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Realistic or Modern City Living

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“You’re right, she’s way out of your league,” Nick nodded, chuckling after he dropped the serious facade. It wasn’t a lie, but it also probably wasn’t why Roman felt like the suggestion had been so outlandish. He accepted Roman’s phone to skim the menu, and clicked to start an online order on the website because yeah, this would work. It would win him brownie points too, once Brooklyn assumed Nick had remembered her mentioning it at some point. “Bro, what the fuck is an Andouille Sausage?” Nick asked, completely mispronouncing “Andouille” in the process. “And a catfish? Bro, what...?” It would be harder to rationalize why Nick would have been so perplexed by what a catfish might be, but for whatever reason, his brain had him envisioning a half-cat, half-fish creature.

He was dumb, but beyond that, like Roman, Nick wasn’t huge on seafood. He liked lobster, and he didn’t mind some things, at least once they were fried, but you wouldn’t catch him shoveling mussels down his throat. ‘That shit is gay as hell,’ he remembered having said at a restaurant once, as the guy at a table beside he and Brooklyn shoveled those slimy things down his throat like he did it regularly. He ordered Brooklyn a couple of things, knowing they could share if she didn’t want it, and chicken wings, Hawaiian rolls, fried shrimp, and fries for himself, before handing the phone back to Roman. “I’ll get you when we get back,” he said, deciding that the food better be good as hell for the subtotal to be $90. He handed the phone back to Roman. “Put it in for pickup, we can get it on the way,” he said. They were only ten minutes or so away.

“But that just leaves Cara,” he said, smirking as he jumped back to their earlier conversation. “I’m not gonna say that hooking up with her was worth it,” he said, because it wasn’t. His smirkgrew a tad though, as he added, “But I also wouldn’t blame you for going there, especially since you don’t have a Brooklyn.” By that, he really just meant “a girlfriend”.​
 
Chanel just so happened to lock eyes with Dominique while she was watching Elijah walk by. Her eyes actually continued past the girl for just a second before looking back to her and offering a smile when she realized she had looked right through her. Chanel's eyes widened a bit as Dominique approached her, but in pleasant surprise. The best she could offer on the brink was a laugh and a "Hi!" in the amount of time she had to process things before Elijah showed up again. Chanel actually loved vibrant personalities like Dominique's because it always seemed like they were hard to come by. "It's super cute!" Chanel said in response to Dominique. She wouldn't have any stalled on the love-of-his-life part if Elijah hadn't intervened, and even then she knew the girl was just being silly. It was nice to know that Chanel wasn't the only one gushing—not that she was gushing. "Wait, wait," Chanel began, extending her hand towards Elijah as she looked back towards Dominique. "I want to hear about all the gossiping you've been doing and get to know the real you. Like, have you actually ever had his grilled cheese? Because he keeps hyping it up."

Elijah groaned internally. Dominique was annoying, and he was suuuuure that with an audience now, that would be amplified. Yeah, she was just teasing him, but still! He didn't need her doing that right now! Before she even opened her mouth, Elijah knew he was going to be dragged for his grilled cheese claim to fame, and she didn't disappoint.

"That's your pickup line?" Dominique said, looking to him as if she were about the laugh. She turned her head to Harlow, who was a few feet away handing a drink to a customer. "Harlow, he told Chanel that he knows how to cook!" she exclaimed, with a laugh, as if it was the funniest thing she had heard.

"Correction--I cook for people I like. That's why neither of y'all would know a damn thing about my grilled cheese!" Elijah interjected, looking between Dominique and Harlow, who had an amused smirk painted on her face now too.

"Sure, sure," Dominique insisted, though she gave Chanel a quick Kelly Kapoor look. "Let me make you two lovebirds drinks!" Elijah opened his mouth to speak, but Dominique held a hand to him, as her eyes remained on Chanel. With a smile, she asked, "What can I get you, Chanel? I want to hear about how you guys met! Elijah bragged about you, but was being secretive about some of it!"

Chanel wasn't really sure what she was in the mood for. She didn't want anything too serious, and she didn't feel like bothering to give it much thought, but she also didn't want to order something weird. She really wanted something kind of brunchy and juvenile like a daquiri, but that did seem more rooftop-esque and less millenial classy-casual like Elijah's place. "What about a lemon drop martini? Is it super embarrassing to ask for a sugar rim?" It was kind of Chanel's thing to ask for the rim of her drink to be sugared regardless of if it was a margarita. It made the drink more fun!

Chanel looked at Elijah for a moment. "What were you being secretive about?" she asked with a slight laugh before looking over to Dom again. She hadn't taken notice of Harlow not too far away, namely because Dominique was stealing the show. "It was pretty straight forward. We met at my birthday party last week, hung out a bit, and..." She turned her eyes up, trying to think before smirking and shrugging as she was drawing a blank. Chanel shook her head. "That's it!" She looked at Elijah incredulously and with amusement. Now she wanted to know how they met because clearly he was quite the storyteller. "What else is there?"

It was apparent in both Elijah and Harlow's immediate eye rolls and groans that this wasn't the first time that Dominique had used that phrase. Her intent was to request that someone who was standing closer to the sugar would do her a favor and coat a glass rim with the sugar for a drink she was making. Even after both Eli and Harlow explained why that wasn't the way to say it, Dominique hadn't washed her vocabulary of the phrase. By now though, it was likely that she said it more to bother them than of a simple slip of the mind. "This is why I wouldn't give you her social media," Elijah shook his head. "Because clearly y'all can't be trusted to not be embarrassing me by just existing." He looked to Chanel to reason, "That was the only thing I was being 'secretive' about, and yeah, I guess that sounds right..." His eyes suddenly lit up a beat later though. "She thought I was a Nigerian Prince," he volunteered as he turned back to Dominique, looking pleased with himself as if he was filling in a very important gap in the story. She was missing that part! He was tempted to jokingly add in how she was also forgetting about how she was all over him from the start, but he wasn't going to push it, especially when he knew damn well that Dominique would laugh in his face. "Oh, and what about the part when I took advantage of you and your friend?!" he added with a smirk. Yeah, he was the one gossiping and gushing over her apparently, but it wasn't like she was all mum about it to her people either! He looked to Dominique then, explaining, "Chanel had her whole white boy body guard squad show up here a few minutes ago with the intentions of jumping me!"

Dominique didn't know what friend Elijah was talking about, and she was confused about what he was saying all together, really, because... what? Someone tried to jump him? White body body guards? Nigerian Prince? Okay, then...? However, the word "friend" in the context of this girl instantly brought the blonde one to her mind! Dominique couldn't recall her name, but they had spent nearly an hour on shift the other day, after Elijah went home, Googling her and debating whether Elijah had actually been invited to her home, or was just bullshitting. "Not wanting to show us her social media was sketchy!" Dominique reasoned. "We Googled your friend for like an hour the other day trying to find you through her but her Insta was private. If I had twenty billion dollars to my name, my Insta would be to diiiieeeee for and I would want every bitch out there to see I was richer than them!"

Elijah was still a Nigerian prince as far as she was concerned. He was to fine to be anything but. She massaged her temple when he brought Nick and Roman back up. "You're not going to let that one go, are you?" Granted, it had just happened, but Chanel was in such a rush to move past that because it was embarrassing and she didn't know enough about what was going on to fully advocate for herself without making things sound even more dramatic. As if she needed to be any more of a turn off today. At first Chanel wasn't sure what friend Dominique was referring to, but once she mentioned billions of dollars, that easily narrowed it down. "I can't believe you had them going CSI for my Instagram," Chanel said in a pretend chastising tone. "If you just look up Chanel Nasiri—N-A-S-I-R-I—I should come up. Feel free to do all the Insta stalking you want, but Elijah wasn't hiding much. My Instagram is pretty lightweight." That was a full blown lie, but not an intentional one. Chanel had a little over twelve thousand followers, and she definitely had the looks and personality for Instagram, but she didn't think anything of it. As corny as it was, she was just being herself, and it just so happened that she was really good at making things nice and Instagramm-y. "Are you sure he wasn't describing my friend Cara? I keep trying to convince him I'm not a billionaire like her, but he's pretty, well..." She dropped her voice and brows and gave Dominique a look. "You know." That really meant nothing and was just Chanel being silly to get a reaction out of Elijah as if she didn't know he was standing right there. "But if I need to be pretend to be a sugar mama to keep me around, let me know. My friends will literally kill me if he slips away."

Chanel figured it was safe to be flirty in this way—not that she was flirting. She was telling the truth, but she was intentionally ignoring the fact that she was basically signaling that she, too, had been excited about him and had run to tell her friends about their weekend together. Since her and Dominique were having their moment, it seemed an innocent thing to mention, as it could easily be seen as part of the joke. Plus it wasn't like she would just mention that in any other scenario. She actually did think it was sweet that he was excited, because she definitely felt like an idiot for being so giddy about things too just for the stuff with Ruby to happen.

Dom finished Chanel's drink and carefully placed it in front of her, before making Elijah a Dark & Stormy. She nodded intently, adding a small shake of her head as if to say "yeah, can you believe him?" when Chanel's eyes met hers. She was excited that she had Chanel's Instagram handle now, even though it no longer was as valuable as it would have been the other night... simply because she was now sitting before her. They no longer had to wonder whether Elijah had conjured up this mystery girl on his own or not, and surprisingly, the result was in his favor. She was beautiful! Absolutely gorgeous! In truth, Dominique and the others didn't doubt that he would be interested in someone who was beautiful. Despite how much pushback they would sometimes throw his way, at least Dominique could admit that Elijah's face was arranged nicely. His personality was one that didn't have her inherently spreading her legs for him, but Chanel barely knew him, so luckily for Elijah, she wasn't feeling that way yet! "Wow, so you're just gonna ignore the fact that Chanel put a hit out on me on her two goons just basically tried to shank me?!" Elijah questioned Dominique, partially dragging it just to playfully respond to Chanel noting that he wasn't going to drop this, and also because damn, can't a man get any sympathy around here?!

"Do you want me to get the first aid kit for your invisible stab wounds?" Dominique answered. "I just started the worst shift of the week and will be verbally assaulted by at least twenty disgusting finance bros in a few hours, so I'm the only one who deserves pity here."

"Y'all just love to--" Elijah stopped himself because he wasn't going to play into Dominque's trap of making him look dramatic! He had wanted to remind her that despite how his team loved to complain about every single thing, he was a chiller boss than they'd ever have in their life again. He turned back to Chanel, "Don't believe a word that's come out of her mouth today. She teaches SoulCycle on the side, so I guarantee to you that she's high on some essential oil right now or something," he said. His train of thought for that when: white girl who taught SoulCycle, to white girl who wears yoga pants, to dumb and annoying enough to be high, to essential oils... somehow. "And Chanel's friend is going to come bartend here, so then you'll finally be forced to start playing the martyr card."

Dominique was looking at her phone, Chanel's Insta already pulled up, feed being scrolled through. She was clearly impressed, looking up only to say, "Oh my god, you're so pretty," as if the Instagram somehow solidified that fact. "And oooh, is he cute?!" she said, looking to Chanel eagerly.

"It's a girl," Elijah clarified. "She already showed us the kind of dudes she hangs out with today, so we're good on that front," he teased as he lifted his glass to his mouth.

"Oh, my god, I love SoulCycle! You might be my new best friend." It was a more serious offer than it would have been had Cara not properly pissed her off. "Do you really want her to bartend after she just put a hit out on you?" Chanel clarified after thanking Dominique both for the drink and the sweet compliment she'd given her. "Also, Nick is cute. You're not the only one allowed to have a nice jawline. Roman probably wouldn't be so bad if he was...less him, but he's tall! And he has an accent." Chanel wasn't trying to hype the boys up that much, but she felt they deserved some credit! Only Cara could say mean things about them, and even then, only when they deserved it and/or when Chanel was particularly annoyed with them. Nick, she couldn't help but to not stay mad at him for long because he was hot. "How come Cara gets the job and not me when you think we're practically twins, huh? I smell a suit." She raised the glass to her pursed lips. Obviously, there was no kind of racial discrimination going on, and she wasn't entirely trying to undermine Cara, but she was now seriously wondering why he was even still considering the girl after what just happened—the thing he refused to let go apparently!
 
That was a visual Roman didn't care to have in his mind. Obviously Nick having hooked up with Cara didn't bother him so much that it stopped him from dating her, but by the time he got to a point with Cara that he liked her enough that the thought of her sleeping his best friend would bother him, he was too deep in. It would have been a weird thing, in his mind, to be hung up over this late in the game, especially given how their relationship started. With it just being a hook up, it was already quickly much smaller than what the two ended up having since they were casually hooking up for a while. It wasn't something at the forefront of his mind because it never had a reason to be, but he also didn't go out of his way to try to remember it. Sure, he cared more about it than he did when him and Cara were still at each other's necks constantly, but he also cared about Cara more so it made sense given that it went from not having any relevancy to him to having some. "What do you mean you wouldn't blame me?" Roman said, trying to keep the grumble from his voice as he looked at the food options on his phone.

"I shouldn't even be getting your hopes up like this because she's out of your league too," Nick sneered playfully. While he knew that he hadn't been Cara's "type", what he had going for him was that he had known Cara for a while, he had lived with her, and he wasn't the unapproachable type that Roman often was. That was pretty much all Nick felt he had going for him in attempting to explain her hooking up with him. Roman didn't have any of that, and also wasn't her "type" so Nick just assumed he didn't have a chance in the world. Add in how Cara and Roman outwardly disliked each other (albeit on a more mellowed out level now), and it was laughable. So, he laughed. "But she's not that bad, so I wouldn't blame you. I mean, she's obviously really fucking hot, and you saw her house this weekend? Imagine spending your summer, in bed with that girl, in a house like that," he shook his head in envious disbelief at the thought. "Plus, I mean obviously don't tell Brooklyn this, but she's really not that bad to be around. Pretty chill, actually, when she's not in the mood to call us trailer park trash."

"Fortunately haven't had the pleasure," Roman said with a smirk. "Not sure what it says about you that you can attract a girl like her. Blondes who don't particularly fancy you seems to be your type though." Brooklyn seemed more bothered by Nick than Cara did, but Brooklyn seemed more bothered by someone than most people, so maybe that wasn't the most fair assessment. "Or her, for that matter," Roman added after a second thought. He looked at Nick, his eyes narrowing as he tried to piece together what the hell was going through Cara's mind. Because like Nick, it didn't take a genius to see the physical allure of Cara. And even when they more viscerally disliked each other, her bite could be kind of hot. He wouldn't have ever admitted it then, unless he was doing it to get under her skin, and he wouldn't seriously admit it now because the last thing she needed was to be encouraged. So Nick basically went without explanation, especially since Roman was the lucky guy who got to be with her, even if it was in secret. But Cara? "Yeah, how the hell did that happen?" To be fair, Roman also couldn't imagine Nick with anyone but Brooklyn, but now that he was really thinking about it, he really couldn't imagine Cara with Nick. Hell, how did he end up with her?

"I mean, it's not that shocking, just look at me," he said. Nick motioned to his face, giving Roman a 'well, duh' expression. It was mostly done in jest, because even Nick would admit that Cara was too hot, "even for him", but if Roman was going to question his likelihood, then he needed a comeback. "But, you know, she and I were friends and shit. Not friends friends, but she literally let me and my girlfriend move into her place when she has enough money to buy the entire building to live in by herself so..." It was weird for Nick to think back on his history with Cara, especially since he had known her for longer than he knew Brooklyn and Roman. They had never been incredibly close, but obviously Cara thought well of him enough to allow him to move into her space. He wondered sometimes, what things would have been like if Brooklyn hadn't found out about what had went down between them. He didn't long for a friendship with Cara again in any sort of real way, but it was sometimes a thought in the back of his mind. "So even if she hated you at face value, I guess she and I were on better terms back then." He smirked at Roman, nudging him in the arm, "You want me to put in a good word for you? I still might have some pull."

Roman tilted his head back with a slight roll of the eyes as if to chastise his own self for forgetting how clearly irresistible Nick was. Nick's explanation still didn't suffice for what the hell was going through Cara's mind. Though it made the most sense to ask her, since it was her thought process in question, he didn't want to come across as insecure. But even if he wasn't coming from a place of competition, he knew well enough that between the two of them, Nick was the safe bad boy type. He dealt drugs but didn't deal in them; the reverse was true for Roman. It seemed like she was working backwards. Roman scoffed as he put his phone away. "You think I couldn't pull that on my own?" He joked with a smidge too much assurance. "You know all of that shit she gives me is just her resisting the sexual attraction. Who could blame her?" He clasped his hand over Nick's shoulder and gave it an appreciative shake. "Thanks for getting her ready for the real rodeo."​
 
Nick laughed, "Yeah, yeah, sure, man." Roman and Cara together seemed outlandish, though not in a way that Nick minded. He actually liked the idea of Roman finding a girlfriend, even if it wasn't something that he was directly invested in. They were only talking about hooking up right now, and at least that was a little bit more realistic. Outside of it seeming impossible for him to be with Cara, the idea of Roman having a "stable" relationship like he and Brooke's seemed like an oddity too. Maybe stable wasn't the right word... but adult. Roman was too much of a lone wolf for that, Nick thought, though he did think that one day Roman would realize he craved something more than just a girl's touch. Nick never thought of himself as being incredibly emotional either, but with essentially no family in his life, he quickly realized that it was nice to have someone who loved him like Brooke did. Someone who cared about his wellbeing, waited up for him at night, took care of him when he was sick. All of that. Doing life solo was chill for a while, but eventually Roman was going to want more. And damn, how many times in your life did you end up living across the hall from a single, beautiful, model-like billionaire with an attitude that basically made her even hotter? "So what, you're gonna go for it?"

"No way, man. She'd have me begging you for some Ks after just a day." There definitely were times when being around Cara made him want to pop something. He even noticed when he was particularly anxious, his hand would fidget in a motion reminiscent of taking the top off of a pill bottle. It could easily be mistaken for him just rubbing his thumb pad and index finger together, but he knew well enough. When he felt like this way around Cara, which was not as common as it was when he was realizing he was really starting to like her, it wasn't for the reason he was implying to Nick now. The reality of his reaction was bittersweet. Not being numbed constantly meant he was now exposed to what felt like a shit ton of really, really intense feelings, and even the goods ones he felt uncomfortable with. It took a moment to understand that the bit of anxiety he might have felt around her was giddiness. And sure, that was kind of a nice realization. Nick was right in thinking that even Roman wanted more, deep down. But that giddiness was still an anxiety, and it was still a feeling, something which he avoided because he needed to feel in control at all times. And falling for someone was the opposite of control. Paradoxically, he did crave to be able to let go. He could just never figure out how, or trust enough in himself or his environment to fully surrender. He wasn't going to say Cara had been that missing link, but he was now able to tolerate the tingles in his belly without miming opening a pill bottle. At least more often than not.

His tone grew a bit more serious as they stopped at the crosswalk. "I'm not trying to sign someone up for my problems anyway. Not even her." Something his aunt had mentioned to him some time back was that this was 'a sensitive period for someone like him.' That phrasing kind of hurt, but it was better than being called an addict. Though knowing she was intentionally avoiding that word for his sake somehow made it a little worse. It wasn't uncommon for people to replace an addiction with another, and that could easily take the form of a relationship with a person. That had really pissed him off. Not because she was really accusing him of having a drug problem, but because there was a budding something growing at that time. Why did everyone think he was such an asshole? It was part of the reason he wouldn't get into a relationship in the first place. He quickly pushed the conversation from his mind; that was his new Cara-based anxiety. The list seemed to keep growing. That's why he wanted to hear her say she wanted to be with him. But now he was wondering if he had pressured her. He was clean now, but... It wasn't like he was normal. His old habits were gone tangibly, but the second nature of it wasn't. It's why he got into taking vitamins. He had to have something. "Besides that, I'm not trying to fuck up doing me right now. Brooklyn would probably beat my ass. I already know she asks you about me." He didn't know this for fact, but he figured it was so. Roman didn't go to Nick for drugs for the sake of his relationship him, but also for the sake of Nick's relationship with Brooklyn. When it came to not signing people up for his bullshit, he really meant it. Best he could anyway. The best way would be for there to be no bullshit to begin with, but he worked with what he could manage.

"I get it," Nick nodded. Excuses, excuses. Roman just didn't want to admit that there was no way that he would ever be able to snag a girl like Cara. Nick was able to do it while already basically having a very hot girlfriend, and Roman couldn't do it, even without. "You know she wouldn't touch you with a hazmat suit on, so you're gonna cut your losses, save yourself the trouble... got it," he teased.

"Why are you acting like I didn't used to pull birds left and right?"

"One hundred randos doesn't compare to one hot, blonde, billionaire, bro," Nick said, shaking his head as Roman still tried to cling to some semblance of manhood, as Nick triumphed it with his feat. "Since you won't get to see it in person, let me give you the visual: hot, hot body. She's already got the pretty face, you know that, but when you look at her, it's like okay, she's got a nice body, but she's really thin, you know? And not that that's a bad thing, but you want something to hold on to when the time comes, right? So you're like 'okay, you can't have it all. Maybe that's the trade off'. Wrong! Trust me, bro, that body is perfect in all the right ways." He slapped Roman on the back playfully, albeit roughly. "If Brooke ever realizes that she can do better than me, I'll take a video next time I get with her, so you can see for yourself," he offered.

Roman attempted to laugh Nick's banter off, but this one was tough. He pushed Nick's arm away as the crowd began to make its way across the street. It was clear on his usually stoic face that he was, for once, having a hard time controlling his face. He wanted to not seemed bothered, but he physically couldn't bring himself to keep that kind of banter going. His smile, if it could even be called that, was tight and narrow, matching his eyes and their lack amusement. "All right, mate. Relax."

“Yeah, you’re right. I shouldn’t be putting these images into your mind until you’re back home where you and your hand can be alone in private.” Nick was pushing it, but he could fuck around with Roman sometimes. To him, it was just teasing, partially at his own expense since everyone knew that Nick had just gotten extremely lucky by being able to sleep with Cara that one time. It wasn’t something he could replicate even if he wanted to and put all of his energy behind it. He also had no idea that Roman had feelings for Cara, so he was all the less tuned in to notice any changes in Roman’s demeanor.

Roman stopped once they got on the sidewalk, his jaw tightened. "Would you shut up?" He shook his head, annoyed, before he continued to where they were going. "I don't need images of Cara when I've got a pretty solid view of Brooklyn on the daily. You want to talk about a hot body with no surprises, there you go." Roman was really talking out the side of his neck since he didn't believe any of what he said on any real emotional level. He knew Brooklyn was a beautiful girl, and she obviously had a nice body, but he was already so checked out the conversation and just trying to bug Nick as much as Nick was bugging him that he was choosing to be just as blasé and loose-lipped as the other guy. "Really no surprises," he said after realizing something. "I'm just thinking of all the times she's gotten dressed in front of me. Or, you know she doesn't get dressed each time she's done fucking you and goes out to get a drink of water?" Definitely not images he tries to resurface in his mind. Brooklyn would have the nerve to act like he was in the wrong for seeing her in his apartment butt ass naked. "Who needs your anecdote when I've got that." Roman's tone was more sincere than he truly felt in sentiment. He was just truly realizing that he had seen Brooklyn undraped a couple of times. He never thought anything of it, but now that Nick was talking about painting images for him, he was seeing that, despite him bullshitting Nick to get back at him, he really didn't need one when it came to Brooklyn. Which...gross?​
 
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Ruby couldn't recall a time when she had interacted with Brooklyn and it had ended with her having a pleasant impression of the girl. She felt awkward standing there silently, glancing to Makayla once or twice as Brooklyn interacted with Holly in a rather sharp manner, but since Makayla didn't seem bothered, Ruby didn't think it would be appropriate for her to either. She understood that Brooklyn probably had good intentions buried beneath her hard shell, and that was okay, but it still made her uncomfortable when a grown adult behaved so callously. Then again, she supposed that it wasn't Brooklyn's responsibility to cater to the comfort of others. Ruby fell on the opposite end of the spectrum when it came to things like that. She purposely went out of her way to ensure that other people felt comfortable and taken care of, even if it came at the expense of her own peace. Brooklyn's way of existing was perhaps more outwardly destructive, but it was hard to say whether it was truly any worse than Ruby behaving in the opposite manner, and oftentimes allowing herself to become something of a doormat. She turned her head, watching as Brooklyn entered the building, before taking a few steps to follow Makayla and Holly closer to the curb, where a car would soon be coming to pick up Holly. "Shoot, I think I left the water running! I'll be right back," she said, giving Makayla a quick squeeze of her arm as she turned and hurried back inside. She hadn't left the sink on in the kitchen and it wouldn't have been that big of a deal even if she had, but she wanted to speak with Brooklyn. It was probably the first and only time she would ever want to speak with her, especially if the conversation went as poorly as she expected it to go.

She caught up with the blonde a flight up. "Hey, Brooklyn!" she exclaimed, mentally admonishing herself for nearly being out of breath after only a single flight of stairs. "So, I know you work with Makayla at the night club, and she always talks about how everyone there loves you so much that you're basically in charge," she said, trying to start things off on the right foot. "And I was wondering if you could help me. So, she wasn't supposed to have to work tonight, and since Holly's going to be gone for a few hours, I was hoping that Makayla would be able to spend the night relaxing and stuff, but I guess her boss said that she needs to come in for whatever reason now. Is there any way that you could maybe pull some strings and see if someone else can cover the shift for her? Annnnd not mention that I asked you to do that for her?" She was definitely expecting the worst... like Brooklyn laughing in her face and telling her to fuck off, but hoping for the best nonetheless. ​
 
Brooklyn was mildly confused as to why Ruby was calling up to her, catching up on the stairs in the seconds following. She didn't know Ruby... like at all, and she had no plans of changing that. Most people annoyed Brooklyn, so that word didn't mean that much nowadays, but Ruby was an especially annoying type. She imagined that she was that bookworm type of girl in high school, who was really smart, but only because she spent every waking hour of her existence studying, and she would never let you forget it. She didn't seem like a bad person, and in fact, she seemed like the exact opposite, but for whatever reason, people like her just seemed pretentious and overly innocent in a way that was nothing short of annoying. Her expression took on a hint of curiosity as Ruby started in about her job, and the corners of her lips turned upwards into a smile when she realized that Ruby was asking her to do a favor for her. "For like, one hundred dollars I probably could," Brooklyn offered with a sweet smile. It was a very childish response, but Brooklyn was making the offer less so for the actual money, and more so to just make Ruby uncomfortable.

If making Ruby uncomfortable was Brooklyn's mission, she had certainly achieved it. Ruby looked at her, fully perplexed. She wasn't sure if Brooklyn was serious, or if she was joking because.... really? She couldn't just do something nice without demanding money for it? Ruby wasn't confrontational in general, and definitely not with people she didn't know, so she wasn't sure how to react other than to say, "Okay, that's fine."

Brooklyn wasn't expecting her to say that and to just agree without any sort of objection, but she wasn't opposed to it either. $100 would pay for a nice mani/pedi that she would deserve tomorrow after a long night of working. She gladly exchanged Venmo info with Ruby before returning to her apartment. Getting someone to cover the shift Makayla was almost forced into wasn't very difficult when Brooklyn knew a lot of people who worked there.

By the time that Roman and Nick returned, she was hungry, so she was even more glad that the bizarre Makayla situation wasn't real, and that they had come home sooner than expected, and with food in tow. "Ooooh, I've been meaning to try this place!" Brooklyn exclaimed happily as she noticed the logo on the bags that sat on the boys' counter. "And here I was, thinking you two don't listen to a word I say," she continued as she pulled the containers out of the bag and set them on the counter. "And let me guess," she said, looking to Roman. "Your dumbass ordered chicken fingers."​
 
Holly had arrived a few minutes ago, and though she had been over before, she still wanted to look through the entire house as if it were a museum or something. Cara indulged her, convinced it was probably more of Holly wanting to run around than it really was any sort of true fascination. They settled in the bar area that she and Roman had been in a little while ago, because she definitely needed another drink, and she wanted to make something fun for Holly too.

"What's a mocktail?" Holly asked, legs swinging contently as she sat perched on one of the bar stools in front of the bar. She felt extremely cool just sitting there, after constantly being told by Makayla that she wasn't allowed to sit at the real bar in restaurants they went to, even when the seats looked so cool and high! She had asked Cara to make her the same drink she saw her making for herself, but Cara explained that she would make her a "mocktail" version of it.

"You know how a drink with alcohol is called a cocktail? So if you make it without the alcohol, it's like a 'pretend' or 'mockup' version of it, so people call it a mocktail," Cara explained as she poured Holly's drink into a glass and carefully handed it to her. "The only difference is that yours will taste much better than mine!" she added with a giggle.

"When we get upstairs, can we call Roman because I need to ask him a question?" Holly asked, maneuvering carefully as to not spill her drink as she hopped off the chair and followed Cara down the hall and up to the roof.

"What question do you have for him?" Cara asked, already smiling as she was sure that whatever Holly's reason was, it would be entertaining. She wouldn't mind checking in with him, if only to indirectly confirm that he wasn't annoyed with her and was okay by ensuring that he actually answered.

"I want to know if he's seen a movie. You've definitely seen it because it's like a classic, it's called Gnomeo and Juliet, but because Roman's not from here I don't know if he learned about it in school, and Makayla didn't want to text him when I asked her, and I don't know his phone number and when I asked Brooklyn one time she said that she didn't know his phone number either!"

"That is a good question," Cara nodded, managing to stifle back a chuckle and appear serious, even through a smile that peeked through. "So, of course we can call him!" She held the door to the roof open as Holly passed through, before leading her over to the couches. The sun was still shining strong, and it felt nice to be in the sun. There was nothing better than drinking an ice cold, strong, and well made cocktail under the warmth of the summer sun. Doing it on the beach would have been nicer, actually, but Cara was trying not to get worked up over being deprived a weekend at her beach home again. Once they were settled, she dialed Roman's number, and put it on speaker. She was visibly satisfied when he picked up the call. "Hey babe," she said, not catching that she was absentmindedly speaking to Roman all too fondly with someone else beside her. "So, Holly came over to keep me company, and she has a question for you, okay?"
​
 
He answered the call once he was a couple of steps from where they stood. "Hey you," he said, following behind a couple before standing with his back towards the restaurant. "Wait, you kicked me out to hang out with Holly?"

"It's Saturday, can you blame me for wanting to surround myself with positive energy?" Cara responded teasingly.

"Wow," Roman said almost under his breath, nodding his head to himself as he took a seat on his bed. The slight grin appearing on his face wasn't entirely hidden from his tone though. "I thought that's what this morning was, but clearly I've left you've unsatisfied. Is that why you sent me a wild goose chase?"

Cara laughed, before glancing to Holly and shaking her head as if Roman were able to see that, though still smiling. She realized now that they were being inappropriate given that someone was listening, but because that was Holly, she didn't automatically jump to being fearful. A lot went over Holly's head, and she didn't think that Holly would pick up on anything, even if it would have been obvious to anyone else. "You still owe me an explanation for that, because for some reason I'm the one being blamed for it," she said, before holding the phone in the air still, though closer to Holly now. "Okay, stop distracting me. Holly has a question for you!"

"Wait, am I on speaker? Did she hear me?"

“Hi Roman, it’s Holly!” Holly exclaimed, continuing without waiting for any personal acknowledgement. “Me and Ruby, for my summer reading, we’re going to try to read Harry Potter, and we’re going to do it so that she reads one page, then I read one page, and... but we have a problem because me and Ruby don’t sound like Harry Potter, so that’s why we need you! We really, really need you, more than anyone will ever need you in your life, Ro Ro! And we’re going to read one chapter every night so we’ll need you to come over at night, every night til we finish, but it won’t take that long because I’m a fast reader! And we’ll read the other words on the pages, but then when it’s time for Harry Potter to talk, you’ll say those words, because you’re the only one who sounds like him that we know. Okay?”

Roman knew he realistically had no reason for his cheeks to be warming, but still here they were, slowly but surely turning red. "Um..." He began, mostly stammering to himself since he was too busy being embarrassed to really process what Holly was saying about... What was she saying? "Harry Potter?" Why was she talking about— His voice fell. "Harry Potter, Holly? You know Harry's not the only one with the accent, right?"

“Right, because you have it too!” Holly answered, before looking to Cara with an expression that read: “Duh!!!!” Roman’s accent was his most well known feature in Holly’s mind. Well, it fell between that and his tattoos, but now that Nick’s had won the competition for being prettier, all Roman had to flaunt was his accent. If she knew Ferb in real life she would have asked him, but Roman would have to do for now! To Cara, she excitedly added, “And he’s not in the first book I don’t think but I know in one of them there’s a little shriveled up troll man who has eyes like yours if you want to be a guest reader for him when we get up to that!”


Holly could not have picked a stranger thing to call Roman about, which made it all the better. She didn't acknowledge Roman's question to her, since Holly seemed to skim over it all to a point where it didn't matter. Cara would willingly pay a hefty price just to be a fly on the wall watching Roman, trapped in a room with Holly and Ruby, taking turns reading a book. Holly wanting him to play the part of Harry Potter, as if their reading style would nearly be a performance with accent-appropriate actors involved made it all the funnier to imagine. "No, no," she insisted through a giggle, when Holly had the nerve to try and associate her with the gross little slave elf, Dobby. Roman was going to be the only victim of this silly scenario today. "I wouldn't want to take away any of Roman's spotlight. You really only need someone to voice the main character, and you're right that Roman does sound a lot like him."

How did Cara have the patience for this? Roman considered clarifying that he was referring to the other characters being British as well, but decided against it. "What if I want to read for Hermione? Or the gremlin creature that looks like Cara?"

“No, no, no!” Holly laughed. Poor Roman, he didn’t understand! “No, Romey, that’s a girl and you’re a boy, so we want you for Harry!” She laughed again, this time just because Roman was funny. “And you can wear a sweater to cover your tattoos because Harry doesn’t have those. And if you want to bring over snacks when you come, we will definitely allow that too! But nothing that will make your fingers orange and stain the book, okay?”

"I'll help you if you can remember where I'm from," Roman said. For whatever reason, Holly was always thinking he was from everywhere under the sun except England. Surely, living in New York City her whole life she's been surrounded by tons of people who sounded different from, so he wasn't sure why she was so fixated on his being English.

Cara was having too much fun with this, but outside of it just being amusing, it was always funny to watch Roman attempt to entertain Holly’s quirky requests for as long as he could muster. He really tried to be patient most of the time; she could give him credit for that, at least. When Roman put Holly on the spot, Cara quickly moved a finger to mute the call before looking to Holly. “England, he’s from England,” she advised her quickly, before unmuting it with another tap.

England was not the location that Holly would have gone with, so she was lucky that Cara swooped in to help her. “England!” she repeated, followed by laughter. “And guess what, Rome, that’s the same town Jack Russell Terriers were born in because that’s the kind of dog Ruby has and me and her were reading about them on my iPad in case her mom ever needs me to babysit him for them!” Holly had no reason to sense that there was anything wrong with the way that Cara and Roman were interacting. She wouldn’t have typically categorized them as not being friends to begin with, and people getting along and being happy was how she liked to assume everyone interacted.

"I know what you did," Roman said, clearly talking to Cara. While he tended to come across like a jerk, perhaps because he was one, Roman didn't really dislike Holly. He actually didn't mind reading some words for her if it ever came up (and he was in the mood for it). So long as he didn't actually have to teach her to read, he would be fine. Plus, he knew Holly would probably forget about by the time she ever touched her Harry Potter book—if she ever touched it. "All righty. Any other requests you'd like to make that I can assist you with?"

“Do you wanna come over and have mocktails with us?”

Hell no. "That's tempting," he cooed. "You and Cara can have them without me. Someone needs to convince her her drinks are tasty, and I'm no good a liar. Unless you're really missing me, Cara. Or feeling really bad for kicking me out and making me beat up the wrong people. Then maybe I'll reconsider."

“No, I think we’re all good here now that we got that figured out,” Cara said, shaking her head and scrunching her nose in playful distaste when Holly invited Roman over. She would remind the girl that they didn’t need boys ruining their evening once she hung up, which she did after saying goodbye to Roman. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Romey,” she said, because she actually was confused by the last part of what he said. “But I’ll let you go now. I’m sure you need time to practice how to paint a lightning bolt on your forehead for your upcoming reading assignment. Byeeeee!” She hung up with him, though she didn’t look up to Holly before texting him.

To: Roman
What do you mean the wrong people?
​
 
"Oh no, I forgot to ask him about the movie!" Holly exclaimed in distress as soon as Cara set the phone down. "Well, that's okay," she then decided. "I'll ask him about it when he comes over tomorrow." The conversation had went well, and Holly was satisfied knowing that her Harry Potter dilemma was solved. It was still debatable if she would ever get past page one, but she had insisted to Ruby that it be the book they read, so they were going to try it, at least. Reading wasn't Holly's forte, but there was a better shot at getting her to at least tempt it if she looked at it as a chance to socialize, which she would with Ruby switching on and off for her. “And if Roman’s mom and dad are coming here for a visit this summer like Chanel’s mom and dad do sometimes, then that would be perfect because they can play Harry’s mom and dad for me too!” she realized, not knowing that those characters were deceased. She laughed out of excitement as she tried the drink Cara made her. It tasted sweet and refreshing, and Holly felt fancy just holding the glass. “Brooklyn’s dad is dead. He killed himself,” she confided a beat later, as if it were somehow relevant.

“I don’t think Roman’s really close to his parents,” Cara responded, trying to be careful with her wording, mostly because she really didn’t know what Roman’s situation was with his family. She could tell that they were estranged, if only because he never brought them up and as far as she knew, he was spending all of his holidays with Brooklyn and Nick. Even if they did live overseas, she still would have assumed that she would have heard about him going over there for Christmas at least once. While she wouldn’t have minded the idea of Holly bothering someone like Brooklyn about her past, uncomfortable or not, she didn’t want Holly to upset Roman. She didn’t know if speaking about them would upset him at all, but as someone who could be triggered very easily with just the mention of certain aspects of her family, she didn’t want to encourage Holly to risk it. “I bet your mom is proud that you’re graduating, though!” she exclaimed, attempting to change the subject. “Have you spoken to her lately?” Holly was open about things that she probably could have been a bit more private about, when it came to her own history. She shared things in casual conversation that would carry a lot of weight and emotion from a normal person’s standpoint, as if they were normal occurrences. Even if she was an open book, there were certain things that she didn’t go on tangents about, that even Cara was sometimes curious about. She didn’t know if Holly didn’t speak about them because she didn’t want to, as if the were upsetting, or if she just didn’t think they were interesting enough. She would speak about being abused, for example, indirectly, almost as if she didn’t realize that what she was saying was abuse. She would reference her mother occasionally in stories, and Cara knew that she was in prison, but she didn’t know the whole story with Holly’s relationship to her.

Holly hadn’t spoken to her mother in years, at least not verbally. Makayla refused to give her her cell phone number, and she probably wouldn’t have wanted to waste any money on making calls anyway. She would occasionally correspond with Holly via mail, but Makayla had begun to intercept the letters before Holly received them, throwing them out whenever she added any sort of request for money in them. It would have bothered Holly to know her sister was doing that because it did excite her to hear from the woman, even if her relationship with her mother was complicated. Growing up, Holly was very scared of her mother. She had been an addict for Holly’s entire life, and even if she hadn’t been, she was so young and unsupported when she had Holly, that she probably wouldn’t have ended up being a great mother regardless. Now that she was removed from her mother’s custody, she didn’t necessarily miss her or think of her fondly, but it was easier to miss the idea of having a mother. Not the mother that she grew up with, but the classic doting mother character that she would see in TV shows. She could sometimes convince herself that her mom was going to come out of prison a completely different person, especially since all of the letters Holly had received from her talked about how she found God, loved Holly, missed her, and so on. It was confusing, but Holly still had nightmares regularly enough to remember what she had put her through, even if her conscience blocked out a lot of the more traumatic memories in her everyday life. “I sent her a card on Mother’s Day but she didn’t write me back yet,” Holly said. “But that’s okay because I said hi to Chanel’s mom on FaceTime the other day!”

“Isn’t she the cutest?” Cara smiled, referencing Chanel’s mom. Chanel’s entire family was so cute, and they were normal in a way that enhanced that, at least to Cara, who could only vaguely remember her family ever being a family. “But we have to do something special for your graduation! Collin and I want to come,” she said, volunteering her brother because she didn’t want to go and sit with Makayla without some sort of buffer. “Is it Friday? What time?”
​
​
 
"Yeah, it is, but I'm not going. But if you and Collin want to go, you still can!" Holly volunteered. At one point, she had been excited about the idea of graduation. She was happy to be moving on to high school and was still fairly upbeat about the idea of the actual transition, but she didn't want to attend her actual graduation. The class had been doing a rehearsal earlier last week when she had an encounter with a girl who in less kind words, suggested that Holly didn't have much to celebrate when she should have graduated years ago. Having been held back as a child wasn't something that she thought about often, and even less so in a way that it bothered her. She knew that she was older than her peers, but she was less mature than them in enough ways that no one would ever really look at her and think that she stood out like a sore thumb. It wasn't something that she was actively bullied about, at least not to an extent where she ever would have noticed or realized. The way that this girl had said it though, and the laughter from the other girls that had followed, had struck a nerve with Holly. It was the kind of nerve that ever rarely was able to be struck because a lot of insults and teasing went right over her head, but she understood what was being said here enough that it hurt her feelings. She was taken aback enough that she didn't start crying in front of them, thankfully, but she had translated that hurt into anger and came home that day with an attitude that Makayla wasn't the biggest fan of. By the next morning, she was okay again, and even now that Cara was bringing it up, she wasn't flooded with emotion, but she still hadn't changed how she felt about it. She believed what the girl had said, that this wasn't something that she should be celebrating, because it wasn't an achievement if she should have reached that milestone years ago. She could still be happy that it was summer, and excited to go to a new school, but she didn't want to be stupid and look like an idiot celebrating a graduation that she now felt like she didn't belong to. "Did you know that if I was blind, I would be able to get a dog and the landlord wouldn't be able to say no, that he can't stay with us?"​
 
"Why would Collin and I go to your graduation if you're not going to be there, silly?!" Cara asked, looking at Holly curiously as she sipped her drink. Her own middle school graduation wasn't anything spectacular looking back on it now, but at that age, it was a big deal. You felt like you were really growing up and were going to be ten times cooler once you were in the upper school. The ceremony itself was a drag: your typical graduation ceremony where the dean of students would go on and on, referencing inspirational quotes that she said year after year as if it were a script. She would claim that this graduating class was special, the smartest class she had worked with in her career, and all of that nonsense. They would play a video of memories of the students throughout the years, and everyone would be called by name to shake the dean's hand and walk across the stage. It was silly looking back on it now, as it was all really just for show since it wasn't as meaningful as a high school graduation, but it didn't matter back then. It still felt important and special, and for someone like Holly, it carried even more significance and meaning. Getting to the end of middle school had likely been more of a struggle for her than it had been Cara, or any other average student, and she deserved to celebrate that!

Cara didn't peg Holly as being the type to have stage fright, or to want to avoid a celebration, so she was confused. “Why don’t you want to go? I’ll make Collin cheer really loudly when they call your name, and after it’s finished we can go somewhere fun!” she suggested. The idea of sitting through a middle school graduation obviously wasn’t extremely attractive sounding, but Cara wanted to be there for Holly (if Holly wanted to go at all...). Cara remembered being so anxious before her own, simply because she wasn’t sure if her father would even show up to it, despite his insistence that he would. He had flaked on special events like that before due to “work emergencies”, so it was more surprising when he actually did show up, than she would have been if he hadn’t. “And we’ll have to have a party, of course! Is Makayla already setting one up, or should I? You know who’s really good at planning parties? Chanel! Let’s call her!” she decided, already pulling Chanel’s number up and calling her. She was calling for her own selfish reasons too, but she was sure if Chanel did answer, she wouldn’t be able to be mean with Holly sitting right here!
 
"Well, if you like balloons there's gonna be balloons there!" Holly offered, albeit a tad less enthusiastically, because as she thought about it, maybe it wouldn't make sense for Cara and Collin to go if she wasn't going to be there. It wasn't like they knew any of her peers, and she didn't want her friends to cheer for them, anyway. "Oh, we could go to the M&M store!" Holly exclaimed, once Cara brought up doing something fun afterwards. She still wasn't going to go to the graduation ceremony, and she didn't really want to explain why, but she would still jump on the opportunity to go somewhere fun. There were lots of fun places that she knew Cara would take her to, but Makayla wouldn't! She had convinced Makayla to go into the giant M&M store in Time Square just once, and after filling up a bag with candy and the total coming to over fifty dollars (which of course, was left at the register after that total showed up...), Makayla had essentially banned entrance into those types of stores. It was the same with FAO Schwarz, the Hershey store, the American Girl Doll store, and so on. Cara never said no to stuff like that, though! In fact, Cara rarely said no to anything!

As Cara picked up her phone again, this time to call Chanel, Holly stared at the screen excitedly, and was visibly disappointed, if only for a minute, when the call wasn't answered. "Chanel is really busy today," she explained, even though she didn't have any insider knowledge to speak to that. She was only going off of Ruby warning her that Chanel and the girls might not answer her many texts because of how busy they likely were. Chanel had answered her though, so maybe she just liked her better than Cara. Holly wouldn't suggest that out loud though; she didn't want to hurt her feelings. "But that's okay, because I don't think that I want to have a party. I don't have enough friends for that like Chanel does." She didn't verbalize that in an attempt to elicit pity, as it wasn't said emotionally either... just plainly, as if it was a fact. And it was. Kind of. Holly didn't consider herself to be friendless, because she thought of people like Cara, and Brooklyn, and Chanel, and Ruby, and now even Roman, to be her friends. She also thought of random people, like the cashier in Insomnia Cookies, or the man with the food cart at the corner of their street, or the homeless man who told her that he liked her shoes the other day, as being her friends. She just didn't know where they lived to send them an invitation, so they weren't party-potential friends. It had never actively bothered her that she didn't have friends her age. Maybe now it was beginning to, but that was only because she had experienced a taste of friendship and normalcy through her short lived friendship with Sam. However, Holly was pretty content overall. She wasn't hard to please, and even if Makayla got on her nerves recently more than she had when she was younger, she was still pretty happy just doing things with her sister, and having Makayla as her most frequent companion.​
​
 
Cara was annoyed that Chanel wasn't answering her. Really? Was she really going to be dramatic about this when clearly Cara hadn't done anything wrong? Like, shouldn't Chanel be trusting her friend over Roman, especially when it didn't make sense that Cara would have even spoken to Roman about her to begin with (from an outside perspective, at least)?! She would have hoped that Holly would have been more interested in connecting with Chanel, because she would have given her free reign to blow up her phone, but of course this was the one time that Holly wasn't going to be ultra-social.

To: Chanel
:xFrolleyes:

Her expression mimicked the text she sent Chanel, but she tried to refocus on Holly as she downed more of her drink. Her heart sank when Holly casually admitted that she didn't have enough friends for a party, and Cara wanted to object that that wasn't true, but she also wasn't sure if she had enough support to back that up. Just because Holly didn't have friends her own age didn't mean that they couldn't throw a party. Obviously it wouldn't be like Chanel's... but still! Then again, perhaps coming off of a party as grand as Chanel's, anything small would seem starkly disappointing. At the same time, Cara wasn't going to let her celebrate with a trip to the M&M store. Like, come on. They didn't need to fly to Dubai and rent out the penthouse of the Burj Al Arab, but they needed to do something special! "She's not busy, she's on a date, and she's ignoring her true friends for a lackluster guy. He's not even that cute, trust me," she informed Holly, stirring her straw around thoughtlessly, still frustrated over Chanel suggesting that she had done something wrong... even if she had. "And don't be silly! You do have friends, and most of the time, intimate parties are more fun than big ones anyway. Do you want to go on vacation somewhere? We can't do Disney though; it's disgusting in the summer."​
 
Nick had take a few hits off of his weed pen, and was feeling a nice buzz within a couple minutes. He didn’t need to be high, but he wanted to be. It would make his meal more enjoyable, and to him, there were no down sides to being high. It sometimes interfered with his business, simply because he oftentimes didn’t feel like being productive when he was really stoned, but that level of can’t-get-off-the-couch high usually requires a few hits from his bong. This wouldn’t do that to him. It would just make him feel more at peace than he otherwise would have.

“Yeah, shame on you,” Nick replied to Brooklyn teasingly, since he knew she was kind of being sarcastic. Roman had come in clutch with this one, but Nick would take the brownie points for it. It wasn’t like Roman needed them when he was clearly Brooke’s favorite anyway! He thought that mostly in jest, but Nick was well aware of how much his girlfriend cared about Roman. She worried about him more than anything, though she would rarely even verbalize that to Nick. He could tell though, by the way that she looked at him sometimes, or asked Nick about how he was behaving, that she thought about him even when he wasn’t in their presence. It was sweet, especially coming from Brooklyn, as she was the type who would swear up and down that she didn’t give a damn about anyone but herself.

He thought about cracking open a beer, but he didn’t want to waste one if he wasn’t planning on getting drunk, which he wasn’t. He was already indulging in another drug, one that he preferred over alcohol. He sat down, watching as Brooklyn sorted through everything. “Chicken fingers from the right place can be the fucking move sometimes, though,” he commented in defense of Roman (or really, just in defense of chicken fingers). “You should’ve came with us today to the museum,” he offered to Roman, pulling out some French fries from one of the containers Brooklyn had just opened and shoving them into his mouth. “They had some cool shit.” He downed some water before adding, “What were you busy with? They have you working on the weekends at this place? You better be making money to be doing all that.”
​
 

”Well, she’s not ignoring us because if I called her from my iPad i think she would probably answer,” Holly said, struggling to believe that it would be realistic for Chanel to ever knowingly ignore a call from her. Chanel wouldn’t do that! Not unless she was actually busy, and being on a date didn’t count as being actually busy. “Because then her screen would say ‘Holly’ and not ‘Cara’, and then she would look at it when she’s on her date and say ‘oh Holly needs to tell me something very important! Maybe she has an update about the dog with the two black spots on his back that look like eyes that she saw walking outside of our house. I have to answer that!’” she justified with a chuckle, as she thought about that dog. She had nearly opened the window to scream down to the owner that she needed to wait right where she was because Holly was coming down to see them. However, when Makayla noticed what she was doing, she snapped at her that she better not even think about opening that window with the AC running unless she had money to pay the electricity bill, so she had been forced to miss out on a potentially wonderful meet-and-greet.

“But if she just sees your name then maybe she just thinks: ‘Oh, it’s just Cara, and she just wants to talk to me about...’” Holly furrowed her brows in momentary confusion, as she had no idea what Cara and Chanel talked about. “What do you and Chanel talk about?” The only thing she could come up with on the spot was that maybe they enjoyed discussing what it was like to be tall. “And I want to see what he looks like! Can you show me?” she asked, looking eagerly towards Cara’s phone. “Because if he’s ugly, now that I’m friends with Roman, I can help Chanel and ask Roman to be Chanel’s boyfriend! And I know that he would definitely say yes because Chanel is really pretty.”​
 
"Trust me, she wouldn't answer you either," Cara insisted, though she had no evidence to back that up. She also knew good and well that if Chanel did ignore Holly, it wouldn't have been out of spite, in the way that she was being ignored. That irked her even more, though. Not the Holly part, but the part about Chanel ignoring her purposely. Like really, if it hadn't been for Cara, she never would have met Elijah in the first place, so.....

Her glass was somehow already empty, but thankfully she had brought up her cocktail shaker with a refill ready to go. Had she not brought that, she would have been annoyed by that too, because none of the house staff were here to cater to her. She didn't mind making her own drinks, but it was a hassle to have to go all the way downstairs to do it, especially since she didn't feel comfortable leaving Holly up here alone. "And I don't have a picture of him," she added, which wasn't a lie. She had met Elijah... and so had Holly, which was why even if she did have a picture of him, she wouldn't have been able to show her. It was a good thing that she realized that before allowing his name to slip, since there was a good chance that Holly might have at least remarked on how it was funny that Chanel's date had the same name as Ruby's boyfriend, even if she may not have immediately put the pieces together that they could have been the same person.

She picked up her phone to text Chanel again, as if she needed to prove to herself and Holly that Chanel was going to be rude and ignore her no matter what, but she became distracted once her eyes skimmed over Alexander's name again. "Chanel and I basically talk about the same stuff that you and I talk about," she verbalized, though she was visibly distracted as she read over his message a few more times. It wasn't exactly true. Cara obviously didn't see Holly as being completely equal to the friends she had that were closer in age as her, and Holly obviously wasn't only different because of the age gap. However, Cara enjoyed Holly's company in more of a friendship sort of way than some of the others did. She did baby Holly a bit, but she tended to spoil Holly with things more than she did in child friendly affection. "Like, if she was being nice right now, I would ask her for advice about this, but you can help me now that you're here," she began. "So, when I was in high school, I dated this boy named Alex, right? And he was nice and whatever, but then he broke up with me at the end of senior year, so obviously I was sad but then got over it because boys are very replaceable. That's a really good life lesson, Holl: never let yourself be fooled into thinking that there's a man on this planet that can't be replaced, because they all can be, and they're all trash anyway. But anyway, so I moved on, never thought of him again, and all of that, but guess who's come crawling back, wanting to 'catch up'? Him. He wants to hang out with me, but I have many other boys who want me to give them a first chance, so I shouldn't waste my time giving him a second chance when he had the nerve to dump me?"
 
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"Makayla told me that men are trash, too!" Holly chirped, thinking it was funny that she already knew that. She didn't usually take Makayla's comments or advice with much weight, but she liked that she and Cara had both been on the same page about that. Holly had enough experience with men to know that the claim was true regardless of who was supporting it, though. Even still, it wasn't like she couldn't stand to be around a man. It was just an innate weariness that came with their presence, especially if she didn't know them. When it came to Holly, weariness was sometimes hard to notice visibly, because she was naturally very friendly and outgoing. She wasn't cowering behind Makayla in the face of a new male acquaintance, but her mind would remind her to not get carried away and to at least maintain some sort of caution. It was hard to say whether she didn't really like the idea of Cara dating because she didn't like men, or because she didn't like the idea of having to share Cara with anyone else, but the latter was more likely the culprit. She had already determined that Elijah was harmless because Ruby didn't seem to spend much time with him at all, and Nick was harmless because Brooklyn liked her better than she liked Nick, obviously. The idea of losing Cara or Chanel to a boy made her feel more hesitant towards the idea, but at least if she convinced Chanel to date Roman, then that would be a safe plan too, since Chanel would obviously always like her better than Roman. "What does he look like?" Holly asked, because that was probably going to be the most important question to have answered. If his face looked nice, then maybe he wouldn't be too bad, but if he looked mean or ugly, Holly would confidently be able to tell Cara not to waste her time.

That was a fair question. Cara pulled up his Instagram, but was specific in the two photos that she screenshotted before showing them to Holly. She was being biased in her selection, but it wasn't because she wanted Holly to think that he was cute so that she would feel inclined to suggest Cara should give him another chance. It was more superficial, in that she didn't want Holly to think that he was ugly and then judge her for previously dating someone who wasn't cute.

Holly liked both photos, but unfairly so. She liked the first one because his shorts were so pretty, and she liked the second one because of the dog. "Why is his tail so short?" she asked with concern, as she studied the second photo more closely. "I think he probably has a treat in his hand because that's what it looks like he wants most!"

"I think some people cut their dogs tails," Cara commented with a tone that suggested she was quite unsure. "But focus, focus! So, what do you think? Should I hang out with him and see what he wants from me? Or tell him to get a grip because that will never happen?"

The dog didn't look hurt or sad, but Holly was immediately concerned for that poor baby's wellbeing. What kind of person could cut off a dog's tail?! She was definitely having nightmares about that for the next week. She was too frightened by the concept to probe deeper, which worked in Cara's benefit, since it redirected her to the questions Cara was asking. "Ummmm..." Holly began, pondering for a moment. "What else is good about him? Does he have a lot of money?"

"Not really, but that's not like, a big concern." It was definitely an issue that Cara saw his family as "not really" having a lot of money when their net worth was probably a billion or two too, but money was also hard for her to conceptualize. She had always gotten the vibe that his family was trying to impress hers more than the reverse, which is how she gauged that. Beyond that, she was also lying when she said that money wasn't a "big concern", but not purposely so. She would have trouble justifying to her father that she wanted to date someone who was poor... like actually poor, which was one of the reasons why the Roman situation was still uncomfortable. Cara obviously had a standard of living that she wanted to maintain, and even if she didn't need a man to shower her in gifts because she could do that on her own, she wanted someone who could keep up with her, at least. It was less about her own qualms with it, then it was with how she knew she would be perceived by family and friends if she didn't have someone to "take care of her", whether she needed that or not. "He used to be funny, I think. Like, his personality wasn't bad."

"Does his house have a pool and a trampoline?"​
 
“Either way, that wouldn’t influence my decision, Holly!” Cara said, sighing dramatically. She had hoped that Holly might have been able to read his energy just by the pictures, since she figured kids were usually good with stuff like that. In reality though, this situation was more complicated than just figuring out if she should humor an old flame with a second chance. Roman complicated things, because she had moved on from Alex, and she was happy. She couldn’t explain that part to Holly, though, and now that she thought about it, even if Chanel had been here, she wouldn’t have been able to explain that to her either. Even if she claimed that it was some mystery man, or made-up man, they would want more of an explanation, and Cara wasn’t good at lying about stuff like that. Plus, she was typically a pretty open book when it came to her dating life (maybe not to Holly, but at least to friends her age, like Chanel), so she couldn’t realistically pull a Ruby and just pull a boyfriend out of thin air and have people believe it. She wasn’t sure how her childhood friends would react to it, since while they all hated him for Cara after the breakup as part of girl code, some had probably rekindled a friendship with Alex since then. Simply put, this was more complicated than she wanted it to be, and she hated feeling conflicted like this.

“Well, if your standards are so low that you don’t care about something as important as that, I don’t know how I can help,” Holly said, feigning disgruntled sincerity before laughing out loud because that was silly. She could be an actress with how convincing she was, she thought! She wasn’t even quite sure that she fully understood the words coming out of her mouth, but it sounded appropriate.

“Stop!” Cara said, laughing as she playfully smacked Holly on the leg. “I’m being serious, Holly! I know you’re still young so you don’t have to deal with the troubles that men bring into your life yet, but one day when you do, I’ll give you serious advice!” With a refilled drink, she relaxed back comfortably on the couch, peering up at the sky for a few seconds. “Do you think I should tell him to take me to brunch tomorrow?” she asked abruptly. “No, I think I should just not answer him. He can deal with it, and if he really wants to see me, he’ll text me again, right?”[/COLOR]

That sounded like a good idea. “That’s what I do when I really want to see you, so that makes sense I think!” she agreed.

Chanel could really benefit from taking a lesson on how sweet Holly was, Cara thought, as she was reminded of how much of an angel her younger friend was. The fact that she was still hung up on Chanel ignoring her spoke to Cara’s personality and priorities more than it did anything else, though. “Okay good, so that’s settled,” she declared, although she still didn’t necessarily feel convinced in her own head. “Back to your graduation! How are we celebrating? I told your friend Ro to buy you a present, BTW.”[/COLOR]​
 
Roman lingered in his room for a minute longer, in part because he was responding to Cara, but also because he wanted to reframe his mindset before he went back outside. There was still a small grin on his face, and he needed to make sure it was gone for sure before he went back outside because he knew he would get questioned about it. Rightfully so, too. Roman wasn't the smiliest, and even now he felt kind of goofy.

To: Cara
the only person there named eli was this black guy chanel was hanging out with. definitely not the skinny white kid i laid out last week. i thought his name was luke or something

In Roman's mind, there was no way Cara was that drunk that she could have confused Eli and his memory of Logan. Their stature alone was enough of a give away. Add in their different physical appearance and the fact that Chanel hanging out with one of them made more sense than the other, and Roman couldn't logistically reason what Cara was thinking.

To: Cara
but i can't see ruby dating either one of them either so i'm still confused as ever

Roman left his room and was greeted with a pleasant smell. He didn't realize how hungry he was until now. Roman did grab an order of the chicken tenders basket, but he also grabbed one of the seafood combos. He started on the chicken tenders for his appetizer, taking a seat at the couch after he grabbed a drink. "I'm salaried, so technically I'm their bitch 24 hours a day, seven days a week." Did he actually despise always being tired and feeling like a walking zombie 98% of the time? Absolutely. But this was a better zombie breed than the alternative. At least, this one was more socially acceptable. When he did have moments of down time like this, he could actually appreciate it because he knew it wouldn't last. If he did have a healthy work-life balance, he would probably end up jeopardizing it somehow. He had a need for distractions from the present moment, and while this work-oriented distraction came with its own set of discomforts, it didn't really bother him in theory. He was didn't like being too comfortable; he didn't trust it for whatever reason. He needed to know that what he had he deserved. His expectations had always been high, and his work performance had only ever been his source of truth. He'd be constantly questioning that reality if he wasn't breaking his back for his own ego. "It's not like I have anything better to do," he said with a shrug before stuff half a tender in his mouth. He paused mid-chew, reconsidering what he said and then offered, albeit mildly, "No offense."​
 

With Holly taken care of for a few hours and work no longer requiring her presence, Makayla felt oddly free for a Saturday. She would have felt less comfortable about it had she known that Ruby had asked Brooklyn to pull strings to get her off, but not in a way where she would have been upset with Ruby. It was a sweet gesture; Makayla was just innately uncomfortable with the concept of people doing favors for her. She didn’t like owing people anything, and she struggled with the idea that some people just did nice things for others without expecting anything in return. She could be that person for other people, but when people were kind to her with no strings attached, it just made her feel weird. That wasn’t something she had to consciously worry about right now though, and she was actually excited to spend a Saturday out for once. Granted, last weekend had been an outing in itself, but that was a special occasion, so it didn’t count.

“If you and Chanel weren’t so damn tall I would have something cute to wear tonight!” Makayla complained playfully. Even if she did wear the same size clothing as the girls, it was unlikely she would feel comfortable asking to borrow from them anyway, or at least from Chanel. She was close enough with Ruby by now that being lent clothing from her was the least of Makayla’s “how do I return the favor” worries when it came to Ruby’s kindness. Chanel was no less kind, but Makayla’s relationship with her was just different. She thought of the girl very favorably, but they weren’t as familiar with each other, even if they had lived together for much longer than Ruby had.

Chanel was young, and cool, and trendy. She had a million friends, a glowing personality, and she was absolutely radiant. Makayla had skipped over that young adult phase in her life where she could be free to socialize and live as she pleased, and so even if they weren’t that far in age from each other, she felt like they were. She didn’t feel like she needed to take care of Chanel — not at all, but she did feel like she needed to keep it cool and casual with her. She already had to deal with Holly being overbearing and living in what was probably a non traditional apartment setup because of that, and the last thing Makayla wanted was for her to see Makayla as being an additional oddity in her life too. No, she much preferred the idea of being friendly with the girl on a surface level, smoking together from time to time, and keeping it at that. As simple as their relationship seemed on the outside though, Makayla did care about Chanel as more than a roommate. While Chanel literally probably had hundreds of friends, Makayla had very few. Even if she wouldn’t tap into Chanel as a typical friend, she cared for her as much as one would, and she felt almost as protective as she would be over Holly towards Chanel. It wasn’t something that she really had to display because Chanel wasn’t someone people would come for like they did her sister, but let a bitch try it, and see what would happen.

“So, where should we go?” she asked as she put in earrings, stepping away from the sink area so Ruby could finish getting ready.​
 
"I want to take you somewhere nice!" Ruby exclaimed, leaning closer to the mirror as she put on mascara. She was excited! She was going to have a real date night, which wasn't something she got to do every weekend. Even before she started catching feelings for Makayla, Ruby's dating life wasn't very active. The dating scene in New York wasn't dead, even for someone who wasn't interested in finance bros or wannabe actors, but Ruby just wasn't very engaged in it. She didn't put herself out there often enough, and she had spent most of the past few years allowing her work to consume herself. Self-admittedly, she had neglected her love life, so maybe she did want to believe that finding Makayla was more of fate than it really was. Either way, she was happy with how things turned out, and that was all that really mattered, right? "When's the last time you went on a date? Like a date date?" she asked, looking at Makayla through the reflection in the mirror.

"The closest thing to a date date that I've ever been on is me and you sharing a pizza on the couch," Makayla laughed. It wasn't a lie, even if she purposely responded with self-depreciating humor. She had never been in a serious relationship before, and the "dates" she had been on had always been "transactions" that ended in her feeling vile, yet closer to making rent that month. Holly was improving in certain aspects in great ways, but before they lived the stable life they were living now, she was less capable of doing basic things. She required more attention than she did now, which was saying something, since Makayla still was convinced she would return to a burned down apartment building every time she left Holly home alone for even twenty minutes. The idea that she would be able to leave her to go out on leisurely dates, just for fun, was laughable. Literally laughable. As a kid, Makayla had engaged in a few childish boyfriend-girlfriend relationships, but it was just child's play, and nothing that she would reference as an example an adult now. "But we don't need to go somewhere nice, seriously," she insisted. Sure, Makayla could appreciate the idea of a nice, fancy restaurant, and if they were going in a group setting where someone like Cara was footing the bill for the entire group, she would probably be down with that, but she still felt uncomfortable with Ruby paying for her.

"How often do we get a Saturday to actually go out, just the two of us?" Ruby reminded her, analyzing her reflection in the mirror for a few seconds before smiling with satisfaction and stepping back. "And that makes me feel better, since I think that's the closest thing to a real date that I've been on in a while too," she admittedly with a giggle. It was a change of pace to not be the least experienced dater in the room, at least. "How about we finish the bottle of wine you opened, and then go to a cocktail bar to start?" she suggested, as she turned to leave the bathroom. She was already finished getting ready, and she wouldn't overcrowd the small space if Makayla still needed to finish up in there. Besides, loosening up with some wine sounded good!​
 
Holly's eyes lit up at the word "present". There was nothing more exciting than getting a gift! While Holly loved surprises, she loved knowing that she was getting something just as much. Holly wasn't materialistic in the traditional sense of the word. She liked receiving things, but she wasn't the kind of person who cared about the traditional value of items. She didn't understand luxury branding, being influenced by celebrities into buying something, or any of that. Even if she had been spoiled in recent years thanks to her neighbor friends, she was still more used to her birthday gift being Makayla letting her get a McFlurry at McDonald's than she was having actual wrapped gifts to open. She probably wouldn't have even realized that some people's parents gave them gifts for a middle school graduation had the other kids in school not spoken about it. While she was now privy to the concept, she still wouldn't have expected to receive anything herself. At lease not anything other than the thing Makayla had been promising her for years that she would be allowed to get once she reached high school... a phone!

Granted, the iPad that Cara had given her this past Christmas had allowed Holly a taste of what a cellphone would bring her already, but she was still incredibly excited about it. Now, she would be able to text Brooklyn even when she was outside! Imagine all of the dog photos she would be able to take when she went to the park! And once Brooklyn would teach her how to order food from it, she could have a large cup of vanilla ice cream with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles delivered right to her door, whenever she wanted it! Even if a cellphone was all that Holly wanted, the idea of getting that plus more presents sounded even better! "Maybe he could get me a pillow shaped like a butterfly! Oh, or crayons that have glitter in them! Did he say what he was gonna get because I'll like anything, and then when he graduates, I'll get him something too!" Now she had to brainstorm what to get Roman! He looked like he would like skateboarding. Maybe she could buy him a skateboard wheel! Or a hamster on a wheel!

"I'm sure he wants to keep it a surprise! It's more fun that way, isn't it? And don't you think Roman's already graduated? He has a job, silly."

"No, I don't think so because if you listen to the way he talks sometimes, you can hear that he didn't graduate because... well... when you hear how he says 'garage', you'll know what I mean!"

"How does he say it? That's so random," Cara said, laughing at how random it was, but also at the image of Holly calling out this poor boy for just having an accent. It was impossible to put herself in Holly's mind, because sometimes she seemed to get that Roman was from a different country, but it must have been a fleeting comprehension, since times like now, she appeared to think that his accent stemmed from being uneducated.

"Um..." Holly genuinely wanted to repeat how Roman had pronounced the word, but she couldn't remember exactly how he had said it. All she knew was that it wasn't correct, but she had opted against calling him out in the moment because she hadn't wanted to embarrass him. "I forget how exactly, but you'll see! If you ask him where to park your car, then he'll say it! But where Chanel is from, they actually don't have cars, they just have horses."

Holly really was something else, but she truly was a breath of fresh air. When the girl was in the room, Cara's smiles and laughs were never forced, and her brain also somehow relaxed more than it did when she hang out with other friends. She didn't have to be ready to gossip or talk poorly about someone. She wasn't trying to catch up on the latest drama, or cause her own (well, not really at least). Holly was entertaining, but in the most innocent and sincere ways. "They definitely have cars there! Pennsylvania isn't aaaalllll farms; Chanel's house would smell disgusting if that was the case, and even if I've never been there, I can obviously tell her family is clean." She sipped her drink, pausing for a second, before adding, "We should tell us to invite her over this summer. I bet her town is super cute."

To: Roman
Yeah, the black guy is Eli, that's who I'm talking about! He's Ruby's bf and he tricked Chanel into sleeping with him at her party!!!

To: Roman
Also, send me a voice recording of you saying garage 😇💀​
 
"What was going on with you and Makayla?" Brooklyn posed the question with innocent curiosity, though there was something to be said about her taking on that tone. It wasn't like she drilled the guys intensely with questions on the regular, or that she was always bitterly sarcastic. She could be nice, making conversation just for the sheer sake of making conversation and chatting. However, despite how discrete she liked to think she was being, there was a certain tone she couldn't help but to take on when she wanted to know something with more serious intentions. It was as if you could tell that she was trying to sound casual and curious, to a point where it seemed at least a tad forced. Perhaps not to an extent where it was glaringly obvious to an acquaintance, but it was the same kind of tone she'd take with Nick when he would go MIA all night and then claim that he had been somewhere that just didn't seem logical to her. The calm before the storm, the "let's see how you respond to determine if you're lying" way of posing a question. She didn't think that the guys had been doing anything wrong, necessarily, but she also didn't understand how she was supposed to believe the claim that they had been out trying to defend Makayla... who had clearly been perfectly fine at home, given that Brooklyn had walked into her on her way inside. While she was curious and confused, she was actively preventing herself from jumping to the conclusion that they were lying... at least in malice. Nick sleeping with Cara had understandably left her with trust issues, but she was aware of that, and to her, it showed that she was insecure, so she actively tried to keep herself from appearing paranoid or accusatory because of that.

"Makayla?"

"Yeah, you thought she had gotten jumped or something?" Brooklyn specified.

“What are you talking about?”

One job. He had one job! And he still managed to drop the goddamn ball! Nick had to improvise, and though he thought he was pretty good at that, it probably actually wasn’t one of his strong suits. He had quick reflexes when it came to physical things, which was why he was always pretty good at sports, but trying to come up with a quick burn or excuse took a bit more effort. “Turns out it was just Holly spreading lies,” he claimed, trying to figure out where he was going with that and how it would even tie in to what he had texted Brooklyn, which he couldn’t recall in exact detail. “You know, the thing she told you that had us looking for that guy? Remember?” he said, trying to give Roman a look to signal that he needed to get it together. “Why does she even have your number, bro? She’s like ten,” he added, because yeah, Roman was gonna be the weirdo in this after fucking up the plan like that!

Roman wasn't as dumb as he was coming across right now; he was merely distracted with the incoming messages. Between that and trying to eat, he was barely listening to, let alone conversing with, Brooklyn. After he shot a response back to Cara.

To: Cara
it's okay to say you miss me

To: Cara
can't talk, but it's like carriage with g.

Roman's mouth was full as he looked between the couple a few feet from him. "Uh...yeah." He said in response to Nick asking him if he remembered something. Clearly he was supposed to say yes; Nick's facial expression didn't leave much room for improvement. "Oh, Holly? Doesn't everyone on the hallway have her number after Disney? Maybe your girlfriend gave it to her just to spite me."

Now that he thought of it, he might have had Holly's number or something. But he couldn't promise that it was saved, let alone a recent exchange in his phone. Since talking to Holly on the phone was the current topic, though, he figured he could humor his girlfriend with the voice message she requested. "Speak of the devil," he said before lifting his phone and saying, "The car goes in the garage." He set his phone down and looked to his friends momentarily before returning to his food. "Don't look at me like that. I've seen you humor her."​
 
"Holly and I actually have intelligent conversations," Nick offered, happy to spin the conversation in this direction. What qualified as "intelligent" was up for debate, but at least they weren't talking about where cars went. He piled some food onto a plate for himself, quick to dig in. "And you know who we've got to blame for her fascination with us? You," he said, looking to Brooklyn. "She's like one of those little motherless ducklings that decides their mom is the first person they see, AKA you."

"Yeah, right," Brooklyn scoffed sarcastically. She wasn't sure why Holly fancied her in the way that she did. To an extent it was flattering... an extent that Brookyln wouldn't willingly verbalize, but she would have gladly taken to Holly obsessing over Roman or Nick more than she did her. Holly was a sweet child, but that didn't leave her exempt from Brooklyn wanting to strangle her when she would come home from work exhausted at five in the morning and see that Holly had been in her bathroom, fucking around with her stuff, or notice her bedroom door cracked open and things out of place. Not to mention when she did things like she had just done, getting under Brooklyn's skin in such a naturally effortless way. Acting like Brooklyn was bothering her?! She knew that it was dumb how easily it could rile her up, but after how annoying that child was to her constantly, could she really be that brainless to think that Brooklyn would go out of her way to not only interact with her, but do it in an incessant and annoying way?

Nick had gotten his way though, because Brooklyn's attention had shifted from he and Roman's weird disappearance, at least for the moment. "And I didn't give her your number, since I'm actually a good friend," she noted to Roman. It wasn't like Holly hadn't asked before, but Brooklyn clearly was kind deep down, because even if she was unlucky enough to be subjected to Holly's texts herself, she probably wouldn't even subject her worst enemy to that, nonetheless Roman. "I'm sure Cara gave it to her," she said, smirking to herself. Brooklyn might not have been evil enough to do that to Roman, but she assumed Cara could be, especially since she didn't like Roman to begin with. "And the only reason that she's obsessed with me is because you think not having a credit score makes you edgy, so our only option over homelessness was to move in with Barbie." It was strange to think about how things had changed over the years, and yet still stayed the same. She had been at such a low point in her life when she had first met Nick, both mentally and financially. She was working, but she had no money to her name when she had left home, and no life skills on top of that. The money she made working financed her drinking habit, occasional party drugs, and clothes that she didn't need. She wouldn't have been able to afford her own apartment back then anyway, but at least she had a bank account and a credit score (even if it sucked back then). Nick was doing better financially now too, but Brooklyn didn't feel like he had grown up in other regards to the extent that he should have. It wasn't fair to compare timelines since people grew at different speeds and she got that, but still. Especially now that Roman was working a "real" adult job, she felt even more anxious about Nick's lack of drive.​
 
“Yeah, we should!” Holly agreed excitedly. She had never been horseback riding before, and she was sure that she could do that at Chanel’s house. Even though horses’ teeth were kind of scary looking, Holly supposed that they were still nice animals. She would occasionally see them in the city if they ventured up to Central Park where the horses pulled carriages, or in Times Square where police officers occasionally could be spotted on them. She had obviously never ridden one herself though, and even if right now she felt like she would want to, when she realized how big they actually were, she would probably back out of that plan. It wasn’t like Chanel actually lived on a farm with horses though, so that was a reality she likely wouldn’t face regardless.

“You’ll have to ask her, though,” Cara rationalized as she placed her phone on the table beside her, leaning back as if she wasn’t going to focus on that now. It was very short lived, as she picked it up just a beat later and glanced at it, as if there were a message there. “She won’t be able to say no to you like she would with me.” It could be a fun little weekend trip, Cara imagined. She pictured Chanel growing up in a cute and quaint suburb, where they had weekend farmers markets, charming coffee shops and cobblestone roads. Everyone knew everyone, and they would spend their summers as kids playing with their neighbors in the cul-de-sac or riding bikes around town. She probably had lots of cute childhood friends, like the ones you would see in Christmas Lifetime movies where the city girl would go back to her little hometown and reconnect with a manly man who was a little rough around the edges, but golden hearted. Super cute.

“And I think Chanel’s mom would make me chocolate chip pancakes when we go!” Holly added with a laugh. Most of the time she just tore them apart with her hands, picking out the melted chocolate chips to eat, but they were good nonetheless, and probably even better if made by Chanel’s mom!

“Oh my god, you know who makes the best pancakes? I have to take you — Clinton Street Baking Company. They’re literally to die for.”

“Makayla said you look like you don’t eat,” Holly volunteered. Though it was inappropriate and Makayla would have smacked her for repeating it, Holly didn’t consider it to be an insult. If anything, it felt on topic enough to her that she could add it in casually, simply as part of the conversation. “Because like, on your belly, we can see your bones like a skeleton,” she explained, pointing to Cara’s stomach.

Cara was caught off guard by Holly’s comment. It wasn’t shocking that Makayla was so unhappy with herself and her own life that she felt the need to attempt to project it onto Cara. It was random enough though, that she didn’t have a snarky response ready. Whether she would have wanted to use one to Holly would have been another question anyway, since she knew that Holly wasn’t the one critiquing her. While Cara didn’t have weight management issues, she obviously watched what she ate. She wouldn’t obsess over calories or deprive herself of opportunities like eating popcorn at the movies or ice cream at the beach, but she also didn’t keep her pantry stocked with tons of junk food. She had self-restraint when it came to that, and luckily, she preferred healthy food. She was aware that she was on the thinner side, and she often didn’t love the way that made her body look, but she also didn’t have the genetics to allow her to have amazingly flattering curves, if she were to put on a bunch of weight. Her body was better suited for the early 2000s it-girl skinniness, and she wasn’t actively trying to maintain or change that. It just was what it was. Makayla wasn’t one to talk, anyway. She looked small enough to require a child’s booster seat in a car, if they wanted to really go there. “Well you can let her know that while I appreciate her concern, I don’t need it,” Cara responded, trying to be careful with her words. “You and I go out to eat all the time, so you know that’s just silly!” Roman saved her from having to delve into that any deeper, because her responded with the requested phrase, and it had Cara giggling. “You were right, he does say it in a funny way,” she admitted to Holly, after she played it aloud. “But that’s just his accent! It’s the way people talk over there. Maybe Chanel and Roman will give us tours of where they grew up,” she suggested. Holly clearly wasn’t very worldly (maybe Makayla should have been worrying about that instead of spending energy obsessing over Cara’s body????), so a trip to London was clearly warranted.

To: Roman
She was right, you are weird 😜

To: Roman
She also wants a tour of London. Are you going home this summer? ​
 
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Fantasy Chronicles of Cre' Est (Gweynura)
adventure chronicles of cre' est conflict
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