sitting pretty

eloise tran, eighteen, the rich kid. i was in, but i want out. my mother's love is choking me. i'm sick of words that hang above my head — what about the kid? it's time the kid got free.

[elcises-blog1]

starlitophelia·:

closed starter → @elcises

Ophelia strolled into Newton’s Olympic Outfitters with a smile on her face. Ever since Andy had convinced Eloise that she needed to get a job here for the sake of their investigation Ophelia had been biding her time, waiting for an opportunity to visit El at work. Eloise Tran working a retail job was something Ophelia had never even imagined she would get to see, there was no way she was going to miss this opportunity. Besides that, Ophelia was a semi-regular customer at the Newton’s store. They were the best, scratch that, only place in Forks that sold high quality hiking gear. Saving her both the time and gas of a single purpose trip to Port Angeles. 

“Hello,” At the sight of Eloise in her uniform Ophelia’s smile grew even wider, “I’m here to look at your hiking gear, my boots are getting a little worn out. You’d be able to help me with that, wouldn’t you?”

Why she needed to keep her job at Newton’s after she’d gotten information out of Jessica was beyond Eloise. Obviously there was the fact that she could always learn more about the Cullens by being here, and earning her own money felt surprisingly freeing — Jessica was a pretty good boss, too. But the uniforms were extremely unflattering and she hated dealing with the annoying customers.

Going into autopilot, Eloise perked up the little bell attached to the door went off, a bright (if forced) smile on her face. “Hi, welcome to— oh.” Her face dropped upon seeing Ophelia. It wasn’t that she was disappointed to see her, it was more the fact that she was definitely on the shortlist of people who would come in just to make fun of her in the ugly polo she donned for work. “If you try and take a photo of me in this uniform, I’m pretty sure I can get you blacklisted from the store, Lia.”

[elcises-blog1]

rcbelrebcl‌:

closed starter / @elcises

waverly didn’t even remember why she was mad at eloise, not after sobering up and letting some time pass. it was a little embarrassing, the fact that she freaked out on her like that. it wasn’t something that she did. she didn’t even think she was really that mad at her for the middle school stuff, she just… never really thought about it much. she never asked her about it, maybe that made it worse. she knew it was probably her own fault, maybe she was better off not knowing why she’d cut her off. and her presence beside her in the lunch line was just getting plain awkward. she nudged her with the corner of her tray, peering down at her hesitantly. “hey, do you give good advice?” trust wavy to start off the conversation without maybe… apologising for what she said, for one.

it was only a light nudge, but eloise jumped a mile in the air when waverly bumped her tray against hers. they hadn’t spoken since the party, and that definitely hadn’t gone well. she wasn’t mad about it, but she was still extremely unsure as to whether or not they were on speaking terms. but wavy making the first move helped solve that problem a little. “oh, um… yes?” eloise said, immediately shaking her head — it sounded so conceited. “i mean… maybe? i think it depends.” now she sounded like an idiot, but she continued to ramble, anyway. “if you’ve got a problem, i’ll uh… try my best to help!” her voice was far too chipper, but she couldn’t help try extremely hard around wavy. tackling awkward situations was never her strong suit.

[elcises-blog1]

saintlygabe·:

open to anyone.

he’s not expecting anyone to come looking for him, so gabe hasn’t payed any attention to the figure that walks up next to his locker. he continues to swap out his morning class books for his afternoon books, hoping whoever is lingering on the other side of his locker door will just decide to walk away. if he doesn’t acknowledge them, maybe they’ll get tired of waiting. gabe’s been on edge all week — after all, attempting to recover from drinking too much and keep your story straight in front of your parents was quite the balancing act. suddenly, his locker door slams shut and gabe’s attention is forced back towards the figure that pushed it shut. “jeez— uh, hi…. what’s up?”

“sorry — didn’t mean to annoy you or anything.” eloise half-joked, hoping she hadn’t actually annoyed gabe. they hadn’t spoken all that much since the party, but she figured they weren’t on bad terms, unless she’d blacked out completely. if anything, eloise had actually enjoyed her time spent with him that night. the talking, the dancing — even the parts that kind of felt like flirting. it was fun, and she just assumed gabe thought the same thing. “i just feel like i haven’t spoken to you much since sadie’s party, wanted to see how you were. y’know, like if you’re still nursing a hangover.” she said, a teasing lilt to her voice.

[elcises-blog1]

starlitophelia·:

“What? No.” Ophelia asked, brow crinkling as she took in the panic on Eloise’s face. She took a quick sip from her cup before leaning past Eloise to set it down on an end table, the rest of the space taken up by a chunky vase and a ceramic doll that gave Ophelia the creeps. She could see the ripples in her drink from the thumping of the music downstairs as ABBA started up and the teenagers started yelling.

It was important to Ophelia that Eloise knew that she didn’t hate her, no matter how angry or stand offish she appeared. Recently her angsty vibes were something Ophelia had been working on moving past, at least, to an extent. 

“Listen,” Ophelia reached out and took a hold of Eloise’s shoulders gently but firmly as she met the other girls gaze. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about us.”

Eloise was having trouble adjusting her eyes to the fluorescents in Sadie’s bathroom. That, combined with Ophelia cornering her in there was making for an extremely uncomfortable and confusing time. She was blinking a lot, and trying to make sense of what was going on. “Uh… us? What do you mean?” Eloise found herself wondering if there was an us between her and Ophelia — they weren’t really that close after everything, and she was struggling to follow along.

“Wait, I don’t understand what’s going on, Ophelia. Is everything okay between… us?” She emphasised the word, as though saying it again would help her work out what exactly Ophelia was getting at. It almost made El regret the booze she’d had, her comprehension skills had never felt so impaired.

[elcises-blog1]

saintlygabe·:

his gaze widen as eloise sips the milkshake, leaning a little closer to the femme as he expectantly waits for her opinion. “right? it’s so good it’s like a real, high quality milkshake.” the male nods enthusiastically and takes the jar back from eloise when she’s finished. “i think wavy would be happy to make me another — she’s already made like… a lot.” he nods again, this time pausing to sip the milkshake before letting out a giggle. “uh, yeah… i think so. is it obvious? wait, do you think people know i’m drunk?” his head cocks slightly, concern washing over his features as the realization of people knowing he was intoxicated just like everyone else. “okay, yeah… yeah let’s go outside. it’s hot in here and my milkshake is melting. i don’t want to waste it.” he turns towards away briefly, reaching out to grab eloise’s hand as he leads them towards the patio.

“a lot, huh?” eloise laughed, nudging him playfully in the ribs. her and waverly might not have been on excellent terms, but she made a mental note to thank her for getting gabe into this state. he was just so funny, and adorable — and it matched her level of drunkenness perfectly. “no, no, you’re fine, dummy.” she teased, trying to keep her tone light as not to stress him out. the fact was, they were probably on the lesser side of drunk. eloise was pretty sure she saw the captain of the debate team slide down sadie’s bannister — at least she wasn’t that bad. as gabe tugged her along, she couldn’t help but grin. even something as inconsequential as them going outside to talk made her feel some kind of childish excitement. “geez, it was so loud in there.” she was kind of yelling, probably since the blaring speakers had burst el’s eardrums. “okay, so tell me — where does this rank in terms of all the parties you’ve been to?”

[elcises-blog1]

rlmcadams·:

luke eyed the punch bowls cautiously, trying to remember which was the good one and which one tasted like dirty dishwater.  he picked up the overly sticky ladle and, mentally wincing, poured himself a red solo cup full.  fifty-fifty shot.  here we go.  he put the cup to his lips and took a sip, nearly doing a spit take in response.  “oh, no.  no way.  that is ungodly.  absolutely not,”  he said, warning the person to his side.  “hard pass.  nope.”

“okay… i swear this is like, the fifth time tonight that i’ve been warned about the punch bowls here. is it really that bad?” she asked, scrutinising the punch bowl, almost tempted to take a sip. against her better judgment, eloise spooned a small amount into a cup, taking a sip before gagging. “oh, yep — you were right, you were absolutely right.” she shook her head, as though it would get rid of the taste. “what the hell did sadie put in these? rubbing alcohol?”

[elcises-blog1]

ofxmateo‌:

not quite sure when it happened, mateo found the mallory home a lot emptier than it was the last time he checked. pfft, lightweights, he thought to himself as he scanned the remaining faces for a familiar one. matias– and in turn, his car– were probably long gone, though he knew his brother wouldn’t wait around after he told him to go. it was going to be one hell of a trek home, and if he were smart, he’d get started on it now… well, after the room stopped spinning so much, maybe.

eventually clumsily making his way towards the front door, he caught glimpse of eloise dancing by herself in his peripheral. hesitating to take another step, he lazily leaned his weight against the nearest wall for a moment as he contemplated simply making his exit alone or not. they weren’t extremely close, but mateo knew her well enough that he felt an obligation to make sure she got home– or at least wherever she was staying for the night– safely.

pushing himself off the wall, he approached with a disarming smile. “el?” @elcises

“mateo!” eloise called back, practically skipping over to him. her party routine tended to revolve around a cycle of socialise, dance, drink — and she was more than happy to take a break from dancing to talk to mateo. “now, are you leaning against that wall to look cool or because you can’t stand up straight?” she teased, wondering just how much he’d drunk. eloise really got a kick out of seeing her friends tipsy, and mateo was no exception.

they weren’t the closest, but he was probably one of the few people in eloise’s friendship group that she actually spoke to without having to force anything. even tonight, this was already one of the few moments where she didn’t have to fake a smile, or grease the conversation with a lot of alcohol. “have you been having fun? sadie can really throw one hell of a party.”

[elcises-blog1]

starlitophelia·:

closed starter → @elcises

Ophelia held onto her cup, filled with orange juice and vodka, as she scanned the room. She was too short to see over most of the crowd and Sadie’s living room was packed with students who kept jostling her. Between that, the alcohol she had already consumed, the dim lighting, and the thumping bass it was hard to make out a friendly, familiar face but Ophelia was never known to be a quitter.

“You,” She reached out and grabbed a random kid by the collar of their jacket, yanking them down towards her so they could hear her when she spoke next, “I’m looking for Eloise Tran, have you seen her?”

Flustered and a little nervous at being manhandled by Ophelia Sloan the kid straightened up and scanned the room, their height giving them an advantage that Ophelia herself did not possess.

“Well?” She snapped.

The kid pointed in the direction of the staircase that led to the upper floors with wide eyes. When Ophelia glanced down she noticed she had caused some of the kids drink to slosh over the side of his own cup and onto his shoe. Ophelia began to make her way through the crowd, squeezing between her classmates as they yelled to be heard over the music, creating a semi-circle around an area in the middle of the room that appeared to be designated as the dance floor.

Following Eloise up the stairs Ophelia finally cornered the other girl in an upstairs hallway, sparse with people and with only the wall sconces lit.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Ophelia announced a little too loudly, pointing her half full cup in Eloise’s direction. “It’s important.”

With a spring in her step (a result of having just danced to the Grease mega-mix), Eloise exited the bathroom, stepping out into the hallway and almost immediately colliding with Ophelia. She jumped, slightly startled by the interaction. The two of them barely spoke, and when they did, it wasn’t like they were saying much. To call them friends would’ve been a stretch, acquaintances was probably a better term. Not that Eloise wanted that. She would’ve been happy to be Ophelia’s friend, but she also knew the value in keeping her distance. Ophelia had been through hell at school, and El knew better than to force a friendship with everything going on — besides, it’d been ages since they ran in the same circles.

Looking up at Ophelia, Eloise stammered a little, finally managing to get a sentence out. “You want to talk to me? Uh, am I in trouble?” She asked, brow furrowed in confusion. “Because if I did something wrong… I’m sorry? You’re not mad are you? Please don’t be mad.” Wracking her brain, Eloise tried to think of why Ophelia would want to talk to her, and just hoped that she hadn’t screwed up and then forgotten it.

[elcises-blog1]

saintlygabe·:

he’s not sure how many of those milkshakes wavy has made for him within the past couple of hours, but gabe knows he’s on his third… or maybe it’s his fourth. either way, the concoction seems to taste better with every new batch she makes. wavy’s off doing something and gabe is finally relaxed enough to explore the house. he pushes through a couple of groups, head on a swivel as he looks for someone that he might be able to have a conversation with. “oh my g— hey! hey!” gabe exclaims, grin spreading across his features as eloise grabs a hold of him. it’s the best-case scenario, and gabe is thankful he’s found someone to talk to. “yeah— a great time… wavy keeps making these milkshakes for me and i honestly don’t know why she isn’t opening an ice cream shop or something. i mean, taste this!” he extends the jar towards her in case she wants to try it. “what are you doing? dancing?”

eloise took the jar, eyeing it for a moment before taking a sip. her eyes widened — “woah. that tastes like… magic, holy shit. there’s alcohol in here?” she took one more sip before handing the glass back to gabe, slightly stunned by how nice it was. eloise very much doubted wavy would ever make her a boozy milkshake, so she enjoyed getting to have one by proxy. “i feel like i never see you at parties… wait, are you drunk?” eloise burst into giggles, a smile spreading across her features. there was something funny about seeing gabe under the influence, she was so used to just seeing him at school, or cullens meetings. it was fun, and she enjoyed seeing the different sides of him. “of course i’m dancing! this playlist is awesome, and i feel great. the music’s really loud though — we can go find the patio if you want? we can hear each other better.”

[elcises-blog1]

rcbelrebcl·:

the second waverly saw that look on her face, she should have thrown her hand over her mouth and refused to let anything else cruel spill from her lips, but it didn’t seem that would be the case. her alcohol fuelled annoyance was far from being extinguished. to make matters worse, her guilt over being unkind when she heard her innocent questioning only made it all the worse. “do i sound mad to you?” she replied sarcastically before shaking her head and looking away. “it’s like you think that this whole cullens thing means we’re best buds. like, whatever, i have nothing against you, but i don’t wanna be friends with you.” she said dismissively, as if it wasn’t as bad as it sounded coming out of her mouth. “no need to force it for my sake. i’m good.” 

“no, well… kind of — but you’re sounding a little mean, and i don’t understand.” that wasn’t entirely true, eloise did understand. she just didn’t get why waverly didn’t want to talk to her. the alcohol and wishful thinking had warped her brain just so, and she couldn’t quite comprehend what was wrong with her over-eager and vaguely annoying attempts at conversation. “i’m not forcing it, wavy. and it’s fine if you don’t want to be friends. well, it sucks, but i’m not forcing it, i swear.” eloise stammered out, shrinking in on herself a little. “can i just ask why? we see each other heaps more because of that cullen thing, wouldn’t it be easier if we were like… nice to each other?”

[mybodywakesup]

[elcises-blog1]

parties were the best. especially when she was just the right amount of drunk, and the guilt about lying to her parents hadn’t sunk in yet. she was dancing, singing along loudly (and out of tune) to the taylor swift remix blasting over the speakers, clearly in her element. eloise would’ve been content just dancing there the entire night, until someone caught her eye. “gabe! oh my god, gabriel!” she all but squealed, pushing through the crowd to grab his arm. “you’re here! i’m so glad you’re here!” being at this party kind of made eloise realise she didn’t have a lot of friends that she was genuinely excited to see. even her and sadie were only friends superficially, and she really only snagged an invite to her party because they sat at the same lunch table. “are you having a good time?” — @saintlygabe

[elcises-blog1]

rcbelrebcl·:

waverly was sitting with limbs sprawled out on the couch, staring into the distance as her mind began to focus on some unimportant detail. she couldn’t remember what she’d had for breakfast, or hell, if she’d eaten anything other than half a jar of pickles today. god, she was hungry now that she thought about it. the second she realised she had company, though, it was like hungry became hangry, because it was none other than her ex-friend, eloise. “hi.” she replied, looking uncertain as to why she was being graced with her rambling presence. she was talking so much that it rivalled even her own talkative habits. “uh…” she scoffed. “like, don’t take this the wrong way, but is there a reason you’re talking to me? like, i really don’t care what mommy and daddy think you’re doing right now.” 

her mouth was agape, eyes slightly widened. it’s not like they were on friendly terms, so what waverly said shouldn’t have hurt — it was all true, anyway. but eloise still felt a little bit like she’d been sucker-punched. “wh-what?” she stammered, wondering if it was what wavy said, or the alcohol that was making her head spin. “are you like… mad at me or something? i was being nice and making conversation.” her tone was indignant, and it wasn’t quite clicking in eloise’s drunk brain as to why waverly was mad. she sometimes forgot that she never did explain to wavy why she just ghosted in middle school. and she certainly wasn’t ever going to. there was nothing more pathetic or embarrassing than explaining a terminated friendship by saying ‘my parents made me’.

[elcises-blog1]

ramonabyrne·:

ramona merely shrugged at her response, “i don’t know, but i saw some guy put something weird in there.” with her hands in her pockets, she was ready to walk away and find a place where she could bum a cigarette in peace, but eloise made it seem like they were about to do a thing together. ramona blinked, inching her head forward as if she hadn’t heard what she said. “oh, uh, the liquor cabinet’s in the home office, i think. i saw someone taking the bourbon and started passing it around like a hot potato, so i figured. people are trying to be casual about it—trying not to steal the entire horde of booze all at once, but you can check, i guess, so…” she said, slowly nodding as she raised her solo cup, “i got myself a jack and coke before the chaos ensued.”

had she been sober, eloise might have felt a little slighted at ramona’s reluctance to participate in this situation. but she was too buzzed to read vague social cues, and she also really wanted to make friends. and ramona even seemed like someone her parents would approve of (provided they never found out about the smoking or drinking). “okay, home office… well we can scope it out? i wonder if they have any top shelf stuff — they must. imagine if they have grey goose? oh, i’d kill for a cosmo.” eloise only knew how to make one of those because it was the number one thing her mother drank, and she couldn’t even make them well. “you’re still gonna come with me, right? it’ll be like a mission!” she exclaimed, far too keen on this, given how underwhelming it actually was.

[elcises-blog1]

ramonabyrne·:

“i wouldn’t drink that if i were you.” ramona piped, seemingly from nowhere. she shifted around the table and crossed her arms, tucking her hair behind her ear in the process. not that she felt an obligation to suddenly protect everyone (at a party, no less), but what’s the harm in trying to dissuade people from getting more than what they bargained for? despite her apprehensive tone and the way she tentatively stood about, ramona cocked her head to the side and spoke firmly, “that’s, uh… really spiked. i’d take my chances with the pbr, or hard lemonade… or the bottle of bourbon that someone stole from sadie’s parents’ liquor cabinet. just not that.”

reaching for the brightly coloured punch, eloise stopped in her tracks. eyeing the spoonful of liquid, she took one whiff before dropping it back in the bowl. “oh my god, what’s it been spiked with, gasoline?” eloise almost dry-retched, her face contorted in disgust. abandoning her cup, she turned to ramona, whose name she’d been making a conscious effort to remember since she became part of the weird little cullen investigation gang. “wait, the liquor cabinet is fair game? i’ve been drinking wine coolers since i got here — i need something that doesn’t taste like straight up sugar syrup, d’you wanna go find it?”

[elcises-blog1]

eloise was the perfect level of buzzed. she’d had just enough that she wasn’t incoherent, or stumbling everywhere. instead she was practically bursting at the seams with enthusiasm, dancing to every song that came on the playlist, and talking to everyone she knew. smile wide and cheeks pink, eloise dropped onto the couch, right next to wavy. “waverly, hey — how are you?” she asked, almost childlike in how genuine she was being. they might not have been friends anymore, but this was a party. they could talk, and be happy for at least the next few hours. “isn’t this great? i love parties. my parents think i’m having a sleepover, though. i hope they don’t find out the truth.” it was like she couldn’t shut up, and was entirely unaware of how irritating she was. — @rcbelrebcl

[egothreat]

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