracted in the excitement from seeing her friends. She didn't know they were coming, not because she was holding her breath on it, but rather because she couldn't keep track of who and where the invites went to. This party was basically a surprise party, and it was filled with a bunch of people she also didn't know. It was actually an aspect that she liked, and it only made it all the more enjoyable when it allowed for moments like this. As she gave a twirl for the girls, it would seem that these were her best friends, but in reality that wasn't really the case. In fact, it was just a classic case of a mutual-turned-friend. It was actually quite a shock that Chanel hadn't ended up with her face on a milk carton with the number of times she went to kickbacks with people she only knew on a user handle basis.

As she sipped her cocktail, listening to the girls banter with each other, she turned her head towards the guy that had appeared next to her. She rolled her eyes, albeit with a bit of amusement. "It's actually the secret sauce to a perfect catwalk." This certainly wasn't the first time she had been likened to the model world. Chanel liked to brush it off, mainly because that seemed her only option. She wasn't ignorant to the similarities she shared with the girls who walked in New York Fashion Week, but even she knew it would seem pretty arrogant to claim that. Funnily enough, modeling was something that her parents were intensely strict about. The only professional photoshoot she was allowed in was that for school pictures and family portraits. It was the one thing that allowed her to sleep at night despite thinking that she was the family failure: at least she wasn't trying to make it as a model. "That, and watching a lot of Top Model." While her parents had squashed any dreams she had of being the next Naomi Campbell, she did have many a practice session in her bedroom and credited her catwalk more to the lessons of Tyra Banks than any genetic lottery.

"You're one to talk, but I'll give you a more original occupation." She sipped pensively on her cocktail, eyeing what few stars she could see against all of the lights. "Ooh, ooh. I know! You look like the African doctor my family is always telling me to marry." Only through her father's side did she have deep American roots, and even then that was only through her grandfather. It was still very much a normal thing for her family to visit their family in Morocco, and there was still a strong encouragement for her to settle with someone who also had close African roots. That was the gold standard, but so long as he was Black, her parents would be happy. Bringing someone like this guy home would probably heal over all the wounds she'd left her parents with from bringing home white boys. She looked around in search for her brother before she spotted him behind her, his expression a lot less cheery than it was before Elijah showed up. It was a correlation that Chanel didn't pick up on as she barely even registered his change in demeanor. "Dev, Dev. Isn't this Dad's son-in-law?" She placed her palm beneath Elijah's jaw as though she was presenting him.

Dev agreed to another shot, but he was partially distracted at the bar. He wasn't a macho overprotective brother by any means, but just like Chanel felt a need to look after him and Gabe, he also felt a need to watch her eye. He didn't like that this guy seemed to appear out of nowhere right after Chanel had downed all those shots, but there was also a large part of him that just didn't like seeing guys flirt with his sister. Some of it wasn't even being protective. It actually was pretty annoying when it seemed like Chanel was either being praised by their parents or some guy. Normally he would have just rolled his eyes at Chanel and perhaps encouraged her to stop being such a hoe, but this actually seemed a good thing to play along with. If a girl he met five seconds ago started talking about marrying into the family, he would dip with a quickness. Of course, he didn't overhear what actually led to this being the topic at hand anyway, and knowing Chanel it wasn't anything serious. Plus, it was hard to deny. The guy was basically a walking Black Ken doll. God Bless any guy Chanel seriously brought home, but this dude actually would have a pretty good head start. "Who's bringing him home?" he asked incredulously. Upon seeing Chanel's stern expression, he said, "Maybe if he was a little uglier or you were a little hotter. But I can see where you're going. He's definitely hot enough to make Mom and Dad forgive you for not finishing school."

"Coming from the guy who couldn't even get into a state school."

"I'm sorry, how many Ivy acceptances do you have?"

"Don't ask to crash on my couch again neither."

"I'm moving in with Cara, so joke's on you."

Chanel stamped her hand in the air towards Devon as she turned to Cara. "Cara, my friend, please give your input. Isn't he giving you doctor vibes?" She turned to Elijah then, pinching her chin in thought. "You know what? I'm getting drummer vibes too."​
 
Elijah didn't realize that the boy standing beside them was this girl's brother, or else he probably wouldn't have attempted to make a move. Actually, scratch that--one up and down glance at her the second she briefly turned her head away from him, and yeah, he still would have made a move. She was fine as hell. He momentarily lost connection with the present conversation, his mind tuning in the sounds of the music, background conversation, and general party sounds as he checked her out. He honed himself back in before it was too obvious that he was gawking at her, and he chuckled at the comment about being a doctor, since that was all he had really caught before his mind had been hijacked by impure thoughts. "Nah, my parents would be liking me a whole lot better if I was a doctor," he retorted. The comment reminded him of Ruby. He still didn't get why her parents cared about whether she was dating someone or not. He got the whole homophobic thing, because some parents were just like that whether you liked it or not, but why did they care about her being single? She was a doctor. That was successful enough to justify chilling from the rest of life's responsibilities for a decade or two. Then again, he also understood the whole parents wanting grand kids thing, and he could only thank the lord that he had the absence of a biological clock working in his favor in that regard. It was one thing that his parents couldn't hound him about. "Minus wiping out their 401ks with an email hoax, I can be the Nigerian Prince they never dreamed about you bringing home, though," he added playfully.

"Oh hey, what's good, Caraline?" What could he say, Elijah had a knack for being able to put a name to a face. He didn't know Caraline Forrester well at all. In fact, he didn't even realize that this was his house. How he knew Cara... he wasn't even really sure. She was years younger than him, and yet he still knew who she was, though clearly not well enough to realize that she didn't go by her full name. Eli hadn't been raised in the same glitzy world that she had been raised in, despite coming from a decent amount of success, but he was friends with people who had, and it seemed like once you entered those circles, everyone knew everyone. Caraline Forrester wasn't the type of person to be recognizable on the streets to strangers, but then again, neither would Georgina Bloomberg or Mary Julia Koch. Like them, her name held a level of recognition within the world that they were raised in. Even if you didn't go to school in the same year as them, you knew who they were, and for some absurdly shallow reason, you felt lucky to brush shoulders with them at an event or two. While he hadn't been expecting to see someone he knew from back in the day here, it also wasn't shocking considering that this was a party for Ruby's friend. Ruby and the girls that Elijah knew through his ex had attended the same school as Cara did, and even with the age gap, intermingling among them didn't surprise him. His parents were never really about that scene, probably because they didn't have that much money to invest, or a role in an industry where ass-kissing was essential, but he was aware of how frequently parents meddled in their kids' social lives for their own benefits. There were expectations to befriend certain people if a mutual basketball team practice could turn into parents casually talking business on the sidelines. It was just how that world worked and Eli had witnessed many relationships that were based off of nothing but that.

"Small world," he nodded, looking back at Chanel, and only somewhat incorrectly assuming that she was part of the whole friend group he now associated with Cara and Ruby. "Before those shots hit you, will you bless me with your knowledge and show me where the food's at in this place? With the way she went all out for this party, I'm counting on the birthday girl to have come through with some good food." He tipped his three shots down his throat in a nonchalant manner. Owning a bar meant that the sight, smell, and taste of tequila was of second nature by now. Only the cheap stuff bothered his throat, and this definitely wasn't cheap. Elijah had no idea that Chanel was the birthday girl that he was referring to, but it was a good thing that he was impressed by the party (and rightfully so), because his game would've been outright cancelled if he had accidentally badmouthed the party to the girl is was being thrown for. He was hungry, but he also didn't want those shots to hit this girl. He didn't even know her, but he knew enough about alcohol to know that three shots on top of whatever she had already consumed would make her drunk, and if Elijah wanted to score tonight (which he most definitely did because--just look at her!), he couldn't have her getting wasted. At least not before he got a taste.

Interacting with: cure cure lauren. lauren. ​
 
Cara took her shot but nursed it by sipping her glass of water after. Two shots of tequila was probably going to do her in, given that she was already feeling pretty light, but the fact that she was responsible enough to force herself to have some water was hopeful. She giggled as Chanel and her brother went back and forth, momentarily forgetting about the guy whose presence had caused the sibling bickering, until he addressed her. The look on her face as he called her by her name spoke to how confused she was. She knew that he looked familiar, but she had no idea what his name was, nor did she know where she knew him from. As she looked at him, really trying to wrack her brain for where she recognized the face from, she concluded that he definitely must have been one of Chanel's friends. She had probably seen him on Chanel's Instagram or Snapchat, maybe even at her Valentine's Day party. To a sober person, that conclusion wouldn't have made sense considering how Chanel was addressing him as a stranger, someone who was new and fascinating, but Cara wasn't putting two and two together right now.

This man being Chanel's friend was a good thing, though! Even if he had thrown Cara off guard slightly by remembering her without her being able to say the same, it was a good thing that he was familiar. He was incredibly attractive, and the familiarity aspect just meant that Cara wouldn't have to worry about him preying upon Chanel. Granted, even drunk, there was still a part of Cara that felt compelled to drill him a little bit, just to make sure he wasn't some jerk looking to get lucky tonight with the birthday girl just to brag about it to his loser friends. Especially when alcohol was involved, it was hard to trust men, familiar or not. Chanel was drop dead gorgeous which only added another layer of protection into it, because even if this guy failed in his attempts to woo her, some other guy would be waiting along to try it just the same. Again, considering that this was a party that was mostly filled with people Chanel knew, Cara didn't have to be too worried, and she wasn't worried, necessarily, but still. The takeaway on Cara's part was that this man being Chanel's friend meant that he had some level of responsibility to act decently, and since Cara already approved of him appearance and physique wise, she was all for whatever this conversation led to--and she did hope that it would lead somewhere. This night needed to end with bang, literally and figuratively in this instance.

"Hiiii," Cara responded, her quirked eyebrow still expressing how confused she was in a more transparent way than she realized. "Ooooh, yes. Go show him the food, babe!" she insisted to Chanel, reaching out to squeeze the girl's forearm as she gave her an expressive "ooooooh, he likes you!!!" kind of look. "And if he wants something different, tell them to whip something up in the main house," she added, only because she wanted to push these two into private quarters more quickly than was necessary. "And in the meantime, I'll have Belvedere with Fillico," she said, looking back to the bartender. Chanel finding her man (or Cara inventing the idea that Chanel had found her man), had Cara thinking back to her friends, whose locations were now unknown to her. She had no idea where her phone was either, which wasn't great. For all she knew, the idea that it was inside the house charging was just as likely as it being at the bottom of the pool right now. "Come!" she said, looking to Chanel's brother with an intrigued smile once her drink was made. "I want to introduce you to people! Tell me about your 'type' of girls." ​
 
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