- ARE YOU THERE?
summary: callie and marie argue like they never have before.
keywords/warnings: squid sisters, mentioned cuttlefish, angst, body dysphoria, callie is insecure, references to depression, etc.
• note: this is bad lmfao
part one - part two
Marie pinches the bridge of her nose as she waits in her dressing room. Today the stuff was scheduled to be filming the music video for their single, but they had barely been able to even shoot the first minute of the song.
Callie was late to the set, which, wasn’t an uncommon thing for her, but this time she was really late. Nearly an hour over schedule. She hadn’t even turned up in her costume, only in her dirty lounge clothes. When she was finally ready to start filming, the director had to ask her to really focus about six times before they even started. When filming, Callie would repeatedly forget the choreography and keep crashing into Marie or the other dancers. It all culminated in Marie storming off set due to anger and annoyance, demanding that the manager get Callie to come to her dressing room.
The door handle turned as Callie timidly walked in. Closing the door behind her before leaning against the wall. The pair stood in tense silence. Frustration rolled off of Marie’s body in waves.
“We need to talk, Callie.” Marie’s voice cut through the tension like a knife, her voice sharp and snappy. “This isn’t the first time this has happened.”
Callie looked at her shoes, crossing her arms over her chest. “I didn’t think you’d be this bothered by it.” She muttered.
Marie let out a bitter laugh, turning to face her cousin. “You didn’t think I’d be bothered? You thought that you could just prance into the studio an hour late looking like that and I’d be perfectly fine with it?” She snapped.
”It wasn’t my fault I was late!” Callie ran a hand over her face. “I couldn’t get myself out of bed.”
”Oh, so you think being lazy is just an excuse?” Marie spat.
“I’m not lazy! I just.. I can’t bring myself to get out of bed sometimes.” Callie mumbled, avoiding Marie’s piercing stare.
“That just sound like laziness, Callie. God, what’s gotten into you? This past year you just show up everywhere like you just don’t care! It’s extending past your work too, your house is a mess, your clothes are all dirty and your hygiene is deteriorating!” Marie yelled, pointing at Callie.
“Well it’s not my fault! Nobody will fucking leave me alone anymore! There’s always people outside my house, people following me, and I just can’t exist anymore! I know you wouldn’t understand, since you’re Miss Perfect whose life has no challenges!” Callie snapped, running her hands through her tentacles.
“Miss Perfect? You assume my life is just perfect?!” Marie scoffed. “I have the same struggles as you, Callie. I’ve just learned how to deal with them. You have to ignore them! Don’t give them what they want! God, how many times have I told you that?”
“I can’t just ignore them, Marie! I can’t ignore the constant flashing and the questions! I can’t even enjoy myself on the fucking beach without them taking photos and commenting on my body!”
Marie sighed, knowing what she was referring to. The media had recently dubbed Callie as their punching bag after photos of her and Marie at the beach surfaced. She was being compared to Marie constantly now, always “the chubby one.” and “the second squid sister.” It hadn’t helped when people started questioning the scars on her body, always prodding and asking her how she got them.
”Callie, I need you to start getting it together and trying harder. The manager is getting really frustrated with you.” Marie said.
“Oh, so you only care what the manager thinks of me? You don’t care what I feel?” Callie spat.
”No, Callie. I do care, I just-“
“Just what? Are you tired of being seen with me? Of being seen with the ugly cousin?” Callie’s voice wobbled as she yelled, tears filling her eyes. “Do you not remember how we were always introduced as ‘the pretty one and the dumb one?’ I was always the dumb cousin! Always the confused, ugly, dumb cousin! And now everyone thinks of me as that! I didn’t win the finalfest because I’m not even good enough for strangers!”
Marie scowled. How was Callie saying this? Of course people loved her, she had so many fans!
”Callie, people do love you! You have so many fans!”
”Never as much as you thought. I’m just always in your shadow!” Callie nearly screamed. “I’m always being compared to you! Always being compared to how skinny you are, how polite you are, how smart you are. I just can’t be my own person without you constantly looming behind me!”
Frustration started to bubble in Marie’s throat, why wasn’t Callie just listening?! She wasn’t letting Marie tell her the truth.
”Callie, listen to me-“
”No! You listen to me! I’m tired of always having to do what you say, or what the manager says, or what the label says, I can’t keep doing this!”
”God, Callie. Maybe you are just dumb! You can’t even fucking listen to me when I’m trying to explain to you how to fix this!” Marie yelled. Tears spilled down Callie’s cheeks.
”Maybe you’d be happier if I was just gone forever, then you could have everything perfect!”
”Maybe I would be!” Marie barked. Callie furiously turned around and left the dressing room. Slamming the door shut behind her as she sobbed.
Marie slunk down at her dressing table, running her hands over her head as she dwelled on the words she said. Maybe she had been too harsh. She knew Callie was struggling, but she was tired and frustrated. She just wanted her cousin to be like she used to be. She just wanted Callie happy.
taglist: @8bitsspring, @beanbeetleeeee
word count: 954
do not feed my work to generative ai, do not translate my work into another language, do not plagiarise my work.
