Emerson Bates

  “just—” he raised his hand as a way to capture their attention, a soft smile forming on his lips “—stay still for one second, please. it’s going to be a good shot.” mateo raised the camera to his eye once more and snapped a few different angles, teeth digging into his bottom lip in concentration. as he scanned each of the photographs; the red sky just perfectly complimenting the person before him, he found he was pleased with just about all of them. “come take a look." 

Emerson rolled his eyes, but stood still. He acted annoyed whenever Mateo wanted to stop and take pictures, but he secretly admired that trait of him. Emerson didn’t have anything remotely interesting about him. “It better be the best damn shot you’ve ever taken.” He walked back to Mateo and looked at the camera. “Okay... Those are pretty awesome.”

regina had been watching a parent and child bickering. the latter looked like he was in a lot of trouble— - but gigi couldn’t exactly figure out why. her mind was occupied on the fact that some time in the future, she’d probably have to be the bad guy, like that mother was. that’s when regina saw the parent throw the thing she was lecturing about away. curiosity brought the blonde to the trash can, a juul and a mostly filled pack of pods laid in the trash can. although she knew she can’t anymore, and had already quit using hers…it would be very useful after the next six months. who could resit FREE pods? she put her new ‘prize’ in the big front pocket of her overall shorts before turning to see she was TOTALLY being watched. “uh— i wasn’t — i didn’t just…“ she sighed, “let’s not talk about this again?“

Emerson raised his arms up in surrender. “Hey, no shame. I myself have picked stuff from the trash. You find some valuables in there sometimes.” He smiled. “There’s even a whole side of youtube of people who dumpster dive.” He’d done it a couple times, and sold whatever he could on Ebay. He made a good amount of money. He stopped when he got arrested after doing it, but it was a fun time.

     “Confused,” she responded, shaking her head. “I’m confused this evening, Mr. Bates.” Her eyes remained fixated on the mattress, almost about to offer some help, but not quite wanting to let Emerson off without giving him a bit of slack first. “Is there a reason for… this?”

“Well... Some of the guys and I were messing around yesterday and we spilled water all over it. So I thought it might be smart to let it outside to dry.” Emerson shrugged. He made sure not to let her know what exactly they were doing to make the mattress (and everything in their room) so wet. It was something she did not need to know.

griffin shrugged, he remembers some of his beauty guru friends mentioning it one time but his brain often was whisked away to another world. “i think so? not sure but props to such an original them.” he said with such sarcasm in his voice. “when is the troll ever in the same place? god it’s like finding someone who isn’t doing drugs in this town.” he joked, eyes looking around again before sighing. “that is why i’ve always got mine armed and ready. oh, and a speed dial number to my main dude for some kegs.”

Emerson snorted. “Your guys’ relationship never ceases to amaze me. I love listening to the way you talk about each other. It’s filled with so much love.” He rolled his eyes. “You need drugs to survive this place. And I need alcohol to survive this party. Who do I have to fuck in order to get drunk?” He looked at Griffin. “Wanna get me a drink?” He shook his head. “Wait, I’m not saying I’d fuck you. I should’ve worded all that differently.”

“wet n’ wild. i swear that name is already trademarked.”  he shrugged as he shoved his hands in his pocket, eyes looking around the crowd of people to find a familiar face. “actually, have you seen annie? yea high, permanent scowl on her face, a little murderous and cynical and a whole lot of annoying?” he raised an eyebrow and smirked, “if not, it’s chill. are you actually having fun at this thing?”

“Yeah? Isn’t it like a makeup brand or something?” Emerson shrugged. “I saw her earlier, but that was like an hour ago. Doubt she’d be in the same place.” He looked around, trying to see if he could spot her then. “Not really. None of bartenders will give me any drinks. I should’ve bought a fake I.D.”

Brows furrowed as Grace examined the person before her, her head cocking to the side as she tried to figure out what the hell it was that they were doing. “Is… erm, everything alright there?” She finally broke the silence, a blunt tone of voice as she spoke. “Do you need any help with… whatever it is that you’ve got going on there?”           

Emerson turned around from what he was doing. And what he was doing was trying to push his mattress back up the stairs. To make a long story short, water was spilt, mattress thrown outside to dry, mattress now needed back inside. “Ms. Hollenbeck,” he said, trying to seem nonchalant about everything. “How are you doing this fine evening?”

blue: its my middle name

blue: wtf how did i get ur number if you dont know who i am

blue: awesome wanna meet?

emerson: thats cooler than mine which is the name of that fucking seal from finding dory

emerson: dude, idk? ur the one who texted me

blue: 'm blue

blue: can i get some

emerson: wait, is that actually your name?

emerson: thats fucking dope

blue: do you have any weed

emerson: yes

“ I want to try those açai bowls, or whatever, but it seems like they turn out in massive portions. Plus, you need all those weird ingredients, like bee pollen just to garnish the thing. ”

“Yeah, that’s why its usually better to buy it from a store. Then you don’t have to do all that work. You’ll still get a big bowl though... I think açai bowls only come in one size.”

“I know, it’s hard to believe,” She said as earnestly as she could manage. “Maybe I will cancel my membership, and try eating kale or açai instead.”

“Ugh,” Emerson said with disgust. “I hate kale. Açai is good, but I cannot stand kale. Try some spinach instead. Tastes a lot better.”

“ How many times does a person have to go to the gym before they’re considered fit? Cause I’ve been twice in the past month, and nothing’s changed. Honestly, I think it’s a scam. “

“No clue... I don’t go to the gym.” Emerson said. He hated any type of movement, so it was a wonder he was as healthy as he was. “Wow, twice? And nothing has happened? I’d cancel that gym membership as fast as possible.” He was only half kidding; he really didn’t think exercising meant much unless your eating habits were good as well.

“that makes sense.” she nodded softly. she wasn’t exactly sure what reaction he was looking for or expecting but the blonde wasn’t a judgmental person. unless it was her siblings then she didn’t really crack down on anyone for doing something she personally wouldn’t do. “that must be good though, at least you aren’t freaking out.”

Her reaction was a bit of a shock to Emerson. Usually people he knew (whom he wasn’t friends with) would react negatively to drug use, even if it was just weed. “Yeah. It kinda helped the situation as a whole too... Some of us were freaking out and making things a little worse. No shade to anyone but...”

“i’m older than most of them so we’ll see how long they can keep me locked up.” she paused before her head lightly tilted in curiosity, “and what about you, emerson? how are you staying so calm through this whole mess? everyone seems a bit on edge but not you. you seem calm. how do you do it?”

“Well...” Emerson said with a sigh. “I might’ve gotten high right before we went on this hike, and the high might’ve ended right after we heard the news that we were gonna be trapped here. So it might’ve been a little too late to freak out.” Her she was, spilling her heart out about how her family was helping her throughout this entire situation, and here he was, the pothead who used drugs to cope with his feelings.

“well,” she began, taking in a deep breath, “i think of my siblings. they’re probably freaking out right now and as cruel as it sounds it makes me want to laugh almost..they’re probably running around like chickens with their head’s cut off. especially gabe. i’ve been imagining the moment when i get back   they’re probably not gonna let me out of their sight for a few weeks,” she laughed at the thought, “they get me through everything. they’re my rocks.”

Emerson smiled. “That’s awesome... I’m glad you have that.” He’d never had any siblings, though he guessed he could consider the Hollenbeck kids his siblings, since he’d been with them for so long already. He wished he could truly experience what it was like to have a sibling. A real one. “Yeah, they probably won’t. You should kiss your social life good bye.” He chuckled.

“i can only assume so.” it wasn’t too difficult to detect the sudden shift in his mood but she didn’t say anything, she knew better than that. she was better than being that person. “you know, you’re kind of really adorable.” she complimented, this time giving him a soft, sweet smile. “you know whats helping me stay calm through this big mess?”

All Emerson wanted to do was shut down and start acting rude and mean, and anything to get her to stop talking to him. But acting that way whenever he got flustered wasn’t really a great way to make friends, and he quite liked talking to Adella. His cheeks were still red as he said, “Thanks.” His shoulder raised up in response to her question. “What?”

“mmm   we’ll see.” adella never had any trouble being so fun and loose with anyone so this sort of behavior was typical from her. “i guess i was unplugged from electronics during that time, so sad to have missed it all.” she didn’t expect him to offer it but she wasn’t going to argue and suffer. she took it softly from him before applying a bit to her plumo lips, rubbing them together to smooth it all out. “you’re a lifesaver, thank you,” while handing it back she gave him a mischievous grin before adding, “would you look at that my lips have been where your lips have been, it’s sorta like we kissed almost.”

“It truly is sad. It was a great story.” Emerson said. He took back the chap stick and his face began turning red. He hoped it was dark enough that she wouldn’t see. “Uh, yeah. No problem... Ha, that’s funny. We sorta kissed.” He laughed awkwardly. “Because you used my chap stick... Great joke.” Did she have to say that? Now all Emerson could think about was kissing her. He hoped she didn’t see his awkwardness. He had a reputation to uphold.