THEOBEISTE: def okay 🥵
THEOBEISTE: she’s not gonna do anything smh
THEOBEISTE: when r u visiting?
STERLINGDUVAL: lmao right and ur name’s not theo
STERLINGDUVAL: i’ve been thinking about it but i’m not convinced yet
STERLINGDUVAL: what does a weekend at osu entail
The word ‘quarterback’ stung Theo ever so slightly, but he did his best not to falter. At her follow-up observation, he glanced down at the crutches under his arms like he was shocked to see them and then nodded. “Yup,” he sighed, clicking his tongue, “how the mighty have fallen.” If he hadn’t been so insecure about his injury, he probably would’ve just left it at that, but his need to explain himself took over as he began to ramble. “I got banged up pretty badly at a practice,” he started, clearing his throat, “tore my ACL and shit. I’ve been in Lima for like three weeks but…headed back now,” a shrug, “not that you asked for all that.”
Happy to talk about her instead of his obvious situation, he smiled. “No shit, really?” he asked, glancing up as she pointed to the ceiling, “don’t they say it’s bad to shit where you eat or whatever?” At the mention of LJ, Theo’s eyes noticeably brightened. “LL Cool J is back in town? You’re kidding,” he mused, a dimpled grin tugging at the corners of his lips, “yo tell her I said hi. I should text her or some shit. I miss that girl.” Theo glanced at the cup she put down on the counter and quickly realized that he would, in fact, have some trouble getting back to his dad’s car on crutches and carrying drinks. Before he could get mad at himself for that mistake, she was teasing him with a question. “Few weeks,” he revealed with a twinge of sadness, shaking his head, “but then I have a fuck ton of PT and shit so…I don’t know.” Theo watched as Sterling began making his dad’s coffee and observed the way she moved expertly around the equipment. She was someone he hadn’t paid all that much attention to in high school since he had a girlfriend…but she was cute. From what he remembered, she was also fun. And now? Theo was single. Time to see if he still had it. “You look good, by the way,” he complimented confidently with an easygoing smile, “we should kick it sometime.”
✌🏻
there was no hiding the small laugh and eye roll being shot in theo’s direction. “somehow i think that’s impossible,” she responded quickly to his exaggeration. though she wasn’t one to actively keep up in the world of college sports, sterling did know that lima’s golden boy always had a way of landing on his feet. “yikes,” she visibly recoiled at the mention of him tearing his acl. “all this just to toss a ball down a field?” perhaps if she had at least one athletic bone in her body, sterling would understand the desire to return to something that had fucked her up physically... well. at theo’s apology, sterling shook her head and sent a warm smile his way. “i wanted to know,” she assured him before adding, “besides, it’s not every day i get the opportunity to talk to the prom king.”
sterling allowed her line of sight to follow his up to the direction of her apartment, before sighing and dropping back to meet his gaze at the sound of his words. sterling emitted a hm noise, trying to follow theo’s trail of logic. “pretty sure that’s about not sleeping with your coworkers.” as theo’s enthusiasm grew when discussing lj, sterling grabbed the marker and brought it to the sleeve of his cup. after marking what the drink actually was, she added a qb next to it. “she’s back. crazier than ever, that’s for sure.” sterling confirmed, matching the pure happiness he had been exhibiting. “i’ll let her know i saw you, but you should definitely text her. i’m sure she’d love to hear from you.” theo beiste was cute - that much was undeniable, and sterling would be a fucking liar if she said his dimpled grin wasn’t piquing her interest. in high school, they had run in similar circles and had interacted here and there at parties, but he was either always in a relationship or she was always fucking things up with rocky. there had never really been a moment where they’d truly flirted until... now? sterling wasn’t naive enough to not realize what theo’s words were implying, but what she was naive about was his relationship status. the last she’d heard, he was more than wifed up with the craziest bitch lima had ever created. “i have been meaning to get up to osu to see jaz,” and after a quick pause, she grabbed both cups and rounded the counter to theo’s side, only to use her hip to open the door wide enough for him to get through. when the sun touched her skin, sterling smiled slowly. “how’s zoe?”
WHO: @sterlingduval & theo beiste
WHERE: the lima bean
WHEN: friday, 3/19
The last few months of Theo’s life had been absolute hell. He knew, in retrospect, that refusing to get his athletic injury checked by a doctor was a colossal mistake. Had he been responsible, had he just gotten things looked at when they first happened, maybe all of the shit that had gone down recently could’ve been avoided. His lashing out at his dad, at his coaches, at Zoe. But hindsight was always twenty twenty and there was nothing he could do about it now. Him and Zoe were over, which felt like a long time coming, and whether he liked it or not, he was headed back to campus on crutches. After three weeks of recovering post-op in Lima, Theo was beyond ready to be back at OSU. He and his dad had just hit the road when Sheldon decided he needed a coffee for the drive. Once they pulled up the coffee shop Theo used to frequent as a high schooler, his dad offered to go inside for them, but T decided he could use the air.
“I got it,” he said definitely, letting himself out of the car and reaching for his crutches with a complete lack of grace. Theo was determined not to let his physical abilities hinder him. He was determined to carry on the way he always did. So, he limped his way into the lima bean with his crutches under his arms and stood in line with everyone else. Once it was his turn to order, he got a medium sized cold brew for himself and a large coffee with cream and two sugars for his dad. The barista plugged everything into his computer, took Theo’s card, and then ushered him to the end counter where he could pick up his drinks. Theo made his way over and stood stoically as he waited. It was only then that he clocked who was whipping up his order. “Yo,” he greeted, giving Sterling Duval a little nod and the faintest of smiles, “remember me?” It was a stupid question, obviously she did…but still. They hadn’t really seen or spoken to each other in two years apart from social media. “Still working here, huh?” he teased, brow quirked, “how you been?”
sterling would be lying if she said she hadn’t been looking forward to spring break. apart from the quick weekend family getaway, she had done what she always had: stayed in lima. what had excited her about spring break wasn’t the week off of school or the prospect of visiting some tropical location - no - it was knowing she’d be in the presence of some of her all-time favorite people. well, most of them anyways. apart from the obvious (colossal) absence, sterling had made quick use of her time and caught up with just about everyone possible except, apparently, theo beiste.
as his voice broke the silence of her steady work, sterling’s eyes found his, and her smile subsequently widened. “the quarterback returns home,” she paused as her eyes took in everything about theo’s appearance. “on crutches?” the words came off more as a question and less of an observation. “living the dream,” she shot back with a small smirk, gesturing towards the rest of the half-empty coffee shop. “it’s not that bad, actually. the hours are decent and the commute is short,” her finger lifted to point towards the ceiling. “i live above here,” a pause. “well, i guess, lj and i live above here now. she’s crashing on my couch.” she placed one cup on the counter and began to work on the second before returning the question. “how are you?” and with a slight jab, “how long are you gonna be hobbling around on those?”
WHO: @sterlingduval & kaden fabray
WHERE: spring break house party, lima, oh
WHEN: friday, mar. 19th, night
there was something almost nostalgic about being back in lima for spring break. about being at a house party, nonetheless, celebrating his first year of college finally nearing its end. honestly, kaden hadn’t expected to even come back to ohio until summer at least, but it’s not like it was hard to convince him after a call from frannie. but as the week had gone on, he realized he didn’t actually mind being back in his hometown. in fact, he actually loved having been able to see all of the friendly faces he had left behind when he moved to new york. though, there was one face he hadn’t realized he had been nervous to see until he turned the first corner in that night’s house party and his eyes found her immediately. charlotte sterling-duval. the two hadn’t spoken much, if at all, since the summer before he had left for nyu. honestly, out of all his lima friends, she hadn’t been one of the ones he had expected to lose contact with after high school. but after that summer… what do you say after that? so, kaden did what he had done for a year now and avoided running into her, heading straight for the drinks instead. but as the night went on, he kept catching her eye across the party. and apparently whatever mixture had been handed to him in the flimsy red solo cup was the confidence he needed as when he ran into her the next time, he didn’t walk the other way. “sterling! fancy seeing you here,” he greeted, leaning on the kitchen counter opposite of where he had found her. “we have to stop meeting like this,” he teased, but continued on. “though if you’re here, then i guess i was directed to the right college party. i was afraid i’d end up at one of the high school parties and that’s just, well, sad on my part,” what was he even saying? he felt like he was spouting nonsense, but anything to not make this anymore awkward that it was. he hated awkward situations. “but seriously, long time no see. how have you been? keeping lima on its toes, i’m sure,”
unlike everyone else who was in lima for the week, this house party felt like second nature to sterling. from the location to the people, it all felt like de ja vu, and quite frankly, sterling didn’t mind it. there was a reason she had stayed in lima instead of tackling california, chicago, or new york city like her classmates - she loved home. the people, the places, the parties. it was comfortable and where sterling thrived. what wasn’t comfortable? the prolonged eye contact she had been making with kaden from the moment she noticed him barreling through the front door. it was almost comical the way he’d been dodging her all night, but as the party began it’s wind down, sterling knew there was no better time to approach her old friend than the present. “fabray,” she breathed through a large smile, the red solo cup hovering inches away from her mouth. she took the couple seconds necessary for killing the rest of the drink to get a look at what time had done to kaden. pleased, the smile grew wider as she dropped the empty cup on the nearest table. “so you were trying to run into me, huh? noted.” sterling’s eyes narrowed slightly at his words. “long time no see and long time no talk,” the words held a bit of accusation to them. “i’m good. same old, same old, you know,” sterling pointed towards the rest of the party as if to back up her statement, before returning to meet his eyes. “you look good. how’s new york?”
WHO @sterlingduval and lj holliday.
WHEN saturday, 3/20, afternoon.
WHERE sterling’s apartment.
“this place is pretty sweet.” lj commented casually as she laid her eyes on the very tastefully decorated studio apartment of sterling duval. “looks cuter in person for fuckin’ sure.” she assured her friend, making herself comfortable pretty quickly by moving to the small kitchen table and setting her bag down. she’d spent the remainder of the day yesterday with her mom, and with dylan, but after those two, sterling was at the very top of her list. digging around in her bag, she looked up at sterling, “did your dads like, start doing that shit where they gut your room? my mom turned mine into a fuckin’ yoga room or some shit. like, damn…already?” she asked, shaking her head and laughing at the sentiment. conversation with sterling was easy. while life hadn’t forced them together until senior year, she was glad that it even bothered to do so in the first place. it all came so naturally, and their trust at this point was near unbreakable. but that was all a given. not a given? the three newspaper wrapped objects crammed onto the table, “i got you souvenirs.” she said proudly looking at the three different lumps. one oblong, one box shaped, and one a pretty nicely wrapped rectangle. with confidence, she turned her attention to sterling and playfully promised, “pick your poison, babe. you’re gonna love ‘em all.”
sterling would never claim that she was the best kind of friend to have - especially not when it came to her girl friendships, and that much was evident by the way her and noah, her proclaimed best friend, had completely fallen out of touch. but there was something different about lj holliday. maybe it was the way she matched steling’s laidback nature tenfold, or the way they always picked up like they hadn’t skipped a beat, or twelve months. “thanks,” sterling replied quickly as she kicked her shoes off by the door and moved towards the kitchen. “it’s not much but,” she paused to take a quick look at her studio apartment. “it’s home.” she emitted a loud laugh as thoughts drifted to her dads and the excitement plastered across their faces every thursday night when she came home for dinner. “surprisingly, no. i think they’re still hoping i’ll come home, even though they live ten minutes away,” the eye roll was tossed in lj’s direction as she grabbed the box shaped present off the table. “is something about to jump out at me?” and more importantly, “what’s your plan now that you’re home?”
[MADISON ISEMAN, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER] WHO’S THAT? OH IT’S STERLING DUVAL. I HEAR THEY’RE 19 AND ARE KNOWN AS THE HOYDEN AROUND LIMA. THEY’RE ALSO A FRESHMAN AT LIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, AND ARE PART OF THE LIMA BEAN. THEY’RE KNOWN TO BE GRACIOUS AND FAIR-MINDED AND INDECISIVE AND UNMOTIVATED. SOME PEOPLE SAY THEY REMIND THEM OF VINTAGE VINYL, FAMILY PHOTO ALBUMS, AVOIDING FEELINGS, AND DOUBLE-FISTING ESPRESSO.
► BASICS
BIRTH NAME: charlotte rose sterling-duval
KNOWN BY: sterling
AGE: 19
DATE OF BIRTH: september 25th
ZODIAC: libra
HOMETOWN: lima, ohio
CURRENT RESIDENCE: studio apartment above the lima bean
SEXUALITY: pansexual
GRADE: senior
SCHOOL: william mckinley high school lima community college
OCCUPATION: the lima bean
► LIKES/DISLIKES
+ cold brew, pastel markers, high-waisted jeans, the smell of lavender, organized spaces, scrunchies, neat notes, museums, neutral colors, handwritten letters
- trash talk about lima, making decisions, thinking about the future, being misled
► TL;DR BIO
Charlotte “Sterling” Sterling-Duval might be an effortlessly cool girl next door type, but with a family rooted deep in Lima’s history and the end of community college in sight, she’s unsure of what she wants to do with the rest of her life. While she knows she can’t work at the Lima Bean forever, she’s more than happy with remaining in Lima itself.
► BIOGRAPHY
unupdated bio here.
► THE PAST TWO YEARS..
Sterling’s last year of high school was as uneventful as the first three. As someone who wasn’t involved in any sports or clubs, Sterling spent most of her time hanging out with with friends, slinging coffee at the Bean, or avoiding commitment with the fling of the month.
As her classmates started to talk and grow excited about their college plans, specifically leaving Lima, Sterling knew she was only certain of one thing: she didn’t want to leave -> enter Lima Community College.
Upon her graduation day, Sterling was handed the keys to a small studio apartment above the Lima Bean from her grandfather. At first, Nick and Jeff were beyond pissed that he went above their heads, but after a long negotiation, they came to a truce: Sterling could live on her own as long as she remained in school, kept her job at the Bean, and came home for family dinners on a weekly basis.
Sterling is the same old commitment-phobe as ever. Despite coming from a loving and supportive family home, Sterling’s emotionally stunted to the extreme. Her dads and her big brother, Graham, are her entire world, but the severe lack of women figures in her life has hardened Sterling to a point of no return. Sterling’s very convinced that people are only meant to be in her life for a reason or a season - that people always leave - and Rocky Remington’s quick exit at the end of senior year only confirmed such for her.
All it had taken was one stupid comment about Rocky being a crappy Valentine to get him poking and prodding Sterling’s rib cage with his fingers. “Say you’re sorry,” he demanded in between his laughter as he knelt over her on his bed and continued to mercilessly tickle her. When he eventually got her to ‘apologize,’ he finally pulled his hands back and flopped down beside her. “Maybe,” he said as his laughter subsided and he glanced over at her with his hands locked behind his head, “but you’re fucking stupider.” The way Sterling smirked up at him and dropped her question had Rocky rolling his eyes dramatically. “Not this shit again,” he teased, glaring at her playfully, “your head’s getting too big.” But then his features softened and he shrugged as he pondered it. “Most eligible bachelorette, huh…” he drawled, sinking further into his pillows as he glanced at her from the corners of his eyes, “and still no fucking word on who you want to take to prom.” He quirked a brow and turned to look at her for real. “That’s a real shame,” he taunted, shrugging as he let out a dramatic sigh.
✌🏻
“good one, idiot,” sterling sighed as she fell into rocky’s pillows, looking over at him with a dimpled grin. “somehow your insults have only managed to get worse over the years.” the scene in rocky’s room was not an uncommon one. rolling around on his bed, laughing, and exchanging barbs was normal for them, and after having gone through yet another one of their icy periods, it felt good to be back again. sterling pulled herself up to rest on her elbow at rocky’s teasing. “excuse you, but apparently the people love my face,” she mocked, twirling a piece of golden hair around her finger. “are you saying i’m not eligible? that everyone lied?” as rocky segued into talk of prom again, sterling audibly sighed. “not this shit again. i don’t even know if i want to go,” she replied honestly. sterling knew prom was a rite-of-passage and exciting to most, but she couldn’t help but think that people made a bigger fuss out of it than they needed to. “is this your not so clever way of hinting that you want me to say you?” sterling lightly pushed on his shoulder before pulling her knees up to her chest. “kinda sus that you keep avoiding the same question. are you asking vanessa? or winnie? or some other cheerio?”
Cam could always recognize when he’d done something wrong. He could easily admit when he’d been at fault in fights with Joey, Frankie, or anyone else. And Sterling wasn’t any different. He’d picked a fight with her mostly because he’d been annoyed about his own miscommunication with Dylan that Joey had pointed out. It was hard apologizing to people. Especially someone that Cam didn’t know as well as Joey and Frankie. He knew everything about them, but his friendship with Sterling was newer and he still had a lot to learn about pissing her off. So, he texted her to meet up, despite not knowing if she would actually show up or not. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he paced back and forth, reassuring the nail tech that his friend was definitely going to show up. He glanced toward the door, a smile spreading across his face as he noticed Sterling walking through the parking lot. “It’s about time,” he remarked as she walked through the front door. He stood idly by as she chose a nail color before the two of them were led to the back. Settling into his seat, he slipped off his shoes and dunked his feet into the water. “I’m so glad we’re obviously friends again,” he joked, leaning back and resting his arms behind his head. “You showed up, so clearly you missed me.”
sterling was someone who always kept a small, selective tight circle. there was no denying that rocky was undoubtedly the most important person in her life, apart from her family, and then there was noah, who’d somehow managed to break down enough of sterling’s walls over the years that they’d formed a genuine, lasting friendship. besides that? sterling had a bunch of acquaintances that she kept at arm’s length, as if to always give herself an easy out when things got tough. so when things got tough with cam, the newest person to enter her life? sterling did what sterling did best: cut off all communication. and she likely would have continued the game of radio silence had it not been for cam’s ridiculous request. whether it was the desire to hear cam eat a mouthful of i’m sorry’s or the longing from missing having someone to clown with each joke, sterling showed up to the nall salon with a half-open mind. “i don’t know if we were ever friends,” sterling shot back as she settled into the chair next to him. “i showed up for the free massage,” she pointed towards the water. “and to hear you apologize. you were a dick at candyland. what the hell was all of that about?”
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