“we’re going to win,” he reiterated a bit louder, in a serious tone. dark brown eyes matched hers for a pause, wanting to get the point across that hoping would be a waste of time. this team worked hard. fletcher hated nothing more than working the ticket booth, especially if it meant small-talk with awkward freshmen. “—— the cheerleaders are at every game & most of ‘em don’t know the rules. just cheer when our side cheers. it’s not hard to follow.” the jock raised his brows & looked up at her once more. “why are you— why are you smiling like that?” pointing out people’s insecurities of course, one of his favorite pastimes.
Caily felt her smile falter as he continued to act somewhat hostile towards her- didn’t her mother always say that a sweet smile fixed everything? Clearly that wasn’t the case with this situation. “My cousin is on the cheerleading team,” she said brightly- that was mainly the reason she was going, to support Daniela especially with Jessica being missing. “Daniela.” She explained quickly. Her smile completely dropping at his words. “Smiling like what? I’m just smiling...” She said softly, she’d always been told she’d had a nice smile. “I’m Caily, by the way.”
Caily Romano police intervew - cousin to Jessica Santiago.
1. Please state your full name for the record.
Caily Isabella Romano.
2. What connection , if any , do you have to the missing and deceased ( Jessica & Jacob ) ?
I’m Jessica’s cousin. We didn’t really grow up together or anything- but Daniela and Jessica always looked out for me since I started at Whitton. Mainly because I think there parents told them to. I didn’t really know Jacob, just around campus sometimes.
3. Tell us , in your own words , what you recall about the night in question .
Well I was at the party but I-I don’t remember much- I got roped into playing this stupid drinking game, even though I’m not old enough to drink here... anyways, I know one of the track girls took me back to my dorm room but I don’t know what time that was, I remember the party was still happening when we left though.
4. Where were you between the hours of 2 AM - 3 AM on that night ?
I think I‘d already been put to bed at that point... if not, I was still at the party.
5. Is there anyone else that you know of that we should talk with ?
Maybe the rest of the football team? They seem to all keep each other’s secrets, like some secret society, at least that’s what people say around here.
6. Is there any additional information that you would like to provide ?
Jessica wouldn’t just up and leave somewhere without telling someone, especially Daniela. Someone must have taken her or done something to her for there to be such radio silence from her- I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help but I didn’t see or hear anything from that night.. the only connection I have to what happened is being Jessica’s baby cousin..
the guys were running separate from the girl’s today, so miles had already finished his laps. he was sat on the bench, more lost in thought than paying attention to anything else going on. he had to try and put together a front page story for the newspaper and if he didn’t think of something good soon he was going to be forced to write about the trio, again. he let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair, finally coming back to reality at the sound of heavy breathing.
looking down and finally at the brunette in front of him, he offered her a smile before nodding his head. “yeah, sure.” his words were soft and he nodded his head for a second time before leaning over to grab the pink bottle. “was your time any better? i know you’ve been trying to work off an extra thirty seconds.” he questioned, holding the bottle out to her.
Caily had been working hard with the track team, making sure they were all meeting their times, her especially, since she had been made Captain of the team, especially as a Freshmen, she was determined to prove herself to her fellow teammates, that it hadn’t been a foolhardy decision to have lead the team. Straightening up her body as she approached Miles, stopping and catching her breath, checking the time on her watch and nodding her head.
Smiling thankfully at him as she accepted her water, greedily drinking down the substance. “Cut it down by 15 seconds.” She informed him, the breathlessness still entering her voice, perhaps she had pushed herself a little too hard today. “What about you? Are you still meeting your times?” She asked curiously, her mind wandering to the meet they had coming up in a few weeks. “I’m hoping it’ll be down by 30 next week.”
𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐇𝐄𝐑 hand with ease , flipping it over with a smile & bringing it too his lips . if she asked , his mother raised a gentleman & technically , it wasn’t a lie . he just didn’t act very gentleman-y all the time & his friends , had they been here would of ribbed into him for months for the move . but her hand was released within in seconds . but as she said her name he wondered where in the world he got chelsea from ? maybe it was the blonde from last friday , who knew ? not him .
𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐖𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 her every feature & he wanted to do nothing more than to break that from her , to ruin her slightly . but this was like a game to him , he’d give himself two months & he’d have , they always gave in . even the innocent one . ❛ caily , that’s a name you don’t hear very often , it’s nice , better than boring old jackson . ❜ he jokes , his smile staying warm on his lips .
Caily watched, her face flushing a slight pink, as he kissed her hand. She wasn’t used to someone treating her in such a way, she thought they only did things like this in the films, it didn’t actually happen in real life. Carefully letting her thin, small hand fall by her side as she smiled softly at him. Was it just an act? Hadn’t her cousins warned her of such boys at the school? But like Caily had always enforced, giving people a chance was always important to her.
Nodding her head, her name wasn’t that unique back home in Italy but it was over in the States. “It’s Italian.” She said softly, though she figured her slight accent gave it all away whenever she spoke, especially when she was nervous. “Jackson is a nice name,” she said sincerely. “You don’t hear that name every day either.”
𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘 the nice guy , exceedingly well , after all , before whitton he could only ever really be the nice guy , puberty had done him well enough that here , he was so much more than some nice guy . here , he had girls flocking him just so he’d give them a scrap of time & he was loving every second of it . so he offered her a kind smile , watching as her neck tipped back as she took a sip , of course , in the moment dark eyes also trailed down her body , noting each curve & where his fingers could fit comfortably .
𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐄𝐃 in response to her question , she knew his name that was a start , but also a bad thing for him , he should of learnt her name , that would of been a much smoother situation , but he’d worked magic on less . ❛ you’re welcome & yeah , that’s me . it’s a pleasure to meet you ❜ though he trailed off , his hand outstretched , waiting for her name , he could play the dumb card just as well .
Caily continued to smile at him, taking another long sip from her bottle. Was he the type of boy that her cousin had warned her about? The type who was only interested in one thing but he seemed nice enough, he had gotten her water bottle for her after all. Though hadn’t Caily always been too trusting? That’s what had gotten her in all that mess in high school to begin with, but she was always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, especially when they seemed friendly.
Caily stared at him for a moment before nodding her head, wiping her hand on her running shorts and offering it out, it was rude to not introduce herself. “Caily.” She said softly, offering him a sweet smile. She’d been raised to always introduce herself and she felt slightly rude for not doing it earlier.
with the small voice breaking through the background chatter that was putting fletcher to sleep, he clenched a fist under his resting head & slowly opened his eyes. clearly he wasn’t excited to interact right now, but he put forward a facade that said he was alive at least & raised head to face the blonde before him.
slow hands reached for the ticket from the box beside him as he roughly took the money from the other, almost offended at her question. “of course we’ll win,” he stated with determination, finally reaching eye-contact. “you new here or something?” fletcher handed over the ticket but refused to let his grip go until hearing her response.
Caily still stood there awkwardly, watching as he took the money but didn’t quite let go, staring up at him with wide, honey colored eyes and nodding her head. “I’m a Freshmen, so technically new.” She said in a soft voice, finally managing to yank the ticket out of his hand and still forcing herself to awkwardly smile at him- why were all the football players seemingly so full of egos?
Caily carefully tucked the ticket into the pocket of her shorts, still smiling. “I really do hope we win.” She said softly, though she still hadn’t quite grasped the rules of football. “Though, I don’t really quite understand the rules of the game yet.”
𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐎𝐍 to catch the linebacker on the field out of uniform , it also wasn’t uncommon for him to be out on the field watching someone else practice , it started off just being the cheerleaders , a bunch of the team would go & watch a practice or two , it came in handy when things like dibs were called , however now he’d zoned in on the track team , rather one in particular .
𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 brought in a wave of freshman & this year had been exceptionally giving , the one he’d spotted was small , lean & one hell of a runner , he’d give her that , she was his type , cute & blonde , that was about it , she wasn’t a complete ten , but he was sure he could crack that innocence , she seemed to project . he barely even knew her name , chelsea or something , he didn’t even care that much , he just wanted to know what she looked like with his name on her lips , so here he was , watching her run , without his friends , which was very , very uncommon . she’d paused near him , asking for the water bottle & so he plastered the kindest , sweetest smile he could as he held out the water bottle for her . ❛ this one ? also , great run out there . ❜
Caily had noticed the male coming out more often to watch them practice for track, figuring he was merely there to support his fellow athletes or perhaps he had his eye on someone on the team, at first she thought it might have been the cute brunette that always ran with her but than she’d noticed his eyes were on her. Though she’d chosen to ignore him, focus her attention on her running, thats why she was out there every day, both early morning and just before dusk- she needed to make sure she was representing her team correctly.
Smiling at the male as he reached for her water bottle off him, readily accepting it and taking a long sip. “Thanks so much.” She said brightly, still smiling at him as her breathing returned back to normal. “Jax, right?” She finally asked, hoping she had gotten his name right, though she was pretty sure that was the correct name.
Running had always been something that had soothed Caily’s mind, when she was on the track, running at full speed, it felt like everything was lifted from her shoulders and all she needed to focus on was hitting that finish line, even hearing the starting gun was something that could her heart thumping, the thrill of starting that beautiful race, flying past everyone as she steadied her breathing, focusing on making sure she didn’t wear herself out too much.
Stopping as she finally finished her three laps, stopping, placing her hands on her knees and letting out a breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she caught her breath, already feeling rejuventated from the run. “Mind grabbing my water, please?” She asked between breaths, nodding to the clear pink water bottle that resided near her duffel bag, offering them a slightly breathless smile.
still ( and forever ) not on coach’s good side, #7 was spotted outside the main campus building, forced to sell tickets ( forced, as this was usually the job of the cheerleaders or the lower totem-pole players to volunteer ) for an upcoming rivalry game. this time, he wasn’t alone at the table, since coach noticed the free tickets he’d give away to the women he’d try to court or the extra costs he’d add to the price when someone with a designer fit came through.
“tickets,” he’d yell out loudly but lacking any enthusiasm, dreading the time wasted at this spot. fletcher’s eyes were becoming heavy & the comfort of his sweatshirt eventually had his head laying down atop his crossed arms on the table.
Caily had made a promise that she would come out of her shell a little more, especially at the insistence of her cousin and wouldn’t attending a football game be the ideal setting for that? Even if she didn’t quite understand American football and the hype behind it all, but it seemed like it was the place of good spirits and she wanted to support her University more.
Approaching the male who seemed less than interested in actually selling in any tickets. “I’ll take one.” She said in a small voice, digging into her small purse and producing the money for one ticket. Offering him a kind smile as she held out the note, tucking a strand of blonde locks behind her ear. “Do you guys think you’ll win?” She asked curiously.
[ benedetta porcaroli , cisfemale , nineteen ] it looks like CAILY ROMANO is late to class once again . how do they expect to get their degree in FASHION DESIGN by skipping class ? it’s a wonder that they made it to their FRESHMEN year . then again , i heard that they were + SWEET-NATURED which may give them a pass with professors , but they are also - GULLIBLE so maybe not . all i know is that they remind me of SUNFLOWERS IN A BRIGHT SUMMER FIELD, SMALL SMILES SHARED OVER HOT CHOCOLATE, & SLIGHTLY SMUDGED BABY PINK LIPSTICK so watch out . oh look , SHE just walked in !
Born and raised in Rome, Italy- her father was a successful CEO and her mother a renowned fashion designed. Caily had a life of luxury, her parents providing everything she needed for her, but also pressuring her to always achieve the best.
She spent most her time attempting to prove everyone around her that she was worth something excelling in her academics as well as being a track star for her school, even taking them to the European nationals, it seemed there was nothing that Caily wasn’t good at.
Beneath it all, there was something festering beneath the surface, the desire to break away from the life that her parents had planned out for her.
It was then that she began sleeping with her best friends brother, even though he had a girlfriend, who she was always friends with, she just wanted to feel something for herself.
It wasn’t long before news of the affair broke and Caily was shunned by her classmates, calling her every name under the sun while the boy she had slept with got away with it all, no one whispering names at him as he sauntered through the hallways.
During her last year of school, her grades began to slip and she stopped attending track, retreating into herself and trying to avoid another scandal. Her parents knew nothing about what happened except that her friends stopped coming around the house.
Caily’s mother had attended Whitton, so it was only expected that Caily would follow in her footsteps. As a last minute decision, she enrolled in fashion design despite not having that much interest in fashion but she knew it would appease her mother.
It’s her first year at Whitton and she is determined to break out of that shy girl persona she had lived in for so many years. She actually attends parties now, wanting her presence to be known around the college, not living in the shadows like she had back home.
