harvey-hargrove​:

WHO: open WHAT: harvey pulling a britta WHERE: sigma pi house

“I almost forgot how fuckin’… crazy parties get in Cali.” Harvey looked around at the chaos that was unfolding all throughout the house. This kind of party was once practically a second home to him, but a year out of practice had him feeling insecure. “I’m so used to people just doing blow and arguing about the Lewinsky scandal until sunrise.” 

🎨

Sloane couldn’t help but make a face, turning her sarcastic, suspicious gaze right onto Harvey Hargrove. “I’m sorry, I can’t imagine that this is somehow more your style/” One of her eyebrows arched up curiously. She was in a poor mood, worse than usual with everything going on and now her attention was locked on someone who happened to be directly related to her current least favourite person. “You’re not planning to rush and be one of these boys?” She inquired further. 

Lifting her gaze away from him, she took a long sip of her drink, a concoction of alcoholic drinks that made her stomach twist uncomfortably every time she took a sip. It was getting easier to stomach, though. Literally. 

hellolibby​:

@saltofthcearth​

Libby had basically had enough. That’s why Sloane had led her toward the Pit’s drink stand to cool down - that’s why the two of them were sitting too close  on a park bench as the blonde struggled to get ahold of herself. It was just a friendly gesture; nothing more than Sloane trying to look out for her friend… but with the Adderall pulsing through her veins, and the freefall she was in trying to wrap her head around Mackenzie Walsh’s great avoidance of her? Well. Libby could feel that icky little black widow side of her poking it’s little claws into her better judgment. She could fight it, though! Right? “Maybe we should just get out of here, or something. After Hargrove’s stupid interrogation, all I want to do is crawl into bed and never get out,” Libby was all fluttering eyelashes, and sighs as she looked over at Sloane; as she leaned her body weight against the other girl like she was exhausted. She just prayed Sloane would lean back -  prayed even the slightest bit of attention might shift her brain back into working order. Ugh. “We could watch movies or something,” Libby’s fingers found their way around one of Sloane’s pink locks of hair, “I won’t even complain about your Swayze pick.” 

🎨

Witnessing the great Libby Logan spiralling was something that Sloane knew she’d never quite grow used to. Out of the two of them, she was supposed to be the one who struggled to hold it together, but lately it seemed she was managing to keep the lid on everything happening internally. It helped that she had somewhat of a confidant in the form of Jamie, but even then. Eventually they’d all get pushed too far. Pursing her lips as the two of them settled on the park bench, she reached up to place a comforting hand on the blonde’s shoulder. “Look, even if it went poorly... it’s over.” For now. Sloane forced herself to try and sound chipper and suggest the possibility that it would all be okay. 

Giving her a knowing smile, she wrapped her arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze, thinking nothing of the affection. Her head even tilted to press theirs together before she turned her head, brows furrowing together as she grinned in amusement at the Swayze comment. “I’d say yes, but I did actually commit to coming out tonight to that party... we could get something to eat, though? Or pretend to be interested in a stupid club full of freshman who’ve never spoken to a girl?” She suggested playfully, trying to make her laugh. “I can take you home, though, if you need it.” Anything to wipe that look off her face. 

TASK 003: THE HARGROVE TAPES

“You don’t mind if I record this, do you?” Dean Hargrove sets a small tape recorder on the table, like it’s not the most ominous fucking move in the book. He always was a fan of dramatics.

“So… first the ordeal at the boardwalk, and now my library and the CCU theater are covered in blood. It seems like your name just keeps popping up wherever trouble starts, huh? Now, I’m not here to make you feel like you have any enemies at this school, but you’d have to understand why I’d be a little weary of having troublemakers on campus, wouldn’t you?” He pauses.

Sloane’s gaze darts from the camera to Dean Hargrove’s irritatingly smug face. “Since I have nothing to hide, go for gold.” She replied, offering the fakest smile known to man. Though, as he continued, her smile dropped away and her gaze lifted to a corner of the room, a trademark Sloane Salt attempt at avoiding her expression making her too readable. “Apparently so.” The thought that something could happen when she was halfway through her degree was... nerve-wracking, thus the reason she was agreeing to his bullshit in the first place. 

“Let’s start with this… ‘Candy Girl’ nonsense. What do you know about her?”

"Other than the fact that she hates me and my friends? Not much.” Providing detail would help no one, there was no way this man would sympathise, so she kept it short. 

“And whose idea was it to throw the party on the beach? You all claim it was supposed to be a small event, but I hear quite the crowd showed up. Who invited them?”

“It was never meant to be a party. So, no one threw a party. Some asshole caught wind that we were trying to spend time together and decided to crash it, I guess.” She shrugged, so uncharacteristically hostile that it made her feel strange. “Your guess is as good as mine who it was.” That much was true, she supposed her best guess would be some frat boy dick from the college. 

“Why do you think you got taken to the library? Why not the other location?”

One of her brows lifted up. It seemed like a weird question. “Luck of the draw?”

“You say someone was ‘murdered’ in front of you… and none of you tried to stop it? Why?”

Ah, that she would have a wonderful explanation for on her part, but it would be a cold day in hell before she admitted that she had been tripping, so instead she just put on her best slightly traumatised expression, lowering her gaze. Maybe being a good liar would come in handy, a little. “I was... really drunk. Regrettably so. I hardly understood what was happening in front of me. My memories of that night are blurry, so...” She trailed off, but then there was a twinge of annoyance at the very idea that they should have tried to stop a murder. 

What exactly were they supposed to do, throw themselves into danger for someone who’d been torturing them? Dean Hargrove truly was grasping at straws with his accusations. Lifting her gaze to his, she was firm as she continued. “But as for the rest of my friends, I wouldn’t ever ask them to risk their lives in a situation like that. They had weapons, they killed in front of us. Would you have been so brave, to step between the girl who’d been terrorising us and the end of a knife?” Her brows lifted and then she sat back, arms crossing defensively over her chest. 

“You said the last - shall we call it a ‘challenge’? - required you to spill a secret. Insinuates the lot of you are keeping them, doesn’t it? So… what is so sacred to you that someone you’re claiming is a psychopath would want you to share it?”

Sloane practically couldn’t help herself, her eyes growing dark as she glared at him. “I think a lot of people in this town are keeping secrets, Dean Hargrove. Maybe we won’t all be able to keep them forever.”  She knew things about him, things she couldn’t truly imply, but if she kept it vague enough... she offered a faint smile. “Surely there are things you don’t want to have to spill your guts about.” 

Don’t need to worry about no one She said I got her if I want She’s so soft like silk chiffon

lillimontgomery​:

Having spent so much time alone since the night of the bonfire, Lilli was finding the company somewhat comforting. It didn’t surprise her though, being around Sloane always made her feel a little more comfortable. And that wasn’t a feeling she was used to, but she was definitely growing to like it. There were few people in her life who seemed to see her as more than just Lillian Montgomery, the rich girl with the seemingly perfect life. For a change, she was just Lilli, a girl who had seen her fair share of shit and was still standing, still trying to find her groove.

“You keep saying ‘or’ when you should be saying ‘and’. And the answer is yes, to all of it.” While she had been hiding out in her room, her parents had been sending up snacks, but nothing of much substance. Lilli needed food, and lots of it. Maybe she was comfort eating, maybe she was just starving. Either way, she could feel her mouth watering as she eyes the items on the menu in front of her.

The feeling of Sloane’s hand on her back was nice. Human contact was something she had been severely lacking as of late. It was something Lilli craved, just to know that someone was there, that they were with her, and that they meant no harm. She leaned in a little closer to Sloane. “Sweet and sour chicken sounds amazing, actually. Let’s get some of that, some egg rolls and some wontons.”

🎨

Sloane was starving too, though more for Lilli’s gaze and attention than anything else. She was smiling, chuckling at her quip about replacing or with and. Clearly, they’d end up with too much for her to put leftovers in the fridge without getting questioned, but she didn’t care. The blonde leaned into her a little more and she turned her head, nodding. “Okay, sure. I’ll get you that.” She lingered for one more moment, fingers curling around the bottom of her top before she dropped her hand away. 

Seeking out the phone again, she lifted it to her ear and called. Now her front was pressed into Lilli’s side as she spoke on the phone, ordering exactly what she’d asked for in her sweetest voice. At least this way no one looked at her and thought she was the delinquent half the town thought her to be. The reputation of the Salt family truly had taken a hell of a dent when she started making her own decisions, but she didn’t care. Why should she?

Finishing up, she put the phone down, ending the call and letting the phone rest there on the counter. “They said half an hour, tops.” She explained, reaching up so she could brush Lilli’s hair off her shoulder. “Bet there’s something we could do to pass the time. Any particular requests?”

aol: m3anwhilesloane33 & open

xozahraxo: oh ew, people are still sending that hook hand one?

xozahraxo: and isn't that kinda thing pretty gauche considering literally everything that's been going on??

xozahraxo: like thanks for not passing it on but also literally why is anyone sending those things anymore when cherry has it's own personal psycho

m3anwhilesloane33: they're ALWAYS sending the hook hand one.

m3anwhilesloane33: well you know it is in the wild wild west that is aol. empathy is for losers, let's all be assholes, etc. another reason i don't share chain mail about murder.

m3anwhilesloane33: pls don't give them ideas. if i wake up to anything that says 'share or the candy girl will spill your secrets' i'll be driving off a cliff.

indyerneed​:

Jamie mulled over Sloane’s theory as he chewed his mouthful. He supposed it could make sense to have a copycat when he had proposed that they couldn’t have been the only ones who knew. But the potential berth of knowledge became too big. At what ends did it stop and for what reasons did they have to antagonize them?

Perking when the waitress returned with another beer, Jamie only waited until her back was turned before he grabbed it to wash down Sloane’s conspiracies with. “Politicians are weird, man. One minute they’re smiling on TV and the next, they’re doing lascivious things with gerbils. Honestly, I think we should be looking at politicians more for crimes,” he told her through a burp, which he covered with his fist.

Jamie had hoped that would’ve been the end of it, but then he caught the look on Sloane’s face. The same worried look she wore before she was about to ask him something terribly hard, like what they were supposed to do next or whether Lux was really dead.

He heaved a sigh and put down his burger.

“Depends? I don’t know, Sloane. The world isn’t black and white like how Candy Girl wants to spin it. People have reasons for doing things, as we can clearly see by the amount of secrets that were on that list. I think… save for a couple psychos among us, everyone else is as afraid as we are.”

It was a strangely optimistic thing to come out of his mouth but maybe a part of him was just tired of the lack of communication between everyone. If they were all supposed to be friends, then why was it so hard for everyone to just talk to one another? It was weird. It was weirder that he, James Dyer, mysterious loner extraordinaire, was the one thinking it.

Jamie picked at his fries, swirling one through the mess of sauce on his plate. “Who do you think is the turncoat?”

🎨

Sloane frowned, her gaze suspended as she stared into space for a moment. “Isn’t Richard Gere an actor?” 

The corners of her mouth turned down as she wiped that thought away. Sloane was as open as they came, considering her art, but she drew a line at having to think too hard about bestiality. Typical of Jamie to bring it up over a meal. Then again, she didn’t have the best timing, asking him if their relationships with their friends were tight enough to not have to consider some sort of betrayal. They’d done things maybe they would consider to be unforgivable. Maybe. If they ever found out about them, which she was determined would never happen. 

“I mean, sure, yeah,” She waved her hand through the air, as if rushing the thought along. “But...” The words died in her mouth and she tasted the ash as he assured her that he believed everyone to be as right and true as they were. Well, in terms of not being on Candy Girl’s side. 

And it wasn’t even that she believed that, it was just hard to feel at ease when she felt her influence creeping in closer with every strange interaction they had. 

Leaning on her elbows, she let her gaze focus in on her leftover fries for a moment as she considered his question. “It’s not like I think that one of our friends is secretly some vindictive asshole. I don’t think they want to kill us or that they’re running this operation, I just wonder...” 

“Alice is like a different person.” Finally, the words left her mouth. Word vomit, they kept coming and coming as she continued. “I wondered at the start... if maybe she hurt Lux, or something else. Maybe I wouldn’t have even blamed her, back when everything happened, but we saw that body. It was different, having to actually see it. I don’t know. I don’t think she would be capable of this stuff, but I do believe that we don’t know as much as we think we do. If we did, we wouldn’t keep being blindsided. 

As soon as she was done, regret crept in as a feeling in her gut. “Fuck. Honestly, don’t listen to me. I sound insane.” She laughed, but it was the embarrassing, upset kind. For good measure, she shoved a handful of fries in her mouth. 

“Talk about something else.” The words were spoken from a full mouth covered by her hand. 

aol: m3anwhilesloane33 & libbyloud

libbyloud: i know what i said!! And yes, i could. oh no, sisterhood and friendship! are you, like, melting at the thought of it??? i don't know. i was thinking about it at the end of last year, but now i'm thinking Pilar and Belle would rather have alice running around lambda rho than me.

libbyloud: i think that's too happy of an ending. maybe we get hookhand on our side and convince him to bury her in a box.

m3anwhilesloane33: i'm not the wicked bitch of the west, libby. just morally opposed to the built in social hierarchy of sororities. i degrade myself for no one... but like i said, i'd help you spy.

m3anwhilesloane33: you never know, they could still be big fans. have you spoken to anyone else about it?

m3anwhilesloane33: okay, but then when hook hand isn't distracted by candy, then what? then we have a full blown hook hand man on our asses.

alicealder​:

You know who probably would’ve reminded her that it was her birthday basically the second she woke up? Lux. – But, like, not real Lux (though depending on the year…), the Lux that was actually just her unconscious taking the form of someone she loved enough to revive, and apparently hated enough to make her have some odd vendetta against her – when it was her own mind! That said, if she’d taken enough to ‘summon’ Lux… she wouldn’t be at work at all. And was a reminder even worth it? No. No, there would be no reason to go back – at all. If people on television and in books always talked about their ‘rock bottoms,’ perhaps her conversation with Candy Girl – however antagonistic – had been hers! And thinking she’d been way more eloquent, too!

Oh, but Lux would also tell her that she was lying to herself. She wouldn’t be able to go more than a day, knowing side effects would only increase in severity. She wouldn’t be able to let go of her hatred and her love when she knew how to bring her back. She would offer Indigo and her co-workers C+ work for one day (perhaps A+ if it weren’t for the occasional big distraction), then go back to barely scraping by. Back to thanking god that Indigo: 1) was her aunt, 2) also had a strained (at best) relationship with Anne, and 3) was secretly built of sympathetic bones. 

But perhaps this nearly (keyword: nearly) forced break was a blessing in disguise. And, more so, perhaps not paying any attention to who she was asking – it really could’ve been Richard Ramirez – was an even better one. God knows it felt like it’d been ages since she’d last spoken to Sloane – relatively, at least. And god knows something had felt… off, as though something had happened and she shouldn’t approach her as much as she had. God knows she was grateful that it was Sloane and not Richard Ramirez.

“Lipps Inc.!” she repeated, incredible enthusiasm replacing frustration over this mystery as she filled in the blanks that completed various other words. “You just helped me fill in, like… five other words.” What newspaper was this, anyway? ‘Japanese toy, America’s virtual pet’ – tamagotchi, but why the hell was that in there? “Y’know, I can’t really blame y’all there. I mean, it’s a fucking good song.” One that would later be featured in a fucking good movie, revolutionary.

‘If I say it’… Ah yes, yet another moment of forgetting the day! “I mean, what’s another year closer to death?” …What was meant to sound semi-jocular, semi-nihilistic, probably didn’t work quite as well with someone who had access to explosives and all information relating to ‘the gang’ in town. But hey! What was another year closer to death?

🎨

There was a ghost of a smile on Sloane’s face, hidden underneath a layer of uncertainty and restraint that led her to just widening her eyes and nodding. Well, she’d done something nice then, hadn’t she? Helped with a crossword puzzle. Happy fucking birthday. 

Nodding vaguely, she peered away, not really wanting to talk about her dad anymore, though that was hardly Alice’s fault. The standoff in the Salt house was ongoing and every time she found herself creeping past his office she almost wish he’d call her in with than disdained voice he often regarded her with to tell her how disappointed he was. At the very least, he acknowledged her as far as asking her to pass the peas at dinner, though that was as far as it stretched. Maybe he’d get over it eventually. “Yeah, it is.” Came her weak response. 

Pressing her lips into a line with difficulty, she tilted her head to the side. It was a depression notion, so she offered her own surprisingly positive ones. “Another year around the sun? Another year wiser?” Sloane suggested, her gaze darting to Alice’s arm before her hand reached out hesitantly. She touched her elbow and her eyes flickered back to hers when she uttered the words. “Happy birthday.” It felt more sincere than she thought it would, but all too quickly she felt like a fraud, playing friends when she’d not been acting like one. 

“I just wanted to see you for it... are you working?” The question didn’t sound as hopeful out of her mouth as it did in her head. Thankfully. 

alicealder​:

who: open! what: alice’s best bday ever!!!!!!!!!!! (the answer…. is lipps inc.) where: right outside cherry proper (on 09/17!!!)

Had she been in the theatre, put on display? Yes. Had she been yoinked grabbed at one point? Yes, but how helpful Casey had been! Had she been slinking down the hall amongst some masked fiends? Yes. Had she been buried alive? God no. Had she had to spill her guts? God no. Had anything truly traumatizing happened to her? Probably No. Hell, if anything truly awful had happened, it’d been when a slightly more sober Alice stumbled across the conversation she’d had with Candy Girl. Had she remembered it? Selectively. Had she thought it was not only much more comprehensible and elegant (it took her a few minutes to figure out what the hell ‘yal weer’ and ‘achnace’ meant – helped mainly by context clues), but had also been cut short after one message? Yes. The good thing? At least she didn’t look like she was being best buds! The bad thing? …Dammit, she finally fell prey to her own imagination! The only person who would be pleased with that would be Willy Wonka! 

So… for the day… she had resolved to do the bravest thing in the entire world: cut herself off! And she had also resolved to do the second bravest thing… go into work in spite of being offered the day off, one on the grounds of… you know, ‘trauma’ (ha!), and one on the grounds of something she had totally completely forgotten about which had made her totally completely confused which she, last year, would’ve found totally completely insane that she, this year, totally completely forgot about: her birthday, goddammit! But what better way to spend it than behind a counter, working a job you only had to pay rent and only got/held down because of nepotism/sympathy, totally completely pretending you simply did not feel shaky hands or much hotter than the room actually is! Yes! Amazing! One for the books! 

But when she was totally completely forced on break? (Which was totally completely not cool – didn’t they know that the best birthday treat would be hard labor?! Such a sexy distraction!) Well… you know what, she totally completely had to do something to keep her mind and hands busy! But you know what they had which was totally completely sexy of them? A newspaper. With a crossword! (And she could thank that newspaper for reminding her… of the date.) Some dunce had already filled it out in pencil – the lack of confidence! Without taking a single look (because that would be cheating!), she erased it and took out what only the most confident of folks used – the best of the best! Yes, from the tip jar, she stole a totally completely sexy G2 Pilot Pen… but, as she exited the building to lean against it outside (very Joe Cool of her), she found she was no longer the cruciverbalist she once was. Thus, without looking up – because she really had to concentrate! – she honorarily phoned a friend with the most important question of them all:  “Hey – do you know who sang ‘Funkytown’?”

It was Alice’s birthday. 

Of course Sloane remembered that, weeks of suspicion and being traumatised couldn’t erase the memories of years of friendship. Not only that, she’d always had an excellent memory, she knew because her father had said it more than once.

She loved Alice, she knew that was true, it always would be, things were just complicated and now the amount of one on one time the two of them experienced had shrunk down to about next to none. 

Maybe that was what had carried her feet over to Cherry Proper, her subconscious sending signals to her that she needed to seek her out, but what for? A half assed happy birthday and a hug she didn’t want to be giving? Sloane felt like an asshole the second she caught sight of her standing there doing... something on a newspaper. It seemed at first she hadn’t seen her, so she was just standing there stupidly when Alice looked up at her and asked her a question out of the blue. 

Sloane blinked and the answer left her lips before even a hello. “Lipps Inc.” That memory of hers. “My dad loves music like that, y’know... disco. We have the record in our living room. I used to be obsessed with it, the pink skinned, green haired lady on the cover...”  The story trailed off as she once again found herself feeling awkward in the other’s presence. 

Frowning she folded her arms over her chest. “But anyway... are you gonna be mad if I say it? Because I’m probably gonna say it anyway.”

aol: m3anwhilesloane33 & open

libbyloud: i've considered that everyone might be our enemy at this point, but... yeah, it crossed my mind. i guess we could always put some effort into finding out. feel like rushing?

libbyloud: fuck it, let him come. maybe hook hand and candy will fall in love and take each other off our hands. or fucking kill each other. either sounds good.

m3anwhilesloane33: do i feel like rushing? reread that one for me. can you imagine me in a sorority, libs? i WOULD, however, totally help you spy on them, if you're feeling so inclined

m3anwhilesloane33: well that's an ideal scenario. we match make candy girl and she gets a hobby!

rorycollins​:

Rory’s whole body jerked in a graceless flail of surprise when someone attached themselves to her arm, but she beamed when she saw who the culprit was. “Hey!” She gave Sloane’s arm a little squeeze in greeting. It was so good to see her in person, to see that she was at least physically okay after the bonfire night’s events. 

“Not on duty right now,” she admitted. “I worked this morning, so Jillian’s gonna pretend to try and shove me out the door if she spots me, but I swear she takes the bins with stuff I’d like to put out personally so I have to come and look in my off hours too.” Rory shook her head, but couldn’t keep the fondness for her boss off of her face. “I’ve been-” her eyebrows furrowed minutely. “I mean, okay as anyone can be with all of this insanity. Is it weird to say I keep getting distracted from it all, worrying about C.C.U.?”

🎨

Being able to have these moments with each other was important lately, these little moments squeezed from the tube of normalcy that Sloane kept desperately reaching for. Even her little stint with hallucinogenics had been an attempt at it, though it had gone a little awry. Nodding as Rory explained herself, she gave her a wry smile. “If I worked here I think I’d spend half my shift trying to coax people into not buying the things I like, so I kinda can’t blame her.” She laughed. Her eclectic style meant that this place was her holy grail in town, the site of all her best finds. 

With an understanding look, she squeezed Rory’s arm and leaned into her as they walked towards one of the bins full to the brim with clothes. “I don’t think that’s weird. College is a big, looming thing. I can’t believe you’re finally joining the big kids.” Bumping her with her hip, Sloane, unhooked their arms so she could begin to idly search through a pile of shirts. “I no longer have to be hanging out with a high schooler.” She sent her a playful look as she held up a baby blue, polka dotted number. “This your style?”

lillimontgomery​:

As much as Lilli wanted to stay mad, she couldn’t. If they didn’t have the Candy Girl terrorizing them every other week, staging a fake emergency would’ve been at least a little funny, normal even. But, that just wasn’t the case. It also helped that Sloane was one of the people Lilli trusted most in Cherry at that point in time, and so it was easy to let this lapse in judgment slide. At the end of the day, Lilli knew Sloane only had good intentions, so she couldn’t be mad at her for that.

When Sloane linked her finger around Lilli’s, the blonde swayed their hands gently. “Something chicken and more egg rolls than I can count.” She said, her tone lighter, a hint of a smile on her face. Lilli didn’t know how Sloane did that, made her feel more calm, but she wasn’t complaining. “No more. Like, ever again. Next time I better find you fending off a serial killer.” It was a joke, but a small part of her that felt like it could be a reality with the way things had been going lately.

Stepping inside Lilli made her way over to the fridge, pulling the menu off to look over. As she scanned the page, the blonde bit down on her lip, something she did when she was trying to make decisions. Setting the menu down on the counter so that they both could see, she looked at Sloane and smiled. “I think I’m gonna need help choosing.”

🎨

The laugh that Lilli’s serial killer joke earned was a little more subdued than she would have gotten had they not genuinely been dealing with some sort of psychopath half the time. Regardless, the fact that she could joke about things like that seemed like a good sign, despite what had happened to her. Or maybe it was just a cue that she was forcing her feelings down, which wouldn’t be surprising. Their little gang liked their secrets. 

Raising her brows as she told her she would need some help selecting her food, she continued to bite back her smile and placed the phone down beside her. Looking down at the menu, she already knew what she liked, but she pushed off the counter and landed on her strappy black platforms, moving in next to her so she could study it. The side of her body pressed against the blonde’s as she scanned it. “Well, you said chicken and egg rolls... so we could do lo mein with chicken, or wontons, or...” She kept scanning, her hand lifting up to slide against her lower back. 

The casual affection merely a ploy to gain a distraction from everything going on, that was all it was. “Sweet and sour chicken? What are you feeling like?” She asked, her attention fully on Lilli now as she traced a pattern against the fabric covering her skin. 

Have you ever made either of your parents cry?

"Yes... I think you can guess which one."

do you think your younger self would be proud of who you are now?

"Yes and no. Mostly yes. I hope."

indyerneed​:

“I wouldn’t mind being in a coffin right about now. Spares me more of this bullshit,” Jamie said around a mouthful of french fries. Admittedly, it was a lot easier to sound blasé on the matter with liquor in his system and he kind of missed it, even if it’d only been a few days since his last drink. For once, he hadn’t felt the need to drown himself in liquor when punishment came freely around him in exploding carousels and buried friends.

He gave Sloane a look as she prattled off her paranoia and reached over to take back her beer once the waitress was gone. 

“As far as I know, our little Miss Cavity is as boring and unimaginative as expected so ‘some bitch in a mask’ would aptly describe my thoughts on that matter. I mean, what’s with all the reverence? She’s just another bored townie if she’s investing this much time and effort into the lives of other people instead of her own. That’s what I think is weird.”

Because that was it, right? Jamie couldn’t figure out the connection between the Candy Girl and Lux that made her death so inspiring that someone would commit so much time to tormenting them. Little, irrelevant them. What was the endgame? Destroy their relationships with each other or was this some sick bonding ritual? 

Jamie slugged back the rest of Sloane’s drink before pushing the empty mug between them expectantly. Like he needed more to continue down this very line of conversation when she started getting incensed. He understood her plight, he just didn’t care that much about someone who didn’t have the balls to solve their problems like a normal person. He had friends to take care of.

“Then, we’re shit out of luck,” Jamie shrugged, resigning as he bit into his burger.

“You know, all of this just seems like a hairbrained scheme to keep us anchored in Cherry. Like some mayoral candidacy campaign for re-elections is coming up and we, the youths, are the most valuable votes.”

🎨

“I mean, is there ever much of a fair reason to invest so much into something like this? I know we have our secrets and we’ve done some things, but...” Sloane blinked rapidly as she stared at the table, trying to force herself not to go through the laundry list of things they knew about their friends that they had no idea the two of them knew. “I mean, we’re essentially being stalked, harassed and occasionally maimed. It makes sense that maybe she’s not working alone, it doesn’t make sense that the night at CCU was just one of her little schemes.” 

The insistence didn’t really get them anywhere, though. Even if she felt sure about her theory, it led to nothing. Her previous theories were starting to seem a little ridiculous, even if she still felt a sting of discomfort around Alice even now. Maybe she wasn’t sure she was behind all of it, but she was definitely suspicious. 

Taking the beer back to her side of the table, she noticed the look on his face and turned to see if she could make eye contact with a waitress, but had no luck before he spoke again. Her mouth curved up in a smile and her eyes narrowed. “Right, and the group of us are enough to secure a spot as our dear old town’s leader.” 

Sighing, she leaned back in her chair and finally got the attention of a waitress, signalling to the beer in her hand and grateful that she understood. She wasn’t really thinking about how fast he’d finished it or if maybe she should be setting a limit on his drinking. Sloane hardly had any room to judge for anyone else’s indulgences. 

Leaning her elbows on the table and propping up her chin in her hands, she broached the next thought carefully. “Do you think that...” She pursed her lips and frowned before she continued “Do you think we can trust everyone else?”

aol: m3anwhilesloane33 & open

libbyloud: i'd call myself thankful, but at this point, i think i'd actually take hook hand over candy girl(s?) and being buried alive. call me old fashioned.

libbyloud: huh. maybe that's why all of this is happening.

libbyloud: who forgot to forward the chain message about the bitch with a sweet tooth who wants to kill us?

m3anwhilesloane33: ugh, don't remind me about the mystery of just how many candy bitches there are. at this rate there might just be a sorority of them.

m3anwhilesloane33: actually, have we considered that lambda rho might be our enemy?

m3anwhilesloane33: well... it could have been me, considering what i just did. do you want the hook hand chain mail, just in case?