#elisabethstarters

[marley-callahan]

The water had been turned up so hot that it’d left Marley a pleasing tinge of pink. Not knowing when she’d get the luxury of more than an ice cold shower, she’d taken her time, letting the warmth melt away the chill she felt had permanently imbedded in her skin the last few days. She was no stranger to electricity outages, though the ones of her childhood had been inflicted at the negligent hand’s of her mother as opposed to the weather. She didn’t consider the way that she grew up to be lucky by any means, but she supposed Jerome had had it’s perks: lack of blizzards being the main one. No air conditioning in the middle of July, however...now that’d been a real issue.

Eventually, slick hands reached to turn off the shower handle, and Marley stepped out of the shower into the steam-filled bathroom and the comfort of a towel wrapped around her body. "That might’ve been the best shower that I’ve ever taken in my entire life.” Marley announced with a laugh as she opened the bathroom door, having left her clothes in the other room. “I seriously don’t even know how to thank you.”

@elisabethstarters​

[vic-hernandez]

It was a desperate move. Truly, it was. But Victor was losing Instagram followers by the day, and he told himself that he didn’t care. That it didn’t matter--because really, he didn’t. It didn’t. Except, he did. It kind of did. His last post had been in August, before news of the band’s breakup had hit mainstream media. If he looked at the comments on that last photo, he knew the top ones would all be the same questions: what happened? Why did you break up? Is this for real? But he also knew that if he looked at the comments on that last photo, those questions would have stopped rolling in months ago, too. 

So, desperate times called for desperate measures. His hair looked good...and so did his bare chest in the bathroom mirror, phone poised and ready in his hand. As if the situation were more nerve-racking than a shirtless selfie, Victor took a deep breath, thumb hovered over position of his phone--

--when the bathroom door opened. Shit, did I not lock the fucking door? Victor jolted in surprise, the phone clambering from his hand and to the tile floor below. He faced the intruder with wide eyes, an embarrassed flush already creeping along his neck as he tried to think of a suitable explanation. “I, uh...this isn’t what it looks like?”

@elisabethstarters​

[rebeccamayne]

@elisabethstarters​

“God, what a day. I’ll take a whiskey. On the rocks.” Rebecca attempted her best to hold back a sigh as she saddled up upon the bar-stool. Throughout work the whole day, her mind had been absent -- unable to focus on anything at all. And now? It was official -- the divorce papers freshly signed and yet the reality of it all hadn’t sunk in yet. Even now, she stared down at her hand, still unsure of why she was even still wearing the ring. Perhaps she’d been holding onto that last shred of hope that something would’ve changed but now that was all gone. “Consider it a tip. I mean -- that’s if you really want it.” She pulled the shimmering diamond off her finger although her voice sounded somewhat serious rather than joking. After all -- what the hell was she going to do with it now, anyway? 

[forrestholloway]

It was like time had passed in the blink of an eye. Where had the years gone? How was she suddenly almost sixteen years old when it felt like he’d just learned how to change her diaper, or rock her to sleep? Forrest couldn’t believe it. He was the father to a full fledged teenager. Sixteen years old in just four months. His baby girl, no longer a baby.

God, he needed a drink.

Though, the one in his hand was still more than half full. His fingers were making better work at picking at the beer bottle’s label than bringing it to his mouth, attention clearly elsewhere. “...how old were you, when you first started dating?” Furrowed eyebrows glanced at his companion, though they were quick to smooth, realizing how out of the blue, and personal, the question was. With an embarrassed smile, he shook his head, fidgeting hands dropping from the bottle into his lap. “Sorry, that’s...” But he couldn’t drop the subject. “Fifteen’s young, right?” Asked the man who’d had his daughter a month after turning eighteen, though it wasn’t as if his concern for what he’d accidentally witnessed that afternoon wasn’t unprecedented.

@elisabethstarters​

[timothe-ardouin]

Location: Vigil Time: around 8 pm @elisabethstarters​

Tim was able to hold out for about an hour. A hour of wading among the crowds, of listening to people making speeches, hearing their tears, and feeling uneasy with their grief for people who might still be alive. This was supposed to be a support, the lanterns would soon fly and maybe guide the sailors home. Tim saw people drinking, he watched people eat, he hoped to find people who he knew, but his eyes passed through the crowd too quickly. Too anxiously. 

His body was already pushing him towards the edge of the crowd before his mind realised he was having a panic attack. Reaching the beach he let out a forced laugh and let himself fall down to the rocks, breathing heavily. 

[jessica-g]

WHERE: whitview, QUBE. WHEN: 4:36 PM @elisabethstarters​

Having finished up her work for the day in Whitview, Jessica went on a little stroll. She didn’t want to head back to Port Elisabeth just yet, not having explored this part of the island much beyond the locations they’d looked at. Her fellow PA, Rebecca, headed back to their temporary home base almost immediately, citing a long awaited spa session at The Ivy. Jess however, decided to wander. And her wanderings brought her into an art gallery.

After taking in several rooms full of art, she landed on a work that she zoned in and out of, focusing and unfocusing her eyes. Maybe it was fatigue of the day, the week, getting to her, but she really wasn’t sure what she was staring at, at all. 

“I think I’m missing the art gene required to appreciate this, because I just don’t get it,” she said to the first body she felt move into her periphery.  “I mean...I just don’t see it. Do you see it, whatever it could mean?”

[malakaicardel]

Place: Anywhere, really. 

Time: Around 4pm. 

For: Anyone @elisabethstarters​

Malakai stared at the magazine article for way too long. Apart of him, slightly numb to it, while the other half of him desired to throw up; as one always did when they were given more images of their own mother half naked and talking about her sex life, along with the production of her toy line for two pages. After all these years, one would think the man would be used to it, but truly -- it never came to full terms. Shutting the magazine -- why it having fell into his hands in the first place, a entirely other triggering story -- he looked up at the person across from him. “Okay, I need a lighter -- rather to burn this crap, or my eyes out, I haven’t decided.” He stated, in the back of his mind knowing if there was ever a reason to drink, it’d be this. “You wouldn’t happen to have a cigarette on you, huh? Or maybe, even my will to live?” 

[alicegrcy]

location: outside alibi

tagged: @elisabethstarters​

"Great." There were few things that screamed I peaked in High School more than sitting on top of your suitcase on the curb, phone battery down. Luckily, that was not the case, as she was pretty sure that if Billboard ranked you best indie newcomer that was definitely your peak — but it didn't mean that waiting for her father to pick her up wasn't giving her major throwback vibes to less successful times. "I honestly can't believe I've been forgotten on my first day back. And dad has the audacity to tell me I'm his favorite."