love me love me

winnie, 16, unpredictable

[richgoldsworthy]

reunited | rinnie

[misswinnierussell]

Winnie pouted as he spoke, knowing he had a point but refusing to accept it, until-- he preferred it here? Were her ears deceiving her? “Maybe I didn’t want you to come back. Did you ever think of that?” She furrowed her brows, well aware she was only pushing the envelope for the sake of pushing it, and not because she meant anything by it. The bell rang just then, and Winnie gave him a withering look. “You’re going to make me late for class, Richard. Is that your M.O.?” She abruptly stopped, cutting herself off before she said something she knew she’d truly regret. She took a big breath, centering herself by waving her hand in front of her own face. “If you really mean all that,” she began, “then prove it to me.” Off his look, she continued, “I don’t know how, but you’ll figure it out.”

[richgoldsworthy]

reunited | rinnie

[misswinnierussell]

It took everything inside of Winnie to not show Rich just how flustered she was by his response. She cocked her head to the side and looked at him quizzically; however, this expression was soon replaced by a tiny smirk. It was almost amusing- almost. She considered playing along, but decided against it. “Drop it, Rich,” she said, sounding a little colder than she had intended. “What are you doing back here? I- I mean- I’m surprised to see you, sure, but that doesn’t mean we have to make a scene out of it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be late for class- and that will not reflect nicely on my permanent record. I can only imagine what yours is like.”

She turned on her heel and started to head down the hall, but felt a pang of guilt and spun around quickly, biting her lip. “You know,” she said pointedly, giving him a look that surely would have incinerated a lesser being, “I really do think you owe me an explanation. And that’s all I’m going to say on the subject- all right?”

[richgoldsworthy]

reunited | rinnie

[misswinnierussell]

Winnie looked up with feigned surprise at the boy. She was good at this, or so she’d thought. “Hello,” she said flatly, giving him a suspicious glance. “Uh...can I help you?” She shook her head, wishing her heart would slow down for just a moment. She bit the inside of her cheek hard, until she could taste a bit of blood. Twist the knife, she thought. “That is, do I know you?” The answer was obvious— of course she did. Winnie dared venture to assume that she knew Rich better than anyone else in Hollywood Pointe, save for /maybe/ Eli. Maybe. But she had made a plan, and she had to stick to it. Winnie waved to an imaginary fan from the other end of the hall, and called “I’ll be there in a minute— actually, you know what? Just go on without me! I’m a little tied up here!” She turned her attention back to Rich. “Sorry about that...whoever you are. You were saying?”

[richgoldsworthy]

reunited | rinnie

@misswinnierussell

The few months back in Bristol had been much less exciting than Rich had originally anticipated them to be. Ever since arriving in Hollywood Pointe, he’d been aching to go back home, discontent with the idea of relocating in the first place. But as the days passed, he’d come to almost enjoy his new home, but more so the people he’d encountered here. While the two had bantered at first, Eli had become one of his closest friends in addition to being his cousin, and he’d met quite a few other friends here as well. But no one had impacted him the way that petite, somewhat loud yet beautiful brunette had. It didn’t help that Rich had to leave just as he and Winnie were finally at a high in their relationship after months of back-and-forth, and perhaps they hadn’t left on the best terms - Winnie hadn’t been so fond of the idea of Rich leaving so eagerly. But that hadn’t meant it wasn’t hard for him, and now being back, he realized just how much he belonged here now. He had friends and family back in Bristol, sure, but those connections had dimmed compared to the ones he’d made here in Hollywood Pointe. So as he walked into the high school on the first day of his senior year, he both feared and looked forward to his inevitable run-in with the girl who’d been on his mind for a majority of the summer. Rich made his way to his new locker, letting out an anxious sigh as he entered the combination. He would never admit to being glad to be back at school, but right now, it was where he wanted to be most.

[misswinnierussell]

Winnie had used the summer to her advantage-- or, what she believed was her advantage-- to decompress completely. So Rich had gone back to Bristol, and hadn’t even offered to bring her along. Any time she remembered this fact, and felt a little pot of anger begin to bubble up inside her, she would take a very deep breath and shift her focus to golden retrievers wearing party hats. It was her safety image-- the one her therapist had given her.

She had started seeing a therapist.

That doesn’t make me crazy, Winnie mentally practiced saying to people, in case it ever came out. She didn’t plan for it to, but then, she didn’t plan for a lot of the things that ended up happening in her life.

It wasn’t really a therapist. It was more of an anger management professional.

Because the truth was, she had been angry when Rich left. Angrier than she had been in a long time. It was almost as though she’d gone through the stages of grief-- beginning with denial that he’d even fled Hollywood Pointe, and eventually leading to anger. In July she had started seeing her therapist, and things got better. That was when she started to deliberately forget the events of the past school year, and the craziness of it all-- the first time she met Rich, to their fights, to that godawful accidental kiss at the dance-- she just let it all go. As though none of it ever happened.

Her plan was to go about the first day of her junior year as though they’d never even met. But when she walked into the building and turned, the first thing she saw was Rich at his locker, and she instantly felt palpitations. Stop it, she silently reprimanded herself. Can’t miss someone you never met.

So with an entirely false air of confidence she charged past his locker, her dark hair flowing in the breeze generated by the fans being pointed in her direction by two students at the bottom of the social totem pole. She kept her gaze forward, resisting the urge to turn around to see if he noticed her. Winnie stopped at her own locker, which had been freshly painted baby pink and decked out in glitter. And she stared at it, frozen. 

What was she supposed to do now?

[velmabby]

(not so) welcome home

[misswinnierussell]

Winnie raised an eyebrow at the mention of the juice bar- she’d only gone there once in the last months, a few days after Caesar had left. It was depressing walking in there alone, without her best friend by her side. To make matters worse, the girl at the register had given her a quizzical look and remarked, “That’s different. Never seen you in here by yourself.” Winnie had shrugged and commented in a low voice that he was out of town, and then assured herself he’d be back soon, but the afternoon she’d spent alone in Minnie’s with a book and her tablet had been pretty...lonely. 

With a deep breath, she smiled. “Let’s walk,” she decided. “It’s nice enough out.” Plus, it would give them the chance to talk, without radio interruptions. Winnie thought for a moment as she headed towards the front door. “There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about. Well...someone.”

[velmabby]

(not so) welcome home

[misswinnierussell]

Winnie looked at him quizically, just for a brief moment. “The city, huh?” she said, an off-handed repetition. “I can’t wait to hear all about your new friends.” Yet another lie. It was alright, she figured. There were parts he was purposely leaving out, Winnie knew. So that was how they were going to play it. Fine, she mused silently. She crinkled her nose, another attempt to figure him out, and then shot to her feet. “What did you miss most about home? And don’t say us. That doesn’t count. Now that you’re back, you can pick what we do today.”

Perhaps, Winnie considered, some of her annoyance came from jealousy. Jealousy that Caesar had made new friends. That he had a father at all. Winnie tried not to think about her dad much- it made things easier. Part of her wanted to know what Caesar’s thoughts on his dad were now, after spending so much time with him. Jeremy. Winnie sighed inaudibly, then looked at Caesar expectantly. “Well, then? Where to?”

[velmabby]

(not so) welcome home

[misswinnierussell]

caesarbabington:

Caesar laughed, “At least some things never change. Get over here, you” pulling her in for a big hug. “I missed ya Win.” His lanky arms encircled her and his head rested on top of her’s. The last time they hugged like this was when he left seven months ago. Caesar failed to hold his tears back then, but he was determined to be successful now. Tonight didn’t need tears, he didn’t need his family to know just how much he missed them. How much he missed his best friend, his other half, his cousin. How it took him the entire summer to get over feeling like part of him died. No one needed to know that he stopped calling because he couldn’t take being away from his mom and Winnie. “You need to catch me up on everything that happened.” 

Winnie felt herself becoming emotional, and decided the best thing to do was worm her way out of the hug as quickly as she could. “It’s been completely humdrum over here,” she lied. “Nothing too exciting.” It simply wasn’t true. In the times they had texted or talked over the last few months, she’d refrained from telling him quite a bit: she hadn’t mentioned how she’d accidentally lost the few friends she had around town after a dumb rumor she had, in fact, started; she hadn’t mentioned her newfound interest in science, particularly in engineering, because it probably wouldn’t matter to Caesar anyway, since he was so busy with his dad; she hadn’t mentioned the guy she’d fallen completely head-over-heels for -- though partly because that wasn’t something she was ready to admit to herself. “I’m sure you’ve got lots more wonderful, hard-to-believe, you-had-to-be-there stories. You go first. We’re all ears.” With that, Winnie plopped onto the couch and stared at him with that same forced smile, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

[velmabby]

(not so) welcome home

@misswinnierussell

Caesar went through customs and baggage claim and one cab ride later he was home. Upon entering he was affectionally attacked by his mother with hugs and kisses. After missed her so much while he was away, Caeser didn’t fight the affection at all. When his mom finally let go, the front door opened and the one and only Winnie Russell came through. 

[misswinnierussell]

The smile plastered onto Winnie’s face was dramatically big, even for her. On her way over she’d promised herself she wouldn’t seem weak in front of Caesar -- wouldn’t break down and tell him how much she missed her favorite cousin, how she’d been terribly lonely while he was gone and at times, felt like a piece of herself was absent, but hurt, like a phantom limb. Yes, Winnie had decided she would be strong, like an ox. A passive-aggressive ox. She’d let him think she didn’t need him. She didn’t need her best friend.

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met,” said Winnie, feigning confusion. She was really good at putting it on, she knew that. She extended a hand to shake. “Winnie. And you are -- oh, you’re my cousin Caesar! I’m sorry, I guess over the last few months I just...forgot what you looked like. Remember me?”

[misswinnierussell]

richgoldsworthy:

Rich let out a defeated sigh, rolling his eyes. He knew how to use sunblock; in fact, it was almost always necessary back in Bristol. He rarely got burned, and when he did, he’d learned his lesson. “I’ll be fine,” He mumbled, lifting the suitcases one by one and loading them into the trunk of the car. Heading back to the entry way of the house and doing one last glance-over to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, Rich locked the front door and headed back towards the car, climbing into the driver’s seat and turning the key. Frowning at the sound of what sounded like a baby singing, he scoffed and shook his head. “No way am I starting out this trip with a migraine. Find something else, won’t you? Otherwise I’ve got plenty of Slayer and Napalm Death on my phone that I can play.” He knew Winnie wouldn’t be interested in listening to heavy metal, so he was willing to compromise a bit, but he couldn’t stand musical theatre songs. Pulling out of the driveway, he started down the road, heading towards the highway.

“This is real music, Rich. It’s not going to give you a migraine. It’s meant to stimulate the senses. If you play any of your heavy scary metal, I’m going to get a migraine. And you most definitely don’t want that, I’m sure.” She grinned from ear to ear as ‘Castle on a Cloud’ ended, and let out a contented sigh. Taking his request into consideration, she flipped the dial to the Coffee Shop station, and an acoustic cover of the Chainsmokers’ ‘Closer’ played. Winnie stared out the front window, then turned to Rich. “Slow down a bit, will you? I don’t want you to get a speeding ticket. That’ll eat up some much needed beach time.” She knew Rich knew how to drive, but it was too much in her nature to poke and prod and annoy him. She adored his reaction, though she was hesitant to admit it. 

[misswinnierussell]

@richgoldsworthy

“Richard, what are you waiting for? Let’s get a move on! We don’t have all day!” Though she was yelling in her naturally-shrill yelling voice, Winnie was grinning. “This is going to be the best vacation ever, isn’t it?”

[richgoldsworthy]

Rich was scanning the cabinets in the kitchen, looking for any last-minute snacks he’d be able to grab to bring along in the car. Hours of driving meant getting hungry pretty quickly, and he didn’t want to have to stop all the time to buy food. “I’m getting some chips and shit, hang on,” He shouted into the other room, grabbing a handful of chip bags and stuffing them into a large beach bag. Dragging his luggage to the door, he let out a huff, his eyes settling on the shorter female. “Yeah yeah, best ever. Did you pack your passport and your ID and all those essentials?” Rich reached for her suitcase and opened the front door, heading to the car to load everything into the trunk.

[misswinnierussell]

“Language,” Winnie admonished, a little more gently than she ordinarily would have. “Richie, don’t worry about any of that. I had my passport and my ID and all that good stuff. You just do the heavy lifting, and I’ll take care of everything else.” As he lifted her suitcase, she threw one arm around his waist, beaming. “By the way, I packed three bottles of sunblock. I can’t have you getting burnt to a crisp on this trip. That’ll make so much more work for me,” she added quietly, but with a smile. She supervised his handling of her very fragile, very expensive luggage -- it had to be handled with care, just like Winnie herself. “Looks like you’ve got that under control! That’s the last bit of it.” Winnie climbed into the passengers seat of the car and immediately started playing around with the radio, landing on the Broadway musical channel. “Rich, come quickly. They’re playing Castle On A Cloud. You know that’s my favorite!”

[carlofan]

[misswinnierussell]

@richgoldsworthy

“Richard, what are you waiting for? Let’s get a move on! We don’t have all day!” Though she was yelling in her naturally-shrill yelling voice, Winnie was grinning. “This is going to be the best vacation ever, isn’t it?”

[wishtoconfess]

Do it.

I will write about the following, leave one in my ask box.

Dear person I hate,

Dear person I like,

Dear ex boyfriend,

Dear ex girlfriend,

Dear ex bestfriend,

Dear bestfriend,

Dear *anyone*,

Dear Santa,

Dear mom,

Dear dad,

Dear future me,

Dear past me,

Dear person I’m jealous of,

Dear person I had a crush on,

Dear girlfriend,

Dear boyfriend,

[misswinnierussell]

snapchat: open

Winnie: Do you like my butterflies ????

[misswinnierussell]

Text: Best Friend💕

Brielle: WHAT OMG

Brielle: If it's not Rich you have a lot of explaining to do lmao

Winnie: LOLS OF COURSE IT'S RICH

Winnie: I'm kinda still in shock about it

[misswinnierussell]

stuck | wahlia

Winnie was going through her closet, tossing clothes into two piles. The first was for cute clothes that she would most certainly keep for herself, and the second for items to donate to charity, or the less fashionable. Perhaps someone like Dahlia could benefit from my trendiness, Winnie thought, but she immediately made a face at the thought of her nemesis. Dahlia didn’t deserve such lovely clothing. Of course, not all of it was lovely. Some of it had been gifted to her; chunky-patterned turtlenecks, velvet vests, things of that nature. She’d never worn them, of course, but they’d contributed to the collection. 

Winnie heard a sound and froze. Who else was home? She’d been so focused on her chore that she supposed Ronnie or their mom was home, and that was all. She heard footsteps and shrugged it off, even though they weren’t the familiar footsteps of her mom or sister. “Hello?” she called out. 

@dahliamartins

[misswinnierussell]

Text: Aaron

Aaron: -is typing-

Aaron: *eyes emoji*

Aaron: i decided to take a vacation, nbd

Winnie: -is typing-

Winnie: *knife emoji*

Winnie: You decided to take a vacation WITH SATAN?