I get too attached to the things you say

24. New in town. 

[sophiegarett]

jos-castillo‌:

“Oh, yeah, you bet. There’s always something going on.” Josephine murmured as she shook her head and it that movement she caught a better look of the girl who was not whom she first thought. “Oh god, you must think I’m totally crazy for talking to you like that. I thought you were someone else.” Jo explained with a chuckle. “But I’ve never seen you before. You’re here passing through?” She asked, as Frostford wasn’t exactly a tourist destination and even those who came from the nearby towns to visit relatives or somehing on the lines were recognizable; tilting her head to get a better look at the girl, who looked familiar but couldn’t quite know why.

Sophie laughed breathlessly and shrugged, speaking quickly. She was sensitive to secondhand embarrassment and even though the woman before her was laughing it off, Sophie’s instinct was to apologize for someone else’s mistake.

“No, oh my God, no, I totally have one of those faces,” she said, waving her hand in front of her face casually. She paused at the woman’s question, unsure of where to begin. Her first (and last, at this point) conversation with her brother had been charged with emotion and Sophie felt like she was on the verge of exploding. She swallowed hard and forced a smile, trying to maintain the face of polite conversation and balance that with a real, honest answer. “Um, no, I just moved here, actually.” She scrunched her nose in thought. “About a couple of days ago? I moved here to be closer to my family, the Maddoxes.”

[sophiegarett]

nickbailey‌:

Reading a book in public when he was supposed to be watching his sister maybe wasn’t the best thing to do. He could tell himself he was paying attention to Harper all he wanted, but even though he looked up every few minutes, Nick still hadn’t noticed that an entire human had sat down at the other end of the park bench. She couldn’t have been there more than three or four minutes, since he didn’t go that long without checking on Harper— she was with her friends and so many of their parents were, too.

“Sorry?” Nick said, looking up from his book. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. He figured it was more for people who cared too much and needed to not do that, as opposed to people who didn’t care at all (like him), and needed to tone down just how aware they were of it. “This is Alabama, not the island from that Tom Hanks movie.” 

“Oh, shit. I mean, shoot--” Sophie corrected herself as she jumped when she realized her grumblings had been overheard. Okay, it would be ignorant to assume speaking slightly at lower volume with someone sitting a foot away from you couldn’t hear you or assume you’re talking to them. “I was just talking to myself. Like a normal person.” Self deprecating humor would smooth this awkward moment over, right?

“Castaway?” she guessed, a smile forming at his comment. “Yeah, no, I know. I’m just not used to this,” she said gesturing vaguely around them. Quiet. Small towns. Places that didn’t have wifi. People actually knowing each other as they passed one another on the street. She bit her bottom lip and her eyes fell to his book. “Mark Manson. I’ve heard him as a guest on a couple of podcasts. How’s the book?”

[sophiegarett]

wardenerikson‌:

“I’ve started hummin’ Christmas tunes.” He rolled his eyes. It was too early, but his favorite radio station started playing Christmas songs, and he couldn’t get away from it. “To each their own, but this early, I’m gonna be so sick of the songs by the time the holiday actually comes around.” 

@frostfordstart​

“Well, that’s probably because every time you turn on the radio, it’s either Last Christmas or Mariah Carey,” Sophie said with a small smile before gesturing to his table. It was a slow day at Up in Smoke and the restaurant was nearly empty. It seemed like everyone in town had found something to actually do on the holiday weekend. Sophie, being new in town and the newest employee, was low on the totem pole for getting the day off. She offered him a menu. “You know, Adam Sandler made a Thanksgiving song actually. Maybe I can blare that on the speakers and get Christmas off your mind.” She cleared her throat and started to sing jokingly. Her voice was a little high and warbly, but she knew she was never meant for American Idol. “Love to eat turkey, ‘cause it’s good. Love to eat turkey, like a good boy should, ‘cause it’s turkey to eat... Yeah, that’s the part I really remember.”

[sophiegarett]

blake-juliet‌:

Juliet arrived at Tombigbee Riverbank with a grin on her lips. She used to hang out there a lot as a kid and during high school with her friends and brothers. “I can’t remember the last time I came here, to be honest. I’m so excited right now, feels like I’m a teenager again.” @frostfordstart​

Sophie smiled warmly, feeling the sun on her face and closed her eyes. Nature was a great way to feel grounded again and Alabama’s nature was an alien planet compared to the dusty hills and palm tree-lined streets of Los Angeles where she was from. “This seems like one of those places in a coming-of-age movie,” she replied, opening her eyes. Her eyes widened as the woman began to strip down. “Whoa, really going for it, huh?” She commented, her gaze surveying the woman’s physique. There was a tinge of envy as Sophie thought I wouldn’t look that good in that, she’s stunning. There was also an inkling of fascination and intrigue. Those didn’t seem like the right words, but Sophie noticed she was gazing a moment too long. She darted her eyes back up. “Like, it’s warm here but it’s still November. You sure you wanna jump in?”

[sophiegarett]

mrxwe‌:

“I mean, I feel like Ma and Pops don’t mind, but also if I could keep how many tattoos I have away from them, probably beneficial to me. That being said, I want another one. I have a time set up, but I have no idea what I want. Help a guy out?” @frostfordstart​

“How many have you got so far?” Sophie asked, tilting her head inquisitively. She welcomed any interaction that would distract her from her own family drama at the moment. It was after Ace literally slammed the door in her face that she wished she wasn’t so alone in this small town. And she had too much pride to call her own mother or her friends back home and admit that maybe moving to Frostford impulsively wasn’t such a good idea. She smiled at the stranger. “I only have two, they’re small. And embarrassingly basic.”

[sophiegarett]

acemadd‌:

As he finally pushed the door open and was just about to take a step towards the inside of his place, Ace stopped on his tracks when he heard the girl. “Wait, stop. Just fucking stop.” He was shaking his head furiously as he faced her again, he would have laughed at her innocent speech if he wasn’t so pissed. Grabbing her by the shoulders as he tried not to be harsh with her, Ace dragged to the opposite side. 

“Listen to me, and listen well, kid. There’s no our family. I don’t fucking know the family you’re talking about. My family’s the people in this town, the people who raised me, that’d be my aunt and her husband for your information. Nothing ties us.” Ace’s fingers moved back and forth between the two of them. “Nothing but the fact that we shared a womb. That’s the fucking point I’m making, you got it? So do whatever the fuck you want and stay here if you want but keep your patronizing shit away from me, you don’t know shit about me to say stuff like that.” Taking a step back and into the house, he gave the girl one last look. “Don’t come back here, will ya’?” And with that, he closed the door

Sophie could feel her heart racing. It was in this moment that she truly realized she didn’t know anything about the man standing before her. Was he dangerous? Did he have anger management issues? While she could understand him being resistant or upset, she realized she had no frame of reference for what that would mean for him. This wasn’t a movie. There wasn’t a camera crew, or a director to yell cut! It was Sophie, alone, with a grown man bigger than her who didn’t want her around. Sophie took a step back, tightening her fists.

“Well, now I’m part of this town,” she said slowly, keeping her voice low intentionally. She wouldn’t be scared into silence, but she wouldn’t escalate his emotions further. “And whether you like it or not, I’m your sister. And I’m staying.” She flinched when he turned and closed the door, feeling knots of tension all the way up her back, reaching to her ears. Once he was inside, she took a deep breath. Her legs felt heavy and frozen. Slowly, she walked off his stoop and to her car. This wasn’t what she had imagined. He wasn’t who she thought he would be. Maybe Ace had won this battle, but she wouldn’t give up in trying to show him she came with a treaty in hand.

[sophiegarett]

5-7

5: Talk about the best birthday you’ve had.

My friends and I went on a winter road trip during a holiday and my birthday happened to fall on the trip. We got pizookies at some northwest chain restaurant and tried to do palm readings in the hotel room. It was mellow but reminded me of how lucky I am to have friends like that.

6: Talk about the worst birthday you’ve had.

I was really sick the morning of my tenth birthday and we had to cancel the party. I ended up getting my tonsils removed like, a week later because it was so bad. Which meant my throat was raw and awful all through Christmas and I couldn’t eat anything.

7: Talk about your biggest insecurity.

The post-graduation life is rough. I’m worried I’m not going to ever get “a real job.” I’m worried my instagram feed isn’t striking the right balance of “oh, I don’t really care about social media” and “does it look like I have a cool life?” I’m insecure that it seems like everyone else has everything figured out and I just moved to a small town without any friends.

[taur]

[sophiegarett]

acemadd‌:

As son as Ace felt the hand on his back he was quick to shrug it off. “Don’t touch me, girl, I’m not your friends and neither your brother, we just share some dna or whatever shit but you’re a stranger and I want to keep it that way.” He spoke over his shoulder as he got the key  in the hole, and it stayed in that way as her next words shocked the hell out of him and he turned around to face her before he could think about it. Big mistake as the first thing he noticed was the resemblance between them, there was no way people wouldn’t notice they were related which didn’t make this any easier.

“What the—“ Ace shook his head in disbelief. “You fucing moved here?” Why did you even think—“ He paused, pinched the bridge of his nose and looked at her again. “No, you can’t come in. I told you already, I don’t want to get to know you, we’re not bonding over shit, you and I had and still have very different lives and I’m happy with mine. Just… leave, alright?” He waved her off and tried to get the door open to escape from her, however, when he tried to turn the key it fell to the floor as his hand was beginning to shake and he cursed low as he bent to pick it up.

“No,” Sophie insisted, letting her hand drop from his arm. The wounds here were deep, she knew. Maybe she didn’t feel them the way he did, of course she didn’t. She hadn’t been abandoned by her mom. She was the privileged one of the two, never rejected by the people who were supposed to love her unconditionally. It did hurt how resistant he was to her. He didn’t even know her, right? Sophie was innocent in this, yet here she was, doing what their mother should have done so many years ago. Maybe that was why she was suffering her mom’s punishment now. “No.” 

Sophie stepped closer, leaning her shoulder against the door and trying to meet Ace’s eyes. He seemed tough, but Sophie could be tough, too. Or play tough. Maybe that was what she needed to do to earn some respect. “I know our family has a habit of pushing away things,” she said, frowning. “But I want to break that cycle. I’m not leaving this town, I’m making a point. You can keep fumbling with your key or actually have a conversation with me like an adult.”

[sophiegarett]

christinawalkens‌:

Christina put her tools away and went and grabbed some cupcakes out of the cooling spot to decorate. She heard the woman speak, which caused a smile to form on her face. “Oh my gosh thank you darling!” She couldn’t believe the complement. “It’s a torn thing really, you want to eat the cake, but then it’s so pretty you can’t touch it.” She giggled.

Sophie smiled warmly at the woman, her eyes falling to her name tag. Christina. The small town warmth as just as inviting as the aromatics of the bakery. Frostford seemed like a place Sophie would make into a blanket and then wrap around herself. “Oh, for sure. I’ve always been a bit of a frosting fiend,” she chuckled, walking along the display and eyeing the creations. “My mom pretty much gave up on letting me help her bake. I kept eating things and licking them before they even got a chance to look pretty.”

“How did you even come to find that this was, like, your calling?”

[sophiegarett]

acemadd‌:

The last thing Ace was expecting when he got home from his aunt’s was to see a blonde young girl waiting on the stoop and even less for that girl to be his half-sister, one had cursed since his —their — mother told him about her years ago while he was in college in California. He had made it crystal clear he wanted nothing to do with either of them and moved on with his life only for the girl to stalk him on social media, how many times had he been close to block her in all his accounts? He wasn’t sure, however, he didn’t want her to know she annoyed him to that point and let it be. The breaking point was when she had texted him, the nerve!, asking him to meet and he thought he had been blantant with his “fuck no. I want nothing to do with you” answer.

Ace had been close to turn around on his heels and leave the girl waiting until she realized he didn’t want to see her but she wasn’t about to forbid him the entrance to his own place. The hell with her, he thought, and with long strides headed to the front door.

“I thought I was fucking clear when I said I don’t want to talk with you, kid. So you lost your time  comin’ all the way here.” He said loud enough when he was close, without giving her a second look, Ace fished for his keys in his pocket and stopped at the door, his back turned towards her.

Sophie sat up, attention perking as Ace approached. He was blunt, to say the least. But Sophie understood that it came from a place of hurt, right? She’d watched enough of other people’s lives and read enough books to know that those with the tough exteriors are usually wounded beneath. Scrambling to her feet, Sophie forced a tight-lipped smile in spite of his rejection of her presence.

“I don’t think so,” she replied, reaching out and gently touching the back of his arm while his back faced her. Holy fuck, he was real. It startled her to see how much they really looked alike. All those years ago when she had laid eyes on him in person felt like a fog. Her memory of his face was more like a blurry picture and photos on social media didn’t do them justice. Their resemblance was striking. It almost made her feel giddy-- he was her brother. “I live here now, anyway,” she blurted out, unsure of what to say to make him stay longer. Did this make her sound crazy? Maybe. She just had to hope he found her crazy endearing. Or that he could let it grow on him. “In Frostford. I got a place. Can’t I just...Come inside? For a few minutes?”

[sophiegarett]

@nickbailey​

The park situated near the town square was just a quaint and picturesque as the rest of Frostford. Sophie had only been in town two days (of which were spent moving into her studio apartment) and today was the day she would search for her ‘long lost’ half-brother. Granted, him kindly telling her to not bother coming to Frostford and that he wanted nothing to do with her made that fairly challenging. But Sophie was convinced she could change his mind once she found him. She relied on his social media check-ins to try and find places he frequented, hoping to ‘lovingly ambush’ him.

She sat on the bench, frowning, trying to refresh her phone. Service in the park was shoddy and she couldn’t load his posts. “No wonder rent here is so cheap,” she grumbled, raising her phone up. “You need smoke signals to communicate.”

[sophiegarett]

@acemadd​

Sophie studied the maps app on her phone as she sat in her car outside her brother’s house. Half-brother. It was only now that her heart started racing and she wondered what the fuck am I doing?

She’d seen pictures of him, she saw every time he had a new ‘life event’ on Facebook and ‘liked’ all of them. She knew who Ace was on the internet, but seeing his world in real-life was surreal. The months leading up to moving to Frostford were filled with imaginings, simulating what would happen when they would finally meet. Now it was the real deal.

Ace had told her not to come when she messaged him over a month ago, but that didn’t stop her. She wouldn’t let him walk away like he did years ago, not that she blamed him. Their mom had cast him away and hardly looked back. Sophie wasn’t sure what she would do if the roles had been reversed and she was the black sheep, the bastard child. So Sophie spent her first few days in Frostford going to the places Ace had checked-in at on social media and to no avail. She finally had the guts to ask a local for his address and plug it into her phone.

Okay, Soph. Three. Two.

She opened the car door and hoisted herself out. Her body felt so much heavier now as she walked up the driveway to the front door of the house. The anticipation was wracking through her; what should she say? Should she start with an apology? A joke? Sophie choked down the lump in her throat as she rang the doorbell.

Wait.

She checked her phone. Wait another thirty seconds. She knocked on the door.

Wait.

Check phone again. Okay, now knock again.

Sophie rolled onto the balls of her feet anxiously, looking over her shoulder. All of this build-up for him to not be home. Of course. Sophie sighed, digging her hands into the pockets of her jacket and peeking into a window. The blinds were drawn. Well, he was bound to come back at some point. Sophie sat down on the edge of the stoop leading up to the front door and waited to finally meet her brother.

[sophiegarett]

[ florence pugh, twenty-four, female, she/her ] ━ did y'all see [ sophie garrett ] walkin’ into [ the whole enchilada ]? don’t think i’ve seen ‘em too much around here, they must’ve gotten here about [ a few days ] ago, but i think you can catch ‘em around town working as a [ hostess & freelance writer ] I reckon they’re pretty [ curious and creative ] but I hear they can also be kinda [ stubborn and self-righteous ] best make ‘em feel welcome. ━ [ ooc: hanna, 25, pst, she/her ]

@frostfordstart​

hello hello hello I am back with another character. This is Sophie, she’s [john mulaney voice] NEW IN TOWN. She’s the half sister of Ace Maddox and is currently in town trying to rekindle/form any sort of relationship with her brother. Let’s get into it, yeah?

Sophie Annabelle Garett was born December 1st, 1994 in Los Angeles, California, where she was born and raised.

She was raised believing she was an only child and always begged her parents for siblings. Dad would assure her that “mommy and daddy love you so, so much. We couldn’t imagine loving anyone as much as we love you.” Mom would always leave the room during these talks.

When Sophie was 11, her mom finally told her ‘the truth’ but this version of the truth skimmed over a lot of details due to mom’s guilt of her past actions and the fact Sophie was still so young hearing this.

The short of it was, mom made some bad decisions when she was younger. She had a child she wasn’t ready to care for and sent the boy to live with her sister. Now, the boy is grown-up and going to school in California! And we’re going to meet him!

Sophie was OVER. THE. MOON.

But Ace turned away Sophie and their mom and they never got to speak. Mom told Sophie he had his own life now.

Back to business as usual. Sophie lived a normal, middle-class life. She did ballet, she went to summer camps, she had friends, she had normal teenage insecurities. She went to a good school.

Out of college she got a nice gig as a writer for cosmo-esque women’s magazine called SheWolf. Got a little apartment, lived the early 20′s life before SheWolf got absorbed by a bigger media conglomerate and Sophie was laid off to make room for the existing employees of the bigger company.

This made Sophie pause and take a step back at her life. She followed Ace on social media and studied his life, this life her brother had that she had no part in.

Then she started laying into her parents. Why wasn’t her mom ‘ready’ for Ace but was ready for Sophie? And why didn’t she go back for Ace earlier when she finally was? Ace was robbed of his nuclear family experience, in Sophie’s eyes. She never got to have her brother and he never got to have her family. This injustice inspired her to move to Frostford to start over (rent’s way cheaper down there, anyway.)

She’s working as a waitress at Up in Smoke and still writes for online publications for extra money.

She wants to have a relationship with Ace and meet the family she never got to know.

[sophiegarett]

christinawalkens‌:

Christina carefully wrote the last word on the cake in the colorful icing. She capped the icing bag up and set it down before picking it up carefully to show her customer her work. “So, what do you think?” She asked, her slight Australian accent still present and grinning at the work she had completed. @frostfordstart​

Sophie had originally wandered into Wild Flour for a croissant, but ever the meddling neighbor, she couldn’t help but peek over the shoulder of the woman in front of her in line. Her brows shot up at the decorated cake. She came from La La Land where the top 1% threw parties for the sake of out-doing each other’s instagrams. While this was no nine-tier cake with sparklers shooting out of it, it was both artistic and timeless.

“If someone gave me that on my birthday, I probably wouldn’t want to eat it,” she commented, a playful smile on her lips. “I’d like, want to keep it in a glass box on display and just stare at it.”

[sophiegarett]

jos-castillo‌:

Moving her head left and right Josephine let out an ‘oomph’ when her beck cracked. “This is the only thing I don’t miss about travelling, feeling all stiff and wanting to stay all day in bed. But you know, work and kids doesn’t give you that option.” Josephine sighed although she was glad to be back home. “Any flash news during these three days I was gone?” She asked with a hint of amusement in her voice as she doubted she missed something important or interesting in three days.

@frostfordstart​

“Oh, uh, I mean,” Sophie was caught off guard that a perfect stranger would be so comfortable with her, but this wasn’t Los Angeles, she supposed. The only way to get familiar with strangers was to befriend them in bathrooms at bars and clubs. Cocaine was often involved, but that was an old college habit. Her heart fluttered, realizing that the brochures and things she’d read online about Frostford seemed to be true-- a town where everyone feels like family. Everyone knows your name. It seemed so idyllic and something out of an Andy Griffith episode. But the gorgeous woman approaching her so comfortably proved that small towns could be cute like the shows her grandma watched.

“Where did you go?” Sophie asked earnestly, tucking strays wisps of hair behind her ear. “I don’t know about like, any gossip or anything. But the news is pretty wild. Like, nationwide.”

[down-the-rabbith0le]