𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 .

maybe confiding in someone else hadn't been the best idea ; recounting the series of unfortunate events she was dealing with wasn't as cathartic as she hoped it would be . “ definitely the former — i'm not seeing shadows or specters or anything like that . ” and thank god for that .. she wasn't sure what she'd do if she had started seeing spooky things . a startled laugh bubbled from her at tatum's suggestion , the idea as funny as it was unlikely . “ that's pretty much asking someone to be my human shield ! i'd basically be saying , ‛ oh , please stay with me just in case the ghosts would prefer to haunt a fresh face ! ’ so mean ! ” mean , maybe , but she had to admit it was actually kind of genius .

       brandon  stops  doom  scrolling  for  just  a  second,  enough  of  following  his  father's  latest  movies  through  sources  like  tmz  instead  of  going  to  the  man  himself.  "what  makes  you  think  that?"  he  asks,  making  a  mental  note  of  never  going  over  there.  "all  i  would  have  to  do  is  think  for  a  second  that  it  was  haunted  and  i'd  be  out  of  there  so  fast." 

“ I KEEP HEARING STRANGE THINGS AT NIGHT , ” she explained, “ and considering i don't have any neighbors at the moment , the most logical explanation is g h o s t . ” logical may be a bit of a stretch of the imagination , but it was as good a guess as any ( at least , it was in her mind ) . “ who else only makes creepy sounds all night long ? i swear it dragged its nails along my wall every forty-three minutes last night . ”

FROWN SLIPPING INTO A POUT , aurora dropped her eyes , crimson burning her cheeks in embarrassment . “ it's not like i'm not the only one who does .. i mean , there's no proof that says they don't exist .. ” she couldn't bring herself to meet the other's eyes , focusing instead on the small pool of condensation underneath her cup as she spoke . “ ghosts are scary ; i don't want to live in a horror movie . ”

            icy  drink  freezing  the  tips  of  their  fingers  as  ro  held  on  to  the  cup  of  boba  tea  she  had  just  gotten  herself,  brown  sugar  swirls  all  around  the  inside  in  beautiful  patterns.  "  i  mean  ...  moving  might  be  a  bit  extreme,  don't  you  think  ?  "  they  reply,  thoughtful  as  they  were  listening  to  aurora's  ghost  story.  sure,  a  ghost  would  definitely  make  her  weary  too  (  not  that  she  had  ever  encountered  one  but  she  was  not  the  kind  of  person  to  categorically  deny  their  existence  )  but  immediately  abandoning  the  home  also  seemed  a  big  reaction.  "  i  mean,  i  don't  know  what  your  ghost  did  specifically,  but  wouldn't  you  want  to  try  that  whole  sage  cleansing  stuff  first  ?  "  at  least  they  knew  this  to  be  something  people  usually  did  against  lingering  spirits.  maybe  it  would  work  ? 

AURORA KNEW SHE WAS BEING A BIT IRRATIONAL , assuming the most outrageous explanation behind her current mysterious circumstances , but just the possibility was enough to trigger her fight or flight . “ i'll be honest , ” she admitted sheepishly , offering an embarrassed smile. “ i hadn't even thought of that . my brain went ‛ ghost ’ and spiraled into a panic . e v e r y ghost movie i've ever seen has been nothing but jumpscares and invisible entities dragging people across the floor . i'd prefer that it never gets to that stage — i bruise easily . ”

mariana's  eyebrows  instinctivly  rised  up  at  the  comment.  the  idea  of  a  haunted  house  not  being  something  mariana  ever  wanted  to  hear  about .  “  listen ,  i  will  not  think  it  twice  to  tell  you  to  move .  in  fact ,  you're  taking  too  long ,  at  the  first  slight  hint  of  some  weird  shit  i would've  had  my  bags  packed  and  ready  to  go .  but ,  wait  a  minute  though ,  what  makes  you  think  it's  haunted  ?  ”  

“ I HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING SO FAR , ” she admitted , knowing full - well that if she had , there's no argument on earth that could have convinced her to stay . “ it's mostly been disturbing sounds in the middle of the night — i'm hoping there's a logical explanation , but the longer i wait , the more i think i've got a ghost for a roommate . ”

hearing about haunted houses wasn't what bash was expecting when he sat next to aurora. his eyes went wide when she said that she thought her apartment building was haunted. "what makes you think it was haunted? did someone die there mysteriously or something?" now he was too curious.

EYES WIDENING , HER FROWN DEEPENED , not having considered that possibility before now . “ i- ” she cut herself off , snapping her mouth closed as horror really set in . “ oh , god , what if someone did ? that's information i definitely should have been told during the tour — private and reserved parking , luxurious amenities , mysterious death of previous tenant . hearing whispers and footsteps at night would make way more sense if that were the case — and i n e v e r would have signed the lease ! ”

"WHAT? YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS." aurora's mindless swirling says otherwise. a throat-clear bubbles in the back of lia's throat. they press the straw to their own tongue in thought, sweet caramel & milk tea washing away the tickle. they hadn't been superstitious in a long time—but such things were definitely still in the back of their mind. "alright. spill. what's keeping you up at night?" lia unfolds the pink paper napkin, setting their powdered treat on top of it. this can wait a second for aurora's story. "is it pipes leaking? footsteps? whispers?"

THE LINGERING TASTE of her drink suddenly wasn't so sweet as her mind wondered to the unfortunate series of events that continuously kept her from a decent night's sleep . “ my plumbing has been safe so far , but who's to say that's not the next scene in the haunting of aurora jeon ? ” now , aurora adored her job ; being someone else for awhile and engrossing herself in different worlds was so fun , but never in a million years had she ever thought her real life would become a b-list horror film . “ it's so scary — there are scratching sounds , muffled voices and footsteps on and off for h o u r s every night . at first i thought my neighbors were just super rude , but the unit above mine is vacant . ”

Whitney, amused by Aurora's reaction to the drink, couldn't help but chuckle. "Dancing Queen it is!" She willingly let her drink be abandoned on the bar as their fingers intertwined, following Aurora's lead toward the karaoke stage. As they approached, Whitney shot a mischievous glance back at the man who had sent the questionable drink, silently daring him to underestimate the duo. With a playful grin, she turned her attention back to Aurora. "I think there's no better starting song bish ! " The stage beckoned, and with Dancing Queen setting the tone, Whitney was ready to dive into a night of laughter and music.

GLAD TO HAVE SUCCESSFULLY MOVED ON from the questionable contents of the alcohol they were gifted , aurora couldn't help but feel a happy blush spread over her cheeks as they approached the stage , b u t t e r f l i e s dancing in her stomach — she was decidedly not the most gifted vocalist , but that fact didn't spoil her love for karaoke . there was just something so freeing about being silly and carefree while belting songs that make you happy . “ i expect full commitment , ” she insisted , a playfully stern expression on her face . “ chorus belting and embarrassing choreography included . ”

               he’s  looking  at  his  phone  screen,  a  tabloid  pulled  up  with  a  headline  stating  he’s  once  again  on  the  one  night  stand  train  with  a  photo  of  someone’s  back  and  a  woman  infront  of  them.  with  no  other  photo  provided,  he  can’t  help  but  let  out  a  chuckle  that  vibrates  his  throat,  head  shaking  from  side  to  side.  “  —  ah.  tabloids.  just  assume  it’s  roman,  you  know,  sluttin’  it  up.  ”  not  a  far  fetched  assumption,  although  he  could  be  hooked  up  to  a  lie  detector  this  moment  and  pass  easily  —  that  man  in  the  photo  was  definitely  not  him.  everyone  knew  his  hotel  of  choice  was  the  ritz.

THERE WERE SO MANY AMAZING THINGS that came hand - in - hand with being a celebrity , but on the very bottom of the list , underneath even being upstaged by animal costars and not knowing what to do with your hands on the red carpet , were the paparazzi . they were like cockroaches , she'd always thought , always showing up no matter what lengths you went to to get rid of them . but maybe that's an insult to cockroaches ... at least they aren't doing it on purpose . “ rough luck , ” she offered with a sympathetic look . “ at least it's pretty tame this time. i mean , at least you're not being accused of being a cult leader or something more damning to your reputation . ”

⸻⸻⸻  it  isn't  too  late  ,  but  it's  dark  out  when  raine  finishes  up  the  last  of  her  meetings  ,  her  brain  just  a  hair's  breadth  from  shutting  down  and  body  aching  to  sink  into  the  plush  mattress  of  her  california  king  .  she  clicks  her  tongue  ,  a  text  from  her  driver  reading  sorry  ,  i'll  be  late  ,  and  in  retrospect  regrets  not  having  driven  to  work  herself  .  she  turns  around  to  wait  inside  the  building  ,  and  is  startled  by  a  figure  behind  her  .     “  jesus  !  ⸻  what  the  fuck  ,  dude  ?  you  scared  the  shit  out  of  me  !  ”

LONG MEETINGS WITH SHOW RUNNERS AND CASTING DIRECTORS always left aurora feeling more than a bit out of it ; so much information shoved into her brain in one sitting ... it was a wonder she hadn't grown a tolerance to ibuprofen yet. she had just popped two into her mouth , eyes squeezed closed as she swallowed them ( n o t the best time to forget her water bottle ) , when someone's cry of alarm prompted one of her own. “ not on purpose ! ” she raised a hand over her chest , her pulse slowly calming . “ i mean , i didn't even see you standing there ! ”

‟ how much is it gonna take for you to come dance with me? ” the brunette questions after stealing a spot beside them, her usual soft smile on her lips. ‟ and don't you dare think about tellin' me no. you look way too nice to be sittin' around here, in a corner, doin' nothin'. ”

AURORA'S CHEEKS HEATED WITH A BLUSH at mercy's words , her fingers unconsciously brushing along the length of her dress . “ well , ” she began , her words taking the shape of her smile. “ my two left feet are probably more of a liability on the dancefloor than anything else , but i could never say no to you . ”

           champagne  glass  is  emptied  then  discarded  on  passing  tray,   she  needed  all  the  liquid  courage  to  endure  the  boredom  inducing  small  talk.  spotting  a  window  of  opportunity  at  the  bar  across  the  room  raven  haired  actress  slips  away,  ignoring  the  questionable  looks  as  she  zigzags  across  the  venue  in  dangerously  high  heels.  she'd  have  a  word  with  vivi  later;  the  stylist  required  a  reminder  so  it  appeared.   “  god,  i  can't  deal  with  another  mind  numbing  conversation  about  women  in  the  arts,  ”  she  mutters  to  no  one  in  particular,  flagging  down  the  bartender  to  order  a  fruity  drink.   “   i  mean  it  would've  been  fine  if  the  people  starting  the  conversation  weren't  ancient  crusty  white  men.  ”

A SIGH WAS RELEASED as aurora watched the cherry in her drink bob idly along the surface of the alcohol — she always managed to find herself at the bar whenever she attended events , despite not even being very interested in drinking in the first place . even so , one of the benefits was definitely in the near constant conversation that seemed to organically spawn when anyone new approached . g r a t e f u l for the distraction from an admittedly boring night , aurora turned toward the newcomer , happy that they seemed to be of like-mind. “ oh, you hadn't heard ? ” she asked , a wry smile curling on her lips. “ this industry thrives on performative activism and empty words of so-called support . ”

THE BURN OF THE OFFERED DRINK made aurora's face scrunch up in distaste , leaving her to shake her head to clear her thoughts . the alcohol paired with the blonde's words had her mind r a c i n g to keep up — how embarrassing would it be if she got fuzzy over a single sip ... pathetic. “ he thinks you're sixteen ? ” her eyes w i d e n e d at the idea , a frown pulling at the corners of her mouth. “ should we call the police ? if he's sending drinks to someone he thinks is a minor ... ” cautiously , aurora slid her glass on the bar , eyeing it suspiciously as if it might bite her . “ i think , ” she began , returning her attention to her companion. “ that karaoke sounds like the best idea i've heard all night . ” plucking the glass from whitney's grasp and placing it next to her own abandoned one , she laced their fingers together and stood. “ how do you feel about starting with dancing queen ? ”