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Makalya Wright

"Patience is a virtue."

0 · 1,941 views · located in New York City

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

Description

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Full Name:
Makayla Alexis Wright

Nickname(s):
Kay

Age:
26

Date of Birth:
July 26th

Sexuality:

Bisexual

Hex Code:
#FF8400

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Personality:
Makayla is a girl with a lot of layers, and a thick armor around her true self. She's guarded and thinks it's best to remain that way, because she doesn't want to get close to many people. Not a lot of people understand the pain that she went through as a child, or how it's made trusting people so difficult for her. She has enough on her plate as it is now, with Holly, with how her chance at a future was tossed to the wind when she accepted custody of Holly, and how her mental sanity is on a downward spiral that never seems to end. The last thing that she needs are complicated relationships with anyone else in her life, be it close friends or romantic relationships, so she tends to keep to herself. Stay in her lane, if you will. She minds her own business, does her own thing, and tries to stay out of people's way, and hopes everyone will grant her with that same courtesy. Because of this, a lot of the time she will seem indifferent towards a lot of things. She won't make you feel very loved and welcomed, but she also won't make it seem like she hates you. She's not truly that plain and simple, but it's easier that way. In a way, she was forced to grow up very quickly, so she's never had time for petty drama or childish games. She likes to be upfront with people, or stay out of things all together.

To those that she's very close with, and those are few and far between, she's softer. She's protective and caring and has more of a conscience and heart that she wants to give herself credit for. She has a good head on her shoulders, a lot of common sense, and the ability to sacrifice her own comfort and wants to make sure her family is taken care of. It's undeniable that she's a strong girl. Strong definitely isn't a characteristic she would use to describe herself, but to go through what she's went through, and to accept this whole new challenge of taking care of Holly when she didn't need to attests to it. Even on her lowest days, when she swears that she's going to kill herself, she somehow manages to make it through, and a lot of the time, with a fake smile on her face.

Likes:
Chocolate and alcohol are the keys to her heart. Red wine gets you bonus points, but she doesn't have money to buy a pair of ten dollar shoes most days, so a cheap bottle of vodka will do the trick too. Dealing with the ball of energy she calls her sister leaves her with no patience by the end of the day, so 99% of the time, marijuana is the only thing that has kept her from taping Holly's mouth shut by six o'clock. Said little sister is one of her 'likes' as well, though the love isn't always showed. She likes money (who doesn't?!), but likes the stability that comes with it rather than the thrill of being able to splurge.

Dislikes:
She has common dislikes, like certain foods such as taffy, cinnamon flavored gum, bananas, chicken patties and chili. She was never a fan of the snow. She hates long bus rides and misplacing her metro card for the subways. She grew up around roaches and pests, but spiders still creep her out, and thanks to allergies,dislikes cats and dogs. Aside from the normal dislikes, there are a lot of times where she dislikes being responsible for Holly. The girl is her world and she loves her, but she doesn't think it's fair that at twenty-three-years-old, she's stuck taking care of her. She would never say it out loud, but Holly can be a burden and there are times when Kay is sure that if she didn't have to care for Holly, she might have been able to leave New York and gotten her life together somewhere else. It's so hard for her to focus on herself when she's taking care of a girl who has the attention span of a child, but at the same time, it's impossible for her to not love Holly like a sister and that dislike will never be enough for her to abandon her.
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Hometown:
South Bronx

Job:
She works as a cocktail waitress at a gentleman's club at night part time, works three days a week as a cashier at Duane Reade, and though she's trying to quit it all together, she still tampers with prostitution when money is running low.

History:
Makayla was born into a dysfunctional family, but it wasn't something that was abnormal in her community. She was born in the south Bronx to a crack addict mother, and a drug manufacturing and dealing father. He was an addict as well, but she preferred the addict in her mother, who was just neglectful, over the addict side of her father, who was abusive. Luckily, for most of her childhood, her grandmother looked after. She lived just a few floors up in their apartment building and at least allowed Makayla to make it through her toddler years in one piece, without accidentally consuming a piece of rock cocaine that fell off a coffee table or being the target of one of her father's whizzing beer bottles at three in the morning.

When she was ten years old, her mother was arrested for soliciting prostitution, and she never came home. She was released from jail, Makayla knows that much, but she just never saw the woman again. She doesn't know if her father threatened to kill her if she ever came back, or if the woman finally realized that her baby daddy was going to kill her if she stayed with him. All Makayla knows is that she was no real mother to abandon her. Maybe that's why it's been so hard for her to abandon Holly. She knows the pain, and she can't put that on someone else.

Holly is her stepsister, even though they aren't legally even related. Holly's mother was one of the women that Makayla's father spent a lot of time with after her mother disappeared. Holly was five years old when she first moved into the house, and at first, Kay hated her, but liked her all the same. She was annoying as hell, always touching things and making noise, but it shifted the attention of the abuse from her, onto the new girl. Now, Holly could be reasonably blamed for a broken television remote or running out of soap in the bathroom. Even when it wasn't her fault, like it had never been Makayla's, her father would blame her, and beat the girl. To this day, Makayla still feels bad about never stepping in to stop the physical abuse, and then the sexual abuse when that started, but she couldn't. If she did, it would have been her receiving the beatings, and she just knew that she couldn't do that. It wasn't her job to take a beating for a kid she owed nothing to... That's what she tried to tell herself, at least.

She just tried to focus on herself. She went to school, did pretty well given the circumstances, and during her senior year, got into a state college where she could have moved out and dormed there, and potentially started a whole new life, away from all of this mayhem. She couldn't do it though. Even though it would have been financially manageable with loans and financial aid, she just couldn't bring herself to accept the offer. However, she knew that this life wasn't for her, and spent one year at her community college while working part time at CVS before her father and Holly's mother were incarcerated. It all seems fuzzy, reflecting back on it. Police tape covering the apartment door, people in hazmat suits walking in and out, her father's face being shoved into the dirt outside as his hands were cuffed behind his back. Running a drug lab in an apartment building kitchen is nothing to laugh about, and Makayla feels like justice was served for her father... but not for her. She'll still never get her childhood back, and the end result of the arrests was that she somehow accepted custody of Holly, had to drop out of college to work to support them, and then ended up losing the apartment when she couldn't afford the rent. So, they ended up on the streets. Sort of. They moved into Manhattan where Makayla did her best to make friends with people who would let them sleep on their couches, but she couldn't find any work in the city that allowed her to stay with Holly after school too. That's when she turned to prostitution. She did it while working part time in retail, and for a while, that money was the money that was really supporting her. Of course, the profession was more than degrading, dehumanizing, and depressing, but what other choice did she have? Thankfully, things have slowly gotten better, with her obtaining a night job at a gentleman's club in the city as a cocktail waitress, that, along with a couple of days a week as a cashier, is getting her by. That's not to say that she doesn't work the streets when she needs the money now and then, but, it's a lot less frequent than it was. If she has anything good to say about the profession, though, it would be that the connection she made with the building manager, who happened to be one of her "johns", led to her being able to make an arrangement with him where in exchange for some "favors" on her end, he would let her stay in the building for a reduced rent rate until she could get on her feet.

Height:
5'2

Weight:
100 lbs

Face Claim:
Jhene Aiko

So begins...

Makalya Wright's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Tony Garcia Character Portrait: Olivielle Margaret Dumphy Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Ted McBride Character Portrait: Jesse Hall Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Thomas Clemns Character Portrait: Deja Bennie Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Collin Forrester Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson Character Portrait: Loyde Pegasus Character Portrait: Rowan Davidson

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Thursday, November 24th, 2016 - 3 PM


Thanksgiving Day is a holiday typically spent between families, in homes filled with the delicious aromas of various dishes cooking in the kitchen. A game of football will go down in the backyard while dinner is prepared, or some will get an early start on watching Christmas movies that will begin to pop up on certain television channels. People will travel from all across the country to be with their families, because after all, Thanksgiving is the day to give thanks, and for a lot of people, the thing to be most grateful for is their families. However, not everyone is able to spend Thanksgiving with their families. For some, flights or transportation costs are unbearably high. Others may not have been able to get off from work for the holiday weekend, and others don't have family, or don't get along with them, at least, to go and visit. Whatever the circumstances may be, there are some people who find themselves in situations that differ from the traditional ones on the holiday, and coincidentally, that's the case for many of the residents of the fifth floor of the apartment building at 314 W 14th Street, in Manhattan, this year.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon

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Holly and Makayla had begun their day by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade live. They had never done it before, and just in general, this was probably the first time that they were embracing anything related to the holiday. Holly loved holidays, and especially after Holly and Makayla started a life separate from their parents, the girl had only grown in her enthusiasm for those special days of the year. However, the first Thanksgiving that they were on their own, they were struggling a lot financially, and at that point, didn't even have cable or a television in their studio apartment to watch the parade. Makayla had probably had an exceptionally rough night the night before, so the idea of standing outside in the cold wouldn't have gone over well with her either. Last year, things were still even tighter than they were this year, and given that they had different roommates at the time who both left town, Holly and Makayla had spent the holiday in a quiet manner, almost as if it were a normal day. This year, however, things were different. A few weeks back, Cara had invited them over for Thanksgiving dinner, and ever since then, Holly wouldn't let Makayla go a day without hearing about how excited she was for the holiday. It was the first time in her life that she was going to sit down for a real Thanksgiving dinner, with turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing and everything, and she couldn't keep her excitement over that contained, even if she wanted to.

Although Makayla wasn't all that excited to walk about sixty blocks in the brisk morning to reach the starting point of the parade, she did it anyway. Holly was always an early riser, and while they easily could have taken the subway uptown, Holly had woken up early and with an abundance of energy that Makayla was sure would lead to her waking up Sam or Deja if they didn't leave the apartment. If she had money to spare, she could have taken Holly to get breakfast at a local diner beforehand, to kill off that time, but she didn't, and so they spent a good portion of the morning leisurely walking uptown. It tired Makayla out, but then again, lately she seemed to be in a perpetual state of exhaustion, so that was nothing new to her. Besides, she decided that if she could kill off some of Holly's energy early on in the day, they would all be better off later on.

They watched the parade for a little while, but it seemed fairly short, given how long the walk there, and then back, was. Although Holly pleaded that they take the subway back, Makayla insisted that they walk, and it probably was with good reason, because by the time that they returned to their neighborhood, it was already mid-afternoon, and they weren't even heading straight home following that. They had to stop at the grocery store first. "Which one of the balloons was your favorite, Kay? I wish they had one that was like... a pink or a purple dog, with a lot of fur that was like, really fuzzy, and it was actually not a balloon but a real dog. Wouldn't that have been the best thing about the parade?" Holly mused, standing beside Makayla as they walked through the store. She was doing pretty good today about not touching everything she saw, and it helped immensely that Makayla skipped over turning down the candy aisle.

"Yeah, but you know that pink and purple dogs aren't real."

"If you put hair dye on a white dog, then they would be real. You should get me a white dog, and put red hair dye on it so that it matches me. That would be the best Christmas present ever."

"You know you're not getting a dog for Christmas, or for anything. Stop it with that. Now, what were the things that I told you we needed to pick up from here? We have the lemonade, milk, cereal, bread...?" Makayla never could remember to write out a list on paper herself. She always felt so rushed and unorganized, but she just couldn't help it most of the time. It was like she either didn't have the time to do these things, or she had the time, but not the energy.

"Macaroni and cheese! We almost forgot that and that would have been horrible. And... oh! You said we could get something to bring to Cara's house. I think we should bring cookies, I bet Cara would love that!"

Holly was right, that those were the two things that they were forgetting. Macaroni and cheese and lemonade, combined with an occasional helping of chicken fingers or a grilled cheese, seemed to wholly encompass Holly's diet. Makayla tried to get her to eat better, she really did, but with such a picky taste palate, Makayla didn't have it in her budget to constantly buy new, healthier foods for Holly, only to have her take one bite and refuse to eat anymore. After grabbing a couple of boxes of macaroni and cheese from an aisle, Makayla led Holly towards the freezer section of the store. She could have purchased the box mix, and baked cookies that way, or she could have purchased pre-made cookies, but given her options, the frozen "ready to bake" ones seemed like the best choice. The pre-made cookies would make her look lazy, she thought, and at least with these cookies, she could just brush it off to the high-standards Cara as the chosen dessert because Holly wanted to play a role in baking them. Seeing that they cost $4.50 made her cringe, but she placed them in their basket regardless. Even once they were at the register, and their total came to just over twenty dollars, Makayla tried to act unbothered. It nearly hurt her physically to have to hand the money over to the cashier, knowing that they had used up all of their SNAP benefits for the month a week or so back, but she did it anyway. She barely had any money, but what was she supposed to do? Let her sister starve? Show up to a Thanksgiving dinner, where they would be fed for free, without even a little something to offer? They were poor, but Makayla still had manners, and she knew that that was unacceptable. Cara did a lot for them, more than Makayla could ever thank her for, and even though she knew she wouldn't necessarily be able to relax tonight at her house, she did know, at least, that Holly would be fed, and that for the first time ever, they would actually be having a traditional Thanksgiving.

The grocery store that they were shopping at was only a block or two away from the apartment, so the walk home from here was much shorter. "Who else do you think Cara invited? Maybe Brooklyn? Or Weston? Or Olivi-elle-elle-elle? Or Tony? That would be fun if they came, right? Ooooh, and if Rowan comes, we can tell him how he looked just like the Elf on the Shelf balloon!" She gushed, swinging the light grocery bag she was carrying as she paced a few steps ahead of Makayla on their way up to the fifth floor. Though her legs had been tired a few minutes ago from all of the walking, thinking about how exciting the night was going to be, her energy and enthusiasm negated any lethargy her limbs were feeling for the moment.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson

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#, as written by Bandit
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Makayla was tempted to say "nice try" to Brooklyn, as she listened to the girl try and goad a more mature answer out of Holly than Holly gave her, but she opted to keep her mouth shut. She and Brooklyn had been on good terms lately, and beyond that, Makayla was too tired for even the pettiest of squabbles with the blonde right now. Her arms felt like they were about to snap with the heavier of the grocery bags weighing them down, especially given that she had just had to carry them up five flights of stairs, plus the couple of blocks worth of the walk home. "Put everything aside from the cookies away, okay? We need to make sure that we're organized first, and then we can put these in the oven," Makayla said to her sister as she opened the door. Things that were common sense to most people, were the most necessary things to remind Holly of, it seemed. She either forgot, or what Makayla tended to think was more of the case lately, she just simply preferred to do the "fun" things, and liked to pretend to overlook the more tedious ones.

"Why do you think Tony invited Brooklyn over, and not us?" was all that Holly answered with, before following her question up with an unrelated squeal. "I'm so excited for Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving, it's my new favorite holiday!" Inside, her attention shifted quickly again, and Makayla's words from just a second before went in one ear and out the other as she set the grocery bag that she was carrying down by the door and continued inside without it. The first thing that had caused her attention to tray was the way that the apartment was filled with an aroma that was so good, it was impossible to ignore. Holly was picky when it came to foods, and it was likely that she would scrunch her nose in distaste at most of the dishes that created this wonderful smell, but she could still appreciate how good it smelled. It only added to the festive mood that was so easy for her to get into. The second thing that she noticed, and that she noticed more consciously, was the man standing in their kitchen. She would have expected to see Sam or Deja, but instead, it was their neighbor Theodore. "Theo, I think you're in the wrong apartment," Holly informed him, a look of skepticism on her face. Deja must have escaped down the hallway just a second before, because as she and Makayla walked in, the only person left in the kitchen was the boy, who Holly knew, certainly did not live here. She wasn't against him being in the apartment, per se, but it was just instinctive for her to point out things she noticed, and this was one of those things that seemed noteworthy. "And if something is in the oven, you definitely need to take it out because me and Makayla have cookies to bake, and that's more important than anything else in the world right now," she said, taking on an uncharacteristically stern tone now, even though she really didn't know if anything was even still in the oven. "But we'll let you have one when they're ready! We're bringing them to Cara's house because we went to watch the parade today, and she invited us over to have turkey and other Thanksgiving things for dinner, like the pilgrims did on Thanksgiving! And then, you know what happened after that? Like, the next day the Native Americans still thought the pilgrims were nice and stuff, but then they gave them a million kind of sicknesses, even worse than a sore throat or a cold, and they killed all of the nice Native Americans who just wanted to have fun in their lives! It was so rude and I hope you're never like the pilgrims were, Theo. I would have to tell you that we can't be friends and everyone in the apartment building would probably tell you to get out, and we would send you to Alaska or Antarctica, all alone."

If Holly had taken a breath anywhere during that tangent she went off on, Makayla would have cut in to shut her up, but in between grabbing the grocery bag that the redhead predictably dropped by the door, and then managing to carry it and the two heavy ones already in her hand, into the kitchen, she wasn't able to. After she shot Theo an apologetic look, she looked towards Holly and really, really tried to be patient. "We're not sending him off anywhere, Holly. Stop talking crazy like that," she said, as she maneuvered through the kitchen to put the milk and lemonade into the fridge, before unpacking the other bags, since she knew asking Holly to do it would be futile. "Is Deja's turkey in the oven?" Makayla said, addressing Theo now. She knew that Deja was hosting a Thanksgiving celebration of her own, here, so that would've made sense anyway, especially given the smell. "We can put the cookies on a tray, and then you can bring them down the hall and see if someone will let us use their oven for ten minutes, if that's the case," she said, returning to address Holly, then, since she knew that if she didn't finish with that, Holly would throw in some dramatic response about how cookies were still more important than Deja's turkey.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson

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xxxSAMxHARRIS
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xxxlocation: street xxxoutfit: here

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xxx"should i spell it out for you?
xxxno one here is bulletproof.
xxxso what are you to do?
xxxbattle. battle on through."
x


Eyeing the shelves of drinks in front of her, Sam sighed. Tony was presumably caught up in the cooking, which meant that she didn't have any guidance as to the drinks to buy. Eventually, she picked up stuff to make her favourite cocktail and a six pack of beer. Not terribly exciting, but then again, it was a Thanksgiving dinner, not an actual party. It wasn't even the dinners of her past where she'd taken advantage of her client's tab to get as many drinks as she could get into her without appearing totally drunk. Turned out she had a bit of a talent for that.

She paid for the drinks and started the walk back to the apartment, the bag slung over her wrist. She reached it back to the madness of the fifth floor in record time, thanks to the cold air, and decided to stop at 5B to dump her stuff and get her brownies. There appeared to be an odd moment of relative peace, as the only people to be seen were Makayla, Holly, and Theo.

"Holy sh-" she quickly stopped herself, remembering Holly's presence. "Something smells fantastic," she finished. "Tell Deja to keep me some," she added as she started trying to remember which cupboard she'd hidden the brownies in. "So, Holly, did you enjoy the parade this morning?" Sam asked as she leaned up to retrieve them from an upper shelf. "You know, I've never actually been to that parade. I would have gone with you, but unfortunately, I had to sleep and then go for a run," she added.

"What was your favourite part?" She asked the younger girl, turning around to lean against the counter and sitting the covered brownies on top of the bag of drinks.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Deja Bennie Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson

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D E J A - B E N N I E
Location: Apartment 5B
Hex Code: #7c6d96
Deja's roommates entered the apartment right as Deja disappeared into her room. Instead of going to the bathroom to take a shower for dinner, Deja decided that a readjustment of the hair would do. Looking into her closet Deja decided on a pair of loose grey high waisted pants, a maroon shirt that read "Sassy since birth" in black letters, and comfy black flats.

With her handy turkey hat in hand, Deja went back into the common space. She threw the hat onto the couch before drawing too much attention. "You can use the oven," she piped in. "Everything is done. Just staying warm." Seeing Holly Deja made her way over to her and gave her a side hug and head kiss as she said "Hey, cutie. Hope the parade was fun." Usually Deja wasn't this happy about seeing Holly, but the holiday was getting her all warm and fuzzy inside. This was especially strange considering Deja was still completely sober.

Speaking of sober the tall blonde found her way to the fridge and grabbed two beers. One for herself and one for Theo. She opened both of the bottles while listening to the chatter in the room. Thanksgiving was always a good holiday for Deja. It was always hosted at her father's house with every relative she could think of, including her mother. Just enjoying the conversations around her reminded her of her time at home. She wasn't on great terms with her father at the moment, but she secretly wished she was at Bennie Thanksgiving dinner.

Deja handing the beer to Theo before she went over to the coach and plopped down into the cushions. She took a long sip before speaking again. "So, people should be getting here in an hour. Then the fun begins!" She looked around the apartment for a moment, wondering if there was something that she missed. It didn't look like it.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tony Garcia Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Jesse Hall Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Deja Bennie Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson Character Portrait: Rowan Davidson

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Theodore Henderson
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Location: Apartment 5B
Hex Code: #9E6D2B

As Theodore watched Deja walk away to go get ready, his phone chimed inside of his pants pocket and he took it out to see Jesse's name scroll across the screen. He had opened up the message and couldn't hold back his chuckle once he read the message. Theo couldn't help but feel a little bit bad for Jesse now as she started to type a reply towards his roommate.

To: Jesse
Sorry. Thought Rowan would've rolled with you. I can stop by, if you wish.


Theodore sent the message and bit his bottom lip, hoping that Jesse wouldn't really want him to stop by. Not that he didn't want to but it'd just bring up a bad memory between himself and Cara. His ears twitched whenever he heard approaching footsteps, wondering to himself how did Deja get ready so fast. He turned around briefly then heard the chipper voice of Holly. His gaze turned towards her and Makayla now as his eyes widened. "Ahh! Am I really?!" Theodore jokingly said towards Holly as she mentioned something about the oven. "Oh, uhm..." Was all he could get out as Holly rambled on and on about Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and the Indians. He would've stopped her but that seemed like a bad idea, especially with Makayla standing right there beside her.

Not really knowing what to say once Holly was done, his eyes went towards Makayla who addressed him now and he nodded his head but that was it. His eyes went over towards Sam as she entered the kitchen now and a breath of relief came from Theo, himself. He shot Sam a wave of his hand then heard her ask Holly about the parade. He screamed a little then went over towards Holly and towered over her a little bit. "Oh, my gosh! You saw the parade live?! I am so envious of you two right now." Theodore wanted to go and see the parade live, too but couldn't really find someone to go with him, not that he really asked anyone to go either. But he sure would've went with Holly if he had known that she was going.

Soon, Deja entered back into the area where everyone else was situated now and then she handed him a beer before going over towards the couch. Theodore took a sip from the beverage and walked right behind Deja then sat down beside her. "So, what are we going to do for an hour?" Theodore muttered towards Deja as he pulled out his cell phone, just to wish a few people a happy Thanksgiving in case he wasn't going to see them for the day.

To: Jude :)
Happy Thanksgiving, dude!


To: Rowan :D
Dude, where are you? Deja is still wanting to know if you're coming over or not.


To: The Garcia Siblings
Happy Thanksgiving, you two!


Theodore sat his phone down on the couch beside him then took another sip from his beer, waiting for people to respond to his texts as he let out a sigh. "We could plan our next prank." Theodore mentioned towards Deja in a whisper, smiling a little bit.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Deja Bennie Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson

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#, as written by Writer
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H O L L Y . M A D D O N
Location: Apartment 5E
Outfit
Hex: #db0083

ADHD took a human form in Holly, and the way that each one of her train of thoughts ended abruptly and churned into an unrelated topic was simply part of her character by now. A lot of people found it to be at least mildly bothersome, and though she was so used to it now that she barely thought anything of it, there were definitely times when she recognized it and was frustrated by it as well. At times like this, when she didn't need to focus on anything, it was easier not to care, but there were other times, like in school, where she could be pushed to tears because she knew she needed to focus, and her teachers would constantly tell her that she needed to stay on task, but she just couldn't. No matter what she did, she couldn't keep her mind focused on anything. For a moment, she would be reading along to the text that her teacher was reading aloud, and the next minute her mind could only focus on the background noise of the clock ticking as each second passed by. A second later her eyes wandered towards the movement of a boy's tapping foot, a few desks up, and that would remind her of a television show she had watched the night before that involved tap dancing. It wasn't normal daydreaming, the way she became distracted. It was literally an inability to focus on anything, be it the boring school stuff, or those daydreams that most people used to escape. Her mind was always racing, and when it caught up to her, even she could acknowledge how tiring it was.

Most of the time, she talked just because she liked talking, though. So if people didn't respond or couldn't respond, because they had no idea what she was talking about, she barely noticed. She was used to it, even, and since talking for her was the easiest outlet to allow all of her thoughts to be relinquished from her crowded mind, a lot of the time she wasn't even speaking in search of a response from anyone. That was why she didn't think anything of Theo skipping over the bulk of what she said and just honing in on the fact that she had went to the parade. With an enthusiastically proud smile, she nodded. She would have said more, if not for Sam coming inside. She captured Holly's attention now, and the fact that Sam was actually engaging with her first gave Holly all the more reason to want to respond as energetically as possible. "My favorite part was when me and Makayla were watching the parade and stuff, and then a policeman walked past with a police dog. It was a dog who was smart enough to have a real job, and he knows how to find bombs and save the world, and the only reason that me and Makayla survived is because he probably found all of the bombs at the parade before they exploded, so you should definitely thank him if you see him ever, because if me and Makayla exploded, the only friend you would have left would be Deja. And I guess Theodore would be your friend too, but boys aren't as good of friends as girls are. Except Weston. He's my friend and he's a boy and he's a good friend, but if he was a girl, he would probably be a better friend, but either way, now you can say the most thankful thing you're thankful for on Thanksgiving is me and Makayla being your best friends in the world, and what are you hiding under there? But actually, I don't think you would have liked the parade police dog as much as me, because I know you like cats better than dogs, right? And I bet he would have hated you for that because it's not a very good choice, Sam." At the end of her whirlwind of a response, Holly was still pointing to the covered dish that Sam had set on top of a grocery bag, even though the inquiry about the brownies wasn't the last thing that came out of her mouth.

Deja came over then, another easy way for Holly's attention to stray. She smiled upon the girl's greeting, and wasn't bothered by the physical aspect of it either. Holly was usually the person in most relationships who was more touchy-feely than the other party was comfortable with. It wasn't ever in a weird or sexual sense, but she just struggled to get a grasp on what social boundaries were. If Sam wasn't wearing a hat, it was likely that Holly would have reached out to touch her ears to see if they were as cold as she was sure hers were when she had first gotten inside. She liked to touch people's hair, and hold hands, and hug people. It was all innocent for her, but understandably, strangers weren't all that fond of someone who they only knew as the person who was sitting next to them on the subway touching their shirt or bag just because Holly thought it was a pretty color. Deja maneuvered over towards the fridge, and then to the couch with Theo before Holly could formulate a proper response, but she did turn back to Sam after hearing the tallest roommate's words. "Why did she say the fun is going to begin in an hour, when me and you are already here and it's already fun?" she inquired, a look of confusion plastered on her face.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Deja Bennie Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson Character Portrait: Rowan Davidson

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#, as written by la.lune


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rowan

w e a r i n g : x
l o c a t i o n : Apartment 5C - 5B
h e x : #7E2A2A



Rowan had spent Thanksgiving morning on the phone to his little sister, who had been bubbling with excitement as she told him about all the plans her and their father had for today. Of course, he was sad that he couldn't spend Thanksgiving with them, but having moved so far away, Rowan really didn't have the money to just pop down whenever he wanted. Currently, the boy was trying to save up so that he could spend Christmas with his family, meaning that Thanksgiving would have to be spent alone. Or so he thought. That's until Deja sent him a text to see if he wants to come to hers for dinner. Happily, Rowan sends his friend a text back.

To: Deja
Heading over now, hope u got enough food for ur fave ;-)


At that moment, Rowan's phone beeps with an incoming text and he looks down to see both his roommates have messaged him. Biting his bottom lip, Rowan stands from his seat on the windowsill of his bedroom as he grabs a pair of black jeans from the ground and pulls them on, having still been in his pyjamas (which were actually just his underwear and an old t-shirt). Shooting off some replies, Rowan heads to the bathroom and glances at himself in the mirror.

To: Theo
Dw I'm coming, do u really miss me that much? I'm honoured.

To: Jesse
Sorry dude, Deja already invited me over to hers. See u later @ the apartment tho?


After sending those messages, Rowan swaps his t-shirt for the first clean one and grabs a flannel shirt to chuck over it as he hunts down his keys in the living-room, finding them with a satisfied smirk, Rowan plays with them as he exits the apartment, hair still vaguely messy from his lay-in and then long conversation with his sister in which Rowan didn't even leave his bedroom, let alone get dressed.

Heading one apartment up, Rowan knocks lightly on the door before letting himself in, Deja had left the door on latch so that guests could come in, Rowan assumed. Seeing an already small crowd of people having gathered, Rowan shoots a smile to everyone before walking over to where they all stood. Giving Sam's arm a squeeze and sending an extra warm smile to Holly who reminded him of his little sister so much, Rowan was glad he could spend Thanksgiving with his New York family, although there's no doubt he greatly missed his sister and father. "Happy Thanksgiving guys." Rowan begins, his accent still pretty thick for having lived in America half his life, but that was because his formative years were spent in the heart of Dublin. He found it weird that he used to never even celebrate this holiday - back in Ireland, of course, no one did. It was only when they moved to America and Rowan became close with his American side of the family that they really started to celebrate it. Despite not really holding much meaning for Rowan he still enjoyed that everyone could get together and be thankful for all that they have.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Deja Bennie Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson Character Portrait: Rowan Davidson

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D E J A - B E N N I E
Location: Apartment 5B
Hex Code: #7c6d96
Deja slumped into the couch further as she listened to Holly's confusion. God, that's a funny kid. A small snort escaped her lips as she lifted her bottle high above her head."Look, babe, you know I love you but-" her comment was interrupted by Rowan entering in the apartment. Deja jumped to her feet. "Rooooowwwaaaann!"She cooed excitedly. It wasn't unusual for Deja to greet her friends with such gusto, but she was especially excited about today and she was running off of her own energy. Soon the space between them was gone and Deja was giving Rowan a light hug and a kiss to each cheek. Her phone had been in her room all morning so she hadn't gotten his text about coming over. "I'm so glad you could make it," she said.

"You're a little early, but I don't mind. Come sit with us and have a beer." Deja said, sliding to fridge and grabbing another beer. Deja was the type of person that didn't really care if you didn't want a beer, she was going to open it for you anyway. If you really didn't want one then it would all be fine, she would just drink another one. While making her way back to the couch she handed Rowan the beer. "Come along then," she said in a comical (and terrible) Irish accent. With a plop she was sitting back down next to Theo, and scooted over so that Rowan could sit next to her if he wanted. The couch wasn't terribly big, but three people could sit semi-comfortably on it.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Thomas Clemns Character Portrait: Deja Bennie Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson Character Portrait: Rowan Davidson

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"I hope I'm not late or anything," Thomas announced as he walked in the apartment carrying an armload of liquor. Just the essentials: vodka, fine wine, and bourbon. No one ever accused him of drinking lightly. He raised an eyebrow at Sam. He had seen her at the liquor store, but he hadn't managed to talk to her. At Holly's rambling, he laughed.

"Take a deep breath once in a while, Holly. I wake up at night worried you finally suffocated from speaking so much," he teased. Seeing his roommate, he smiled at her as he walked into the kitchen and set the liquor up on a out-of-the-way countertop before pouring himself a drink and returning with a slight smile.

"So, what are we thankful for?" he asked curiously.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Tony Garcia Character Portrait: Olivielle Margaret Dumphy Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Ted McBride Character Portrait: Jesse Hall Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Thomas Clemns Character Portrait: Deja Bennie Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Collin Forrester Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson Character Portrait: Loyde Pegasus Character Portrait: Rowan Davidson Character Portrait: Dane Elkner Character Portrait: Jade Brooks

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Thursday, November 24th, 2016 - 5:30 PM


Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Jesse Hall Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Collin Forrester

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

Location: Apartment 5E
Outfit: This
Hex Code: #1BB3F5
xxxxx
Being positive required some effort, but for the most part, Cara wasn't the Thanksgiving version of a Bridezilla. The food smelled good, and though she had only reheated them after being delivered from a couple of different upscale restaurants in the city, she decided that she had a right to take pride in the traditional holiday smell that filled the apartment. If the place had happened to smell like smoke and burned food, she would have easily blamed her brother, but since things were going well, she decided to hold onto the credit. Collin had pulled the turkey out of the oven about forty-five minutes ago, and Cara stood beside him at the counter as he carved into it. Surprisingly, she kept her mouth shut too. As each sliver fell off of the cooked bird, the voice inside her head was running rampant about how he was either cutting it unevenly thin or thick, and how he was completely incompetent, but the more rational side of Cara knew that in reality, he was doing just fine. There was no way that she would be able to do any better, at least. With Brooklyn, Jesse, Jude, herself, Collin, Makayla and Holly present, there would be just enough room at the table for the seven of them, if they pulled over one extra chair to add to the original six. It would be tight, yet doable. However, given that she wasn't particularly close with Jude, did not want to have to sit across from Brooklyn, and understood that the entire table would probably have a headache if they were forced to sit with Holly all night, Cara decided that sitting at the table would be optional. There were two extra seats at the kitchen island, plus the couch and chair in the living room that people could sit at. Casual wasn't usually Cara's idea of a good party, but she didn't think she had anyone to impress here. No, she knew that she had no one to impress here. The only reason why she was having Thanksgiving was to prove a point to her father. If it had only been her and Collin here, she would have been just as content as having the other four included too.

Halfway through Collin's carving, Cara realized that the turkey she ordered was probably over sized given the amount of people here. She stopped Collin then, and took the plate containing the pieces he had already cut and set it down on the table, where the numerous other side dishes were laid out. Though she was hungry now, especially with the smell of so many foods flooding her senses for the past hour, she wasn't going to make a plate immediately. That wouldn't have been the proper thing to do as a hostess, she decided. Besides, refilling her glass of wine was more important than food, so as she made her way over to the counter where she had laid out various alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink choices, she called out, "The food is ready. You guys can make a plate and eat wherever, if you're hungry," as nonchalantly as possible. She liked playing hostess, and preparing a party was enjoyable to her, but again, the crowd that she was serving didn't make her feel like she had to bring her A-game. Their opinion of her Thanksgiving wouldn't matter that much to her, partially because she didn't care, but also because there was still that part of her that knew that they were below her. No Thanksgiving that they had ever experienced could compare to the ones that she had, back at home, she thought. Their rinky-dink get togethers with their tacky aunts and uncles were laughable in comparison to the posh celebrations her family hosted. In Cara's world, it was the image that mattered, and that's why hers were superior. She had never really experienced a family party or family bond in itself, where the emotions and memories were more important than how expensive the wine was, or how A-list the guests were, so she didn't understand that there were some people who only cared about having a good time at parties, no matter what else happened.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Deja Bennie Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson

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[font=Times New Roman]Location: Apartment 5B
Outfit: This
Dialogue Code: #FF3300
Thought Code:#FF8000


Olivielle poured Jude two fingers of whiskey on ice and herself a mixed drink of orange juice and vodka. She perched gently on the edge of the couch and sipped her drink. They spoke for several minutes, Liv simply enjoying the conversation. When they said their goodbye's she couldn't help but feel a little giddy at the thought of their meeting later that evening.

"I'll see you tonight....ah...text me and let me know when you want to meet up" She said as he was leaving.

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Olivielle dropped off the first pie she made to Cara's apartment with a quick 'Happy Thanksgiving' and a wave good bye. She was excited to see her friend Deja and wanted to soak up all the good times she could, while hanging out with her friends. She knocked on the door but didn't wait for a reply to enter.

"Dejaaaaa, I'm home you foxy lady" Liv called as she entered the apartment. She brought the pie she made and went straight to the kitchen to see if anyone needed help....not that she doubted Deja's abilities what so ever.

"Am I early?" she asked

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon

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#, as written by Bandit
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M a k a y l a ~ W r i g h t
Hex Code: #FF8400
People could hate on Cara Forrester for a lot of reasons. She was superficial and materialistic and toted a holier than thou attitude. It wasn't one that Makayla had ever personally had to deal with, because Cara was nothing short of pleasant with her, always, but Makayla could understand why some people weren't the blonde's number one fan. With that said, though, Makayla was the first person who would vouch for Cara also being the most generous person she knew. For a while, she had debated whether what Cara was really counted as being generous. It was one thing to give when you had lots to give, but different when you were giving the little that you had, and it was only the first scenario that applied to Cara. Regardless, though, Makayla couldn't complain. Cara watched Holly for free multiple times a week, which allowed Makayla to work without worrying about Holly burning the apartment building down while she was gone. While watching her, it was typical for Cara to take Holly out to dinner, or buy her a new pair of shoes, or take her to see the movie that she had been begging Makayla to take her to see for weeks. Sometimes Makayla felt like Cara overstepped boundaries by giving Holly so much when she, herself, couldn't give her any of that, but again, it was a situation that Makayla knew she couldn't rightfully complain about. The pros outweighed the cons and if Cara being incredibly good to Holly meant that Makayla had to suppress her pride, then that was what she was going to do.

Tonight was a perfect example of how Makayla didn't think that Cara was all that bad of a person. She was hosting Thanksgiving dinner on her own dollar, and had invited Holly and her without the invitation seeming forced or out of guilt. That was something that Makayla paid attention to frequently in her interactions with others, so it said something that she actually felt comfortable showing up to Cara's without feeling like a burden. There wasn't too much time between when they arrived and when Cara announced that the food was ready, but Makayla was still relieved when she did. She was beyond hungry at that point, having only eaten something for breakfast earlier on. After spending money that she knew she couldn't afford to spend at the grocery store today, Makayla had opted to skip having a late lunch when they got home, because eating any of that food would make her feel like she was eating literal dollar bills. The end of the month was always the trickiest time for her financially, so Makayla was just relieved that right now, she could eat as much as she wanted without having to worry about it. "Oh my God, everything looks amazing," Makayla gushed as she headed into the kitchen, from where she was sitting in the living room with Holly. She had told Holly to come in as well, but she wasn't going to press the issue. A television was the one thing that could keep Holly in one place with her mouth shut, and if it the trade off to that was Makayla having to make herself and Holly a plate on her own, she was completely fine with that. "Thanks again for having us over, Cara. She probably told you this, but she's never actually done a real Thanksgiving dinner for her before, so this is a big deal," she said with a small laugh, as she stood beside the blonde for long enough to refill her own glass of wine. When she could get her hands on good wine like this, without it coming out of her pocket, wine was her go-to drink over liquor or beer.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Jesse Hall Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Collin Forrester

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C O L L I N - F O R R E S T E R

Location: Apartment 5E
Outfit: This
Hex Code: #7d9959
xxxxx
Collin had a lot of patience in him, and that was the only reason for why he made it through the afternoon, dealing with Cara's constant over-his-shoulder presence. On good days, she was simply annoying, but on days like today, she was closer to being unbearable. Did she not realize that he was only here to do her a favor? He easily could have been sitting in the dining room of their father's home right now, as the house staff literally carried their food to them on silver platters. Yet, here he was, slaving away over a Thanksgiving meal that she was going to take credit for (and criticize him for, in the process). He didn't even want credit, because it wasn't like either of them had actually done anything with these dishes other than cook or reheat them. All of the hard work had been done at the restaurants that had sent them here, so it wasn't even that Collin wanted to be praised for work he didn't do. All he wanted, was for his sister to get off his back and start thanking him instead. This was Cara though, and Collin was the smart one in the family, so yeah, he was well aware that that was never going to happen. If he had nothing else to be happy about tonight, at least right now, Collin was just happy that all of the food was on the table, and he could finally try to relax. Makayla and Holly were always pleasant, and Jude was always good company too, so he figured that the night didn't have to be a complete train wreck. Worst case scenario, he decided, he could sneak back to his room after dinner and just finish the art history paper he had been trying to complete all morning.

He had forgotten entirely of Weston's promise to stop over, until there was a knock at the door. Collin already had a plate in his hand at that point, but hadn't put anything on it, and given that he was the closest person to the door as he rounded the corner of the island, he figured he should open it. He was glad he did too, given that he hadn't seen the text Wes sent him. "Hey, Holly! Look who finally showed up!" was the first thing that came out of Collin's mouth after opening the door. He turned back to Weston with a smirk, though it was a good-natured one. He was sure that Wes was going to give him some bullshit excuse for why he couldn't stay, and though Collin doubted that he would be able to talk him out of abandoning him so quickly, Holly might be able to. Even if she couldn't change his mind, the way that she could run her mouth could leave Wes stranded here for twenty extra minutes, depending on how many times Collin suggested she tell Wes more about the dog she had mentioned seeing at the parade, or about what she was thankful for today. Exploiting the girl's good nature was probably mean, but Collin couldn't help himself from getting a laugh out of it at Weston's expense. In his defense, it was usually him who had to listen to all of Holly's stories when Cara brought her over here, so allowing Wes to feel some of his pain (in terms of this Thanksgiving gathering and that) seemed only fair. "Sorry man, but not even one of Tony's pies is enough to get you out off your friendship obligation with me to at least see what I've got to put up with for the night, so step on in," he said, stepping aside to welcome Wes into the apartment.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Jesse Hall Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Collin Forrester

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J U D E ----- D E M A R C O
Location: Street / Apartment building
Hex Code: #6b8e66

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Jude had been avoided direct contact with everyone. He wasn't particularly pleased the majority of his company. Namely Jesse, who was honestly just the worst in Jude's opinion. Then there was Holly, who could be funny at times but she was too excited to even say something remotely interesting. And of course, the queen of it all, Cara. She had managed to remain calm through the rest of the "cooking" process, which Jude marked as an achievement, but now he was dreading the rest of the evening sitting at the same table as her.

He mostly spent the awkward time before everyone was silently stuffing their faces with very slowly and intentionally serving himself a drink. Weston came to door but Jude ignored it, he stood by the drinks and slowly sipped his bourbon. His green eyes scanned over the room, catching some with distain and others with appreciation. As he was actively ignoring the commotion around him, Jude drifted off into his own thoughts. He thought about later tonight with Olivelle and began to daydream of all the scenes that could play out. Jude wasn't stupid by any means, but he wasn't exactly the smooth talking guy that got all the girls. Honestly, he was just glad that she had agreed to come with him.

When Jude heard Brooklyn speak he snapped out of it. That was his cue. "Gladly," he said as he made his way to the chair next to her. "Anything for you, darling." Jude cooed while he put his arm around the back of Brooklyn's chair. Jude smirked at Jesse as he took another swig of his bourbon. Finding no interest in verbally communicating with Jesse, Jude looked at the vast array of food. At least Cara hadn't taken it upon herself to cook because the only redeeming qualities about this dinner was going to be the food and the booze.

The brunette settled into his chair and watched his peers gather their food first. He often liked wait to serve himself last. There was always plenty to go around and he absolutely wanted to avoid any awkward arm bumps, snatching a serving right before someone else, or the dreadful grabbing of the same spoon. So there he sat, feeling a slight victory over his jab at Jesse, and waited.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Jesse Hall Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Collin Forrester

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

Location: Apartment 5E
Outfit: This
Hex Code: #1BB3F5
xxxxx
"You really don't have to thank me!" Cara insisted, waving her hand, that wasn't holding her glass, nonchalantly. "I'd rather you and Holly be here, over Collin and I just eating alone," she then continued with a smile. She refrained from bringing up how Holly and Makayla would also be a good distraction for her, considering that Brooklyn and Jude's company was unwanted. She had extended the dinner invitation to the two of them simply out of politeness. They paid rent to live in the apartment, and so, if she was holding a get together, albeit a small one, sending an invitation their way seemed obligatory. She honestly had imagined that Brooklyn, at least, would have turned down the invitation, for obvious reasons related to their falling out. It didn't make sense that the girl that hated her so much would want to break bread with her at the same table, but then again, Cara supposed that this could be something like Jesus' last supper. Maybe Brooklyn was plotting to betray and kill her tomorrow, or something, she envisioned, as if she could somehow be compared to Jesus. She and Jude weren't immeasurably close either, but Cara minded his presence less than she did Brooklyn. He remained quiet, for the most part, and when they did talk, like earlier this afternoon, he was friendly enough. She understood that it was probably simply out of feeling forced to be kind or polite, but the motives behind it didn't matter, because she could be fake too. Jesse was here too, and his comment that alluded to how badly he wanted to get into Brooklyn's pants made Cara crack a smile, if only because it was a nice signal that there was someone here who was on her side. Jesse wasn't on her side in terms of being anti-Brooklyn, per se, but he was a real friend of hers. Cara trusted Jesse and she knew that he was here because their friendship was real. He, along with Makayla and Holly, and herself and Collin, would have made a fine Thanksgiving dinner, she decided. She didn't need or want Brooklyn or Jude here, but it was what it was, and as long as Cara had her wine, she decided that she could get through anything that this night threw her way.

As she took a step away from Makayla and towards the food, her gaze was averted towards the door, where Collin stood now with Weston Garcia and Holly. Holly called out to her about how Wes had come over to deliver a pie, and how his sister was planning on stopping by with macaroni and cheese and candy, and that comment seemed to elicit Brooklyn's presence, because the blonde chimed in that she heard that Antonia was planning on coming over as well. Initially, it took a lot of self-restraint for Cara to not shoot a glare in her brother's direction. She hadn't invited Tony over, but she wouldn't have doubted that Collin did. Weston was one thing - Cara actually thought he was a nice kid, from the little that she knew of him. His sister though... she just seemed like a bitch. No, Cara didn't know her personally, but she didn't have to. The girl just gave off unwelcoming vibes, she reasoned, and that was enough for her to decide that she didn't want to be friends with her. It wasn't like she cared enough to hate Tony, and it didn't even bother her that Collin seemed to enjoy hanging out at her bar from time to time, but she felt like it was a different story to welcome her into their home, unexpectedly, on Thanksgiving of all days. Though Holly's laugh might have been a signal that she didn't need to take the comment very seriously, Cara had no reason to believe that the younger girl was lying. It wasn't like she wasn't smiling or laughing 99% of the time that she was awake. "You don't want to eat mac and cheese on Thanksgiving, Holl!" Cara opted to respond with, as she placed a hand on the girl's back to usher her away from the door. "Remember how you told me you were so excited to try real Thanksgiving food? Today's the day you get to try it and see for yourself if you like it."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Tony Garcia Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Jesse Hall Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Collin Forrester Character Portrait: Dane Elkner

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T O N Y X G A R C I A
_____ T H EXT O U G HXO N E _____

Outfit: Here
Location: Apartment 5D
Dialogue Color ✦ #FF5100
Thought Color ✧ #AF0100



"No biggie, babe. Some people," Tony went back to pointely staring at Ricky after brushing off Sam's refusal to do the prayer, "can make themselves useful and do it. Might as well repent for their sinful ways." Ricky flipped her the bird again, but considering the light glare his Dad tossed him, Tony was well aware that he was on the way to conceding defeat on this matter. So, Tony only offered a bright grin of triumph and turned back to Sam. "I always want, love." When the other woman went to start making her own drink, Tony turned back to her family just as Miguel had gotten on his feet and nudged Ricky to get on with the prayer. Unless it was a big group, like when the family normally got together, prayer wasn't a huge deal. During the holidays, and big family meals, Tony had to endure long prayers that were honestly filled with more shade and judgement than she was pretty sure the lord needed to hear, and it always had her ready to reach across the table for a dinner roll despite knowing that one of her aunts was watching like a hawk. Luckily, during a low-key dinner like the one she had been planning, all that was needed was a few quick words of thanks and appreciation - spoken with warmth, sure, for the sake of not sounding too much like the heathens they all were - and it was time to eat.

Which was why Ricky didn't take too long nor was Sam needed to be still for the entirety of his prayer. Tony repeated a quiet "Amen" upon the end of his very brisk prayer and exclaimed, "Have at it. That's all any of y'all are good for anyway." Ducking a thrown pillow from one of her cousins, Tony felt her phone vibrate again. For a split second, she thought it would be Wes, informing her that he was hanging with Collin for a few, which was something she had expected. Instead, it was a text from Brooklyn that made her furrow her brows in confusion for a moment before rolling her eyes, responding, and putting her phone back into her pocket in favor of going back to the front door and opening it to see Dane waiting. "Well, hello stranger," she said somewhat breathlessly, playfully, leaning against the door frame, a teasing smirk forming. She made a point of raking her eyes from Dane's shoes up to his eyes, though they both knew how much she flirted with him and didn't always mean it. "Fancy seeing you here."

To: Brooke
Love you, but not enough to bring your other blonde bestie my magnanimous presence. Got food and fam to entertain me with



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W E S T O N X G A R C I A
_____ T H EXS M A R TXK I D _____

Outfit: Here
Location: Apartment 5E
Dialogue Color ✦ #C35817
Thought Color ✧ #730800



Did Wes have every intention of at least staying for a few minutes and doing some Thanksgiving greetings? Definitely. Holly had talked nonstop days before about spending Thanksgiving with Cara, so Wes knew for a fact that he wouldn't be forgiven easily if he didn't at least try to sit with them for a bit. Sure, his and Collin's sisters did not get along, but that had nothing to do with either of them, so he and the blonde male were cool. Good friends, even. That didn't stop Wes from giving Collin a half-hearted glare that he hurried to cover up the second Holly bounded over into his space. "Happy Thanksgiving, Holly," he deadpanned, not even bothering for a moment to correct her on that inclusion of Tony's presence along with two of her favorite foods. Especially considering Brooklyn seeming to agree with the nickname Wes was pretty sure he had never heard from the redhead, which made him blush a lot harder than he wanted to admit. Luckily, Cara had come over to usher Holly away and Wes could officially glare at Collin. "You're a real piece of work, Forrester," he mildly threatened and walked further into the apartment, shoving the dessert (albeit carefully, since Tony would have his head if he managed to destroy her "masterpiece" before a knife could) into Collin's hands as he did so.

Wes' eyes fell on those in attendance and he smiled, shoving his hands into the pockets a touch nervously, but made sure to exude friendliness. "Happy Thanksgiving, everyone," he exclaimed. The only people in the room Wes had much of a relationship was with Holly, Collin, and perhaps Brooklyn. He liked the latter, not a lot considering she was more of Tony's friend and he was probably just Tony's little brother, but she wasn't as mean to him as others might have said. Or had to experience - they didn't talk much. Jesse, again, was Tony's friend and he was frequently at the apartment. The guy wasn't bad, that much Wes had surmised, though he could probably do without the two of them fooling around on some of the late nights considering the walls were thinner than at their childhood home. He and Jude rarely interacted, Makayla was nice when Wes did manage to get more than a few words out of her, and Cara...that was another story altogether. She had never been rude to him, that much was certain. But there was no denying how uncomfortable he sometimes felt knowing what Tony disliked about her and well, sensing it for himself. He understood and empathized a bit better than Tony; if there was a snootiness about Cara, it had been a part of her culture. She couldn't just turn it off at will. At the same time, every now and then, she just didn't make him feel as welcome, though unwittingly on her part, he reasoned. More importantly, though, Wes just didn't know how he was supposed to act in this setting. He had known this apartment had tension for awhile and no one wanted to be in the middle of it, even if everyone seemed like they were going to behave for the holiday. "Tones is entertaining some family right now, but she sent me and the pie to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I don't mean to intrude for too long."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West

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#, as written by Bandit
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M a k a y l a ~ W r i g h t
Hex Code: #FF8400
Holly was so energetic, that a lot of the time, by the time that Makayla noticed that she was doing something that was less welcome than the redhead thought it to be, it was already done and over with, and she had moved on to the next thing. That was the case with her interactions with Weston, it seemed. Makayla liked the younger Garcia, she really did. He seemed to be as genuinely nice to Holly as a kid their age could be. She wanted to give her sister the best and most normal life possible, and though she knew that Weston was probably somewhat only nice to Holly out of pity, she appreciated that he could at least pretend to be a normal friend to her, so much so that Holly was convinced that he was. Nevertheless, it still made Makayla feel uncomfortable when she felt like Holly was infringing on other people's space. It didn't matter that Collin had been the one to call Holly over to the doorway, or that Weston and Collin both seemed fairly unperturbed by her sister. It was just a thing that Makayla had, where she couldn't stand the idea of her or Holly overstepping their boundaries with people. Really, it was at a point where she was nearly paranoid by it. Whenever anyone wanted to do anything kind for them, it was instinctive for Makayla to assume that it was being done out of pity - that the person didn't actually care for them, but found them to be so pathetic that helping them out would count as their good deed of the week. It didn't mean that she didn't appreciate people's kindness, but it often left her feeling uncomfortable, because she hated owing people things, and yet, at the same time, she couldn't repay people. It was easier to not accept anything, to stay out of people's way, and to do what needed to be done on your own. Of course, that was easier said than done with Holly as a sister, considering that while Makayla was confident that she could live a hermit-lifestyle at this point, her sister was the exact opposite.

Cara was ushering Holly away from the door by the time that Makayla said the half-made plate down on the counter to reach them. "Sorry about that," she said, almost instinctively to Cara, even though she wasn't quite sure what she was even apologizing for. For Holly being too loud? Too friendly? Interfering with whatever Collin and Weston were doing? Somehow, an apology always seemed due, just in case. "What do you want to ea--" she had begun to ask Holly what she wanted on her plate, when Brooklyn spoke out, and it wasn't the first time that the blonde's words left Makayla biting her tongue. Makayla knew how Brooklyn worked, in a sense. The blonde liked needling people and getting a rise out of them. She liked stirring the pot and causing trouble. Apparently, it was entertaining. Why, she chose to sometimes be nice, and other times, take on this personality, Makayla didn't think she would ever understand, but she was never amused by this side of Brooklyn. Not only was it unnecessary stress for Makayla to deal with, but it bothered her when people belittled Holly for the sheer purpose of amusement. Her obliviousness was innocent, and in reality, it was sad. Lying and tricking her into believing things or riling her up, for the sole purpose of causing problems was messed up, and what made it more infuriating, was that Makayla was sure that Brooklyn knew with. She wasn't stupid, Makayla knew that.

Though Makayla often came off as being passive and quiet, she, too, had another side. She was raised in the South Bronx, and though she hated that the idea of one's home turf represented who they were as a person, she knew that her upbringing had made her tougher than she let on. Even if it wasn't the fact that she was raised in a very low-income area, where the schools were underfunded, the kids didn't give a fuck, and fights broke out in class every day, it wasn't like she had a great home life. Her father was a violent criminal who didn't care about anyone other than himself. If Makayla didn't know how to fend for herself, she wouldn't have made it out of there, and though she rarely alluded to it, there was a small part of Makayla that wanted to claw Brooklyn's eyes out whenever she made a commotion like this. It was disrespectful, that was the bottom line, and yet, Makayla knew she had too much to lose if she were to go and do that, so like always, she bit back her pride and ignored the blonde. "It's not blood, she's joking," she said, trying to brush over the topic as quickly as possible so as not to allow Holly to engage in it, but also to avoid offending Cara. "And it looks like it tastes really good. So, you want turkey, and what else? I don't want to put anything on this plate that you're not gonna eat."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Sam Harris Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Jesse Hall Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Collin Forrester

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

Location: Apartment 5E
Outfit: This
Hex Code: #1BB3F5
xxxxx
"That's so nice of her," Cara smiled, when Weston explained why he was here. She looked towards her brother, who now had a pie in his hands, before looking back towards the Garcia boy. "Tell her she didn't have to do that, but we appreciate it." Did she like Weston's sister? No. However, that didn't mean that she was going to reject a gift from her. She wasn't going to eat it, because she didn't trust the food that came out of that girl's kitchen, but she was still going to be polite, because that was what hostesses did. It wasn't even being fake, in Cara's mind. It was just fulfilling the role of what she was tonight, and after offering Weston a grateful smile, she turned away, to find Makayla by her side and apologizing for something. She didn't have time to respond and brush it off, before Brooklyn opened her big mouth, though. This was the only reason why Brooklyn intimidated Cara, sometimes. This - this tendency she had to go from acting completely normal and civil, which in their books, basically meant just not speaking for a few days straight, to being catty, in the blink of an eye and for no good reason. It was alarming, because it showed how unpredictable the other blonde was, and understandably, Cara didn't like not knowing what to expect from someone that she knew she had wronged. She attributed it to Brooklyn being mentally unstable, crazy, even, and though that was a dramatic stretch, the way that Brooklyn acted still was unusual and very unique to her, because it seemed like she acted this way, even towards her friends. Some days she was nice and normal, and other days, she was rash and insensitive towards their feelings. Even though Cara knew that Brooklyn was trying to actually antagonize her and not Holly, the fact that she would use Holly as a tool for that only aided in Cara's ability to think lowly of the other girl. She was glad that Makayla stepped in to kindly correct Brooklyn's claim that the gravy on the turkey that Brooklyn had was blood, and with a curt, and very clearly fake, smile, Cara said, "No one's forcing you to eat it. I'm sure the McDonald's down the block is open if real food isn't really your style." Brooklyn would be doing the both of them a favor if she left, and so not to allow herself to get even more worked up, she turned away from the instigator and neared where the food was lined up. She paused, however, to text Sam back.

To: Sam
I'm not sure if you're talking about Brooklyn or Collin, but the answer is yes to whichever

Cara knew that Sam was referring to her, but she wouldn't even acknowledged that. It didn't bother her coming from Sam, because Cara was capable of accepting some forms of criticism from her friends, but in general, she disliked the idea that people had of her, being a diva and a drama queen. She didn't like that people assumed that she was a bitch, or condescending, or uppity, just because she had more money than them. A lot of people thought these things of her after having conversations and interactions with her, and that was one thing, but there were others who didn't know her and still thought it of her. She was okay with accepting the image from people who she had interacted with, but she didn't like the idea of having a reputation with people she didn't even know. It was hypocritical, probably, because it wasn't like Cara didn't judge those people herself, too, but it was always easier to see one side of the story when it benefited her.

She decided that now that at least Makayla and Holly, and Brooklyn and Jesse were getting food, that it was appropriate for her to do so as well. Her brother was still lingering by the door with Weston, and Jude was sitting next to Brooklyn without a plate, but she wasn't worried about the two of them helping themselves. Although there was a lot to choose from, Cara opted for a small plate of salad, and a helping of turkey as her meal. It was possible that she would go back for seconds later on, but she was never the type to overeat. It wasn't because she was really obsessed with dieting or anything - she just was never a big eater, even on days like today, that revolved around food. Once she was satisfied with what was on her plate, she sat down at the table, ensuring that there was a seat across from her open for Jesse.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Collin Forrester

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#, as written by Writer
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H O L L Y . M A D D O N
Location: Apartment 5E
Outfit
Hex: #db0083
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Had Holly not been fascinated with Weston enough to rival her love for Cara and Brooklyn, she would have honed in on what Brooklyn was saying about Cara's Thanksgiving dinner. The comment about the blood, and Cara shooting the turkey herself most definitely would have been enough to have Holly insisting that they go across the hall to demand Tony share some of the macaroni and cheese that she had decided (with no factual basis behind it) that the Garcias were feasting on. However, her mind was lingering on the new arrival, and more specifically, the last part of what had come out of his mouth. As she stood beside Makayla, it was as if she hadn't heard a single word that Brooklyn had said, or that Makayla had said about what she wanted to eat. It was only one more example of how difficult it was for the girl to focus. Sometimes her mind lingered on unimportant things for unnecessary sums of time, while other times, she couldn't remain focused on anything at all for longer than three seconds. "I didn't know that Tony had family besides Westy," she pondered aloud, her tone suggesting serious confusion, as if not knowing something about the Garcias was absolutely life-changing. Westy was a new nickname, and the charm of it likely wasn't going to wear off anytime soon, now that it was stuck in Holly's head. "Do you think she has a grandma? Remember how I always wanted a grandma who knew how to make sweaters out of yarn, and who lived in a little cottage that always smelled like chocolate chip cookies? Remember how I told you about that, that time? Do you think Westy's grandma is like that? And she's probably so short because she's so old and she has glasses and wrinkly skin and a purse with tissues and candy in it."

And just like that, before she would even allow Makayla a moment to respond, she had sprung from her sister's side and was headed back towards the door, where Collin and Weston stood. "Can I meet your grandma, Wes?" she inquired. Had she not already asked Cara enough questions over the course of friendship, she would have asked Collin why his grandmother was not here as well, but she already knew that the woman lived in Florida... which Holly automatically assumed meant that she lived right around the corner from Disney World, which was one more reason for why she liked to insist that she and Cara go visit the woman some time soon. She had never been to Disney World, or any amusement park for that matter. "And you should probably change out of your skinny jeans when we go there, because I don't think grandmas like skinny jeans like yours," she continued, as if she were only doing him a favor, as she eyed him from top to bottom.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Collin Forrester

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W E S T O N X G A R C I A
_____ T H EXS M A R TXK I D _____

Outfit: Here
Location: Apartment 5E
Dialogue Color ✦ #C35817
Thought Color ✧ #730800



Despite the smile and the pleasant tone Cara used with him, Wes wasn't sure if he actually could stay for much longer in the blonde's apartment. Hanging out with Collin was fine, sure, and the invitation was surely tempting, that much was sure. Who really wanted to turn down the prospects of free food that he was pretty sure was going to be superb if Cara's reputation had anything to say about it? But considering the exchange between herself and Brooklyn, and just the simple fact that he wasn't exactly his most comfortable about the older Forrester sibling, Weston was pretty sure what he was not about to do and that was overstaying his welcome. Smiling at the blonde, he turned back to Collin with a pointed look. "I can accept it," he stated lowly so that only his friend could hear him. "I'm a punk, that was my cue to leave, and I'm pretty sure your sister doesn't like me, so I'm just gonna go, man."

And he would have left it at that. Wes was pretty much prepared to turn when, for some odd reason, Holly's conversation somehow included him and she was back in his orbit. Wes' face scrunched up momentarily at her inquiry, especially when it was followed by the scrutiny and he couldn't help but look up at Makayla a touch cluelessly. But he couldn't blame her for this one. Holly's mind, a fascinating thing to him, could go from a range of topics in under a minute. It was definitely troubling for her to randomly ask about his family, but Wes eventually smiled at her, albeit sheepishly before stating, "See, the only problem with that Holly, is that I'm pretty sure you don't want to go to a graveyard. Because...um, that's where my grandma is." His smile became a bit brighter at the memory of the older woman and he chuckled while adding, "Though you are right. She wouldn't like my jeans very much."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Jesse Hall Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Collin Forrester

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J U D E ----- D E M A R C O
Location: Street / Apartment building
Hex Code: #6b8e66

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Jude had been actively avoiding this entire debacle. Noticing a lull in the business of the food table, he made his move. Jude worked quickly and sat back down before anyone could really really notice he had left the table. Jude liked almost all food anyway, so filling his plate up wasn't a hard task.

The poor brunette was unsure where to go from here. Knowing how Brooklyn worked, it suddenly clicked for him. Jude knew exactly what Brooklyn was doing. She was trying to get back at Cara by sleeping with her little brother. Jude loved Brooklyn dearly, he really did, and he was fiercely loyal to his closest friends... But he wasn't sure if he could let Brooklyn get away with this. Let us not forget that Collin was also Jude's friend and roommate. Also, this whole casual revenge sex was just kind of crazy to Jude.

So there he sat, stuffing his face and watching in (subtle) disgusted amazement. If he had a choice he wouldn't say anything at all and he would somehow get the message across to Collin in some magical nonverbal way. Actually, if he had a choice he would be at Deja's doing whatever the hell Deja deemed necessary for a Thanksgiving dinner. That way he wouldn't even have to think about this whole scheme. But instead Jude laughed and smiled at his cues, like the good little boy he was while his head spun around ideas of friendship and what was right and wrong.

He could not, and probably would not say anything to Collin. Brooklyn would surely find some way to make Jude's life miserable he messed this up for her. It was also his best friendly duty to support her in all endeavors, right? Jude was having a really hard time with this one.

With the social stress mounting Jude just stared at Collin as he sat down and Brooklyn got up to make him a plate. "Dude..." was all that Jude could stupidly muster up.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Olivielle Margaret Dumphy Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Thomas Clemns Character Portrait: Deja Bennie Character Portrait: Weston Garcia Character Portrait: Theodore Henderson

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#, as written by Bandit
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H O L L Y . M A D D O N
Location: Apartment 5E
Outfit
Hex: #db0083
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M A K A Y L A . W R I G H T
Location: Apartment 5E
Hex: #FF8400
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Out of all of the negative things that Holly had dealt with in her life, surprisingly, death had not been one of them. She knew people who were dead now. One of Makayla's father's friends who constantly came by their house years ago was shot in a neighboring apartment building when she was a child. An old man who owned the bodega on the corner nearest their old home disappeared from the lawn chair he sat on outside his shop every day, and never returned after having a heart attack. One of her mother's close friends overdosed while partying with her mother. They were all people that Holly knew and would recognize, and at one point or another, when asking about why they weren't around anymore, she was told that they died. She knew what death meant, and yet, none of those deaths were personal enough to her for her to actually feel any strong emotions about death. It wasn't something that was real to her, yet, so she could only frown when Weston said his grandmother was dead, and mostly for the selfish reason that she wanted to hang out with a grandma today. "Okay, I'll see you later!" she nodded when he explained that he had to get home. As she turned to return to what she was doing (which by then, she had actually forgotten about), she found Makayla already standing right behind her.

"You need to stop it. We're going home if you don't chill out," Makayla said in a hushed tone, though the way that she placed one hand on her sister's shoulder and gave it a squeeze signified that she wasn't joking. She didn't want to embarrass Holly or make a scene, but this was why social gatherings were very stressful for Makayla. There was no time to relax or even make a plate of food when her sister was running around disturbing people, and Makayla knew that people would object, and maybe say that she was simply too overbearing over what her sister was doing, but that wasn't the case. Not quite, at least. She didn't mind Holly socializing and having a good time. She wanted her sister to have normal relationships with people, and fit into society in a more natural way, but she also knew that most of the time, that simply wasn't what was happening. While Holly wasn't good at reading social cues, Makayla was perceptive, and she could tell that Weston was ready to go, whether that was because of Holly or not. She wasn't going to let her sister continue to barrage him with questions, just so that he was forced to stay to answer them out of pity.

"I am chilled out. I was just asking Weston something bec-"

"No, no, no. No more running around and asking people things that are going to make them uncomfortable. We're here to eat, right? I need you to sit down and eat, or else Cara's going to ask us to leave, because you aren't being a good guest." Makayla genuinely was trying to be patient and kind and not condescending, but this was how she had to talk to Holly a lot of the time. She had to be blunt and spell things out letter by letter, or else the younger girl just wouldn't comprehend what she was saying. It stressed Makayla out more than other people could understand, because whether it was warranted or not, she constantly felt like the people around her were judging and scrutinizing her. Being so young herself, she was already probably a target for judgement by people who wondered how someone her age thought they could take care of a teenager on their own. She was young and broke and barely mentally stable enough to survive on her own, so often times, she felt like people would be right to judge her, but at the same time, she knew that she was Holly's best option right now. No one cared about her the way that Makayla did, and she found it hard to believe that strangers in the foster care system would do any better either.

The wine that she had poured and sitting on the counter next to one of the barely-made plates she had started on wasn't going to be enough to get her through this night, she quickly realized. She didn't want to get hammered, but she needed something to relax her, and she didn't think that alcohol was going to be the answer. What she knew would do the trick, was the Xanax she had back in her bedroom. Makayla had only taken the pills a few times in her life, mostly because it was a lot cheaper for her to obtain marijuana, but Nick had recently gifted her with some, and now seemed like the perfect time to pop one. She knew that you weren't supposed to take Xanax while drinking, but Makayla brushed that off as an unnecessary precaution that most medications warned against doing. She assumed that if anything, it would harm her liver, and not give her any weird reactions, and at this point, she couldn't care less about the health of her organs. She just needed to silence the ringing and tension in her head.

"Can I watch the dog show while I eat? Cara always says it's fine if I eat on the couch!" Holly responded with. She hadn't really absorbed Makayla criticizing her skills as a guest, and was back on the thought of the dog show that Cara had recorded for her to watch, since they had missed watching it live.

At this point, Makayla just wanted Holly to sit somewhere, so she nodded reluctantly. "If Cara is okay with it, then that's fine. Just go sit down and I'll bring you your food in a second," she said, giving the redhead a nudge away from the door, and heading back to where she had left the plates. She filled up Holly's with a small amount of food, assuming that she probably wouldn't eat much anyway, and helped herself to an average sized portion, though she knew that she could probably eat twice as much as she had plated, if she didn't feel weird about taking that much. She filled up a glass of lemonade, and carried that and Holly's plate over to where the girl sat. "You need to eat all of this or else Cara's going to feel bad, okay?" she said, her voice lacking the normal energy it usually had, because she really was feeling more and more drained by the minute. She needed that pill, because she needed her stress levels to drop significantly before her head exploded. So, rather than going back to obtain her own plate, she headed over towards Cara and said, "Hey, Cara, I have to grab something from my apartment. I'll be right back," before heading out the door without waiting for much of a response.

Across the hallway, she found their apartment door to be unlocked, and as she slipped inside, she saw that Deja's Thanksgiving seemed just as vibrant and happy and she expected it would. Her roommate was wearing a hat that looked like a turkey, and had a giddy look on her face that the other guests seemed to mirror. Thomas and Olivielle and Theo were there, and though Makayla offered them a silent wave, she continued into her bedroom fairly quickly. She wasn't here to socialize, just to get the high she was looking for. She paused for a moment after retrieving one of the pills from her underwear drawer. Nick had mentioned how she really was lucky to have him as a dealer, because he was hooking her up with the high dosage stuff for free. She didn't know quite how high the dosage was, or if it was even mildly appropriate for someone of her size, but then again, did she really care? As she popped the pill into her mouth, and washed it down with the remnants of a cheap bottle of vodka that she had hidden in that drawer, she knew the answer to that was no.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Jude Demarco Character Portrait: Jesse Hall Character Portrait: Makalya Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Collin Forrester

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J E S S E || H A L L
Hex Code: #a63335
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C A R A || F O R R E S T E R
Location: Apartment 5E
Outfit: This
Hex Code: #1BB3F5
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Jesse eventually sat down across from Cara at the table, and wasted no time in digging into his food. To no surprise, it was all very good, and he had no regrets about leaving his mother's celebration to come here instead. An authentic friendship between him and Cara might have seemed odd to some people, but it worked for them. Jesse already had Brooklyn, a blonde to lust over, and Tony, a hot chick with a little bit of an attitude to have fun with in bed. He didn't need Cara for either of those positions, so a platonic relationship worked best for them. Besides, despite what many people liked to think, Jesse wasn't only focused on sex. He liked people for their personalities too, and even if Cara's wasn't well-known for being likable, he found it to be. If she was such a bad person, there was no way that she would host a meal like this for people who she wasn't family with. Or, who he was now watching call over Collin, who she didn't even like. Why Brooklyn was here was still confusing to Jesse, but hey, he wasn't complaining. His taste and smell senses were satisfied from this meal, and now his vision sense would be satisfied too, by having some nice eye candy to look at while he ate. "Your brother better not be trying to move in on my woman," Jesse warned half-heartedly in a hushed tone. There was an empty chair separating him and Jude, but the distance definitely wasn't so great that the other boy wouldn't be able to overhear their conversation.

Cara didn't answer Jesse, though she, too, was not a fan of what was playing out. She set her fork down on her plate, unable to even multitask something as simple as eating with her focus on watching Brooklyn. Her eyes followed Collin as he came over to the table, and then, they followed Brooklyn as she made a very weird offer to make him a plate. "She's up to something, and I don't like it," Cara eventually replied with, though her eyes remained on Brooklyn, and only diverted away from her when she was caught off guard by Makayla's voice. "Okay, no problem," she said, somewhat distractedly as Makayla said something about running across the hall. Her eyes glanced towards the television that Holly was sitting in front of, and then back to Brooklyn. She felt the need to watch Brooklyn more closely, because she was certain that the girl was up to something that Cara wasn't going to like, but she also had a need that was nearly innate, to look after Holly. Even though the teenager appeared to be content and taken care of with her plate in front of the television, Cara felt like she needed to make sure. She picked up her own plate and glass of wine, and stood up, looking down at Jesse to say, "Make sure your woman behaves herself," in a voice that was quiet, though probably loud enough for the other two boys at the table to hear. She felt like glaring in Collin's direction, to prove some point that even she couldn't put a name to, but didn't even want to go there right now, and instead, left in a more subtle manner and headed towards the couch.

"Hey Holly," she said, her voice hosting a cheeriness that was a stark difference than how she had been speaking a moment before. She sat down next to the girl and pulled the coffee table closer to them so that she could set her plate and glass down there. "Do you like the food? And we wanted to watch the dog show, right?" Cara remembered that she had mentioned to Holly that she would try to DVR the animal show, because Holly wasn't going to be home to watch it, but she had forgotten to do so this morning. She grabbed the remote and skimmed through the channels, only to see that the re-run of it wouldn't start for another hour. "It looks like we're a little early. It won't come on again for another hour, but I recorded all of the episodes of that other dog show you like. 'Too Cute', is what it's called, right? Wanna watch that for now?" she said, already turning one of the episodes on. When it came to the television, Cara knew that it wasn't too hard to appease Holly, especially if you could find something dog or cartoon related.