she's the kind of book you can't put down

" At this point, I'm willing to give it a shot, you know?" Blocking G's number hadn't worked, trying to trace it back hadn't worked, trying to phish for their IP address hadn't worked. And empiricism had taught them anything, it was that when known methods failed you, it was time to consider something new. And this definitely fit that bill. "I can't believe you do these as a hobby. They're really pretty."

"fortunately, i have some on hand, right now," emma hadn't entirely dropped everything off in manhattan, yet. most of her already-made jewelry had been in her purse, waiting to be organized. she reached into her bag and pulled out a few options for anya to choose from. it wasn't a large selection, but emma had a few different variations of the ring from trying different ways to craft. her eyes brightened at the compliment, a smile playing on her lips. "thank you so much! it's not much, really. it helps keep my hands busy." emma paused for a moment, trying to continue a bit of small talk. "do you have any fun plans for the summer?"

Birthday-wise, she was a creature of habit. It was a pitfall of having five siblings, she supposed. It was always the same. Poorly planned but well-meaning surprise party, followed by dinner, followed by actual birthday party with friends and non-family members. "Just spending it with friends and family." Entirely downplaying how much of an ordeal her family made of it. "But my family are very much ... birthday people. My mum celebrated my birthday week until I turned ... 11? 12?" A pause for breath. "What about you? When's yours? What's it like?"

emma wondered what life would be like with siblings or a huge family. she was used to both of her parent's being busy on her birthday that she would simply be busy, too. it sort of helped that her birthday would be the following school year. she would make the excuse that she was far too busy with her schoolwork (a downright lie), and use most of her time to rehearse for whatever production she would be in during that time. emma's eyebrow perked as she spoke about an entire birthday week. "an entire week of celebrating your birthday? that sounds sweet. what would it consist of?" she questioned, mainly just curious. "my birthday isn't until october! we..." her voice trailed off, trying to find the right words to put it. "we mainly celebrate with friends and family. usually i'm fully invested in a role in a production, so it's hard for them to pull me out of my script."

"hey, that's how it works! start with something easy and once you become obsessed you work your way up them. i mean," he shrugs at the thought, "all my plants are low maintenance. you do what you can for your lifestyle." that's the beauty of plants, there is one for everyone. "oh! she loved it." he smiles, a little forced but hoping emma won't notice. "thank you again, i appreciate it." leaky laughs, looking over at her. "oh for sure, gonna see you on jimmy fallon and the likes soon right?"

emma wasn't particular on picking up cues on people in her day-to-day life. she was better on stage, where everything was rehearsed. now, it wasn't like she didn't excel socially. to her, it was more like putting on a show than anything else, something she was good at. just not things like fake smiles or forced laughter. she simply nodded as he spoke, her smile never faltering from her lips. "jimmy fallon tomorrow, saturday night live the next. only the most televised," she joked lightly. "are you taking any interesting classes this semester?" emma doesn't do small talk well, but she didn't know what else to bring up other than events that happened last semester.

“um, obviously i do. i’m not clueless about numbers like some people, apparently.” he teases her, as if he wasn’t just looking up the answer himself on his phone’s calculator. and she probably knew it just as well, considering she knew him better than most. “but your wish is my command, babe.” he does as he’s told, pushing down on the trigger probably a lot more times than emma deserved — at least it was a hot day. god, it felt so good doing favors for people, even if they just didn’t know it yet. he was such a helpful person. “ — i just have the one, but you’re welcome to come watch me terrorize the student body with lukewarm water that’s been in plastic for hours.”

emma rolled her eyes playfully as he teased her, gently shaking her head. "okay, i get it, i'm bad at math," emma joked lightly, a joyful smile settled on her lips. a small fit of her laughter emitted from her lips as ronan sprayed her with the water gun, grateful for the small amount of cold that graced her skin on the hot day. she pushed her hair back after he was done, soon shaking a few droplets of water off her hand. "sign me up," emma nodded her head, her eyes soon searching the crowd of students moving around them. "who's your next victim?"

"Thanks," Ambrose said, a humbleness to his tone as he spoke. Of course he didn't really feel too humble about it. He'd practiced really hard to be able to do all this, but people appreciated others when they did not have a big head about things. Even when it was deserved. He was trying to put his best foot forward here. "I'm just trying to make sure I have everything down before classes start." They weren't being asked to show off some of the most difficult pieces, but Ambrose wanted to show everyone what he could do. "I want to put my best foot forward, make a good impression, all of that cringey Freshman stuff." He joked lightly angling his body more towards the girl. "I'm Ambrose Li-Morrison by the way," he said with a small smile, "are you in the music program here?"

emma applauded singers who could write their own songs, tell their own stories. it's not like emma hadn't of ever tried to write her own music. it didn't come as easily to her as theater productions. emma nodded along to his words, understanding of how he wanted to make a good impression. "well," she shrugged lightly. "i'll think you'll do more than make a good impression." she was being honest. a smile crept along her lips. "it's nice to meet you, ambrose. i'm emma thompson. i'm in the theater program here, but i've taken a few music classes over the last few years."

The Beach sometime in the few days of arriving at school [ @emmathcmpson ]

emma laughed lightly as she heard the other's voice boast about the beach, following along with him down the path. she was just glad that the cold didn't sneak it's way until towards the end of the semester, she wasn't ready to get rid of the summer weather just yet. it felt sort of nice to be able to take a break like this - away from campus, away from her father, away from theater (much like her heart ever stopped theater, but still). "i won't be complaining about the warmer weather. however, if it's not at least a little bit cold by halloween, i feel like it won't be fall," emma responded, soon setting her own things onto the sand, following the same actions as ollie. she took a moment to weigh her options for his next question, a bright smile cracking on her lips. "i think he would need to, at that point. i wouldn't ever say no to a tropical island retreat, though."

leaky feels like a proud dad as he takes emma's phone and looks down at the thriving snake plant. "see! i told you there were plants out there for you." he laughs, handing the phone back and beaming at her. "they're low maintenance and beautiful and easy to share, so you can always give a clipping to someone else so they have their own." if emma has asked he would have given her one of his. "it was pretty good, nothing too exciting." he shrugs, mind reeling through what was probably the best summer in a while. which felt shitty to say given the circumstances. "how was yours? on your way to your breakout role on broadway?"

"low maintenance is exactly what i need. thank you for suggesting it. maybe if i can keep this one alive, i might graduate myself onto a plan that is a little bit more higher maintenance," emma joked. "oh! i meant to ask, how did your sister like what you gave her from my shop? i've been playing with a few new things now that we're back on campus," a bright smile graced her lips. mainly she just needed something to do with her hands now that she finished an entire season's worth of shows. "oh, you know. my name is shiny bright letters, illuminating a stage," emma exaggerated, a small laugh following. "i played in a few shows over the course of the summer. definitely kept myself busy."

— 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿.

emma had been skipping around campus all day, helping freshman get to their dorms or find their classes, humming the song in her heart. finding a break throughout the madness, emma came across her best friend, a bright smile coming across her lips. at the question, though, her eyebrows furrowed together. "do you expect me to know that? do you know that off of the top of your head?" emma questioned, a soft laugh coming from her lips. "just spray me now, but do you have another water gun? i want to join in on your fun!"

The Music Rooms. Sometime in the first week. [ OPEN STARTER ]

emma had stumbled across ambrose sitting at the piano, leaning against the wall as she listened to the difficult melody that they played. even with the missed note, emma still thought that the other was doing extremely well. she loved being able to listen to others show their talents. she knew the pain it was to study, to try to encapsulate their life inside the music or a script. to build their voice and crack when they got too far in their head about messing up. it was too familiar. when ambrose noticed her, she made her way closer to him. "that was impressive, really. i haven't been listening long, but that was amazing."

emma understood ronan, a lot more than others around him did — or a lot more than he allowed others to know. he kind of liked the drama of being such a mystery, so obviously he does it on purpose. but emma gets to see it all, the pretty and the ugly. "trapped is certainly the right word. like if all they need me to do is sit on a bed, send me home where i could at least be in front of the much larger tv in my room and have actual edible food." to be fair, the food was alright. it just wasn't up to the standards that he was used to. "what's up with you, em? tell me about the world outside."

"That could be arranged," was all that Emma said when he mentioned about sending him home. "Are they going to keep you very long?" She questioned. "Well, you know that the outside world is anything but interesting without you out there, sugar," Emma joked lightly, a bright smile playing on her lips. "In all seriousness, there hasn't been much going on since the fire. Most people have left campus already. I'm on my way back to New York soon," Emma shrugged. "Though, I am thinking about doing a few shows over the summer." Luckily, Emma had nothing more than maybe a scratch from climbing out the window. "I wish you could do a few with me, there more fun when you're in them." Anything was more fun with a friend.

This, Anya thinks, might be the first time in their existence that Anya has been asked if they'd want a piece of jewellery. Part of that was her generally air - the worn-out sneakers, the oversized hoodies, the dark circles. And part of it was her parents attitude towards dressing up. She couldn't remember either of them ever straying from a variation of casual-wear. Maybe it was a tech thing. Maybe it was a statement. As though to insinuate that if your work spoke for itself, you didn't need to dress up for work functions to garner attention. As a teenager, they'd dabbled. Pierced their ears for their sixteenth birthday, and of course, they weren't a stranger to the occasional dress. But for the most part, people assumed Anya was a no-frills sort of person. Hence the good-natured disbelief. "Oh," comes her answer as they process the other's question. "Are there stones that ward off ... sinister texts?" Any protection from G would be well worth the investment.

Emma pursed her lips to their question, trying to think of what would be best suited for the other. "I don't think it could block or ward off sinister texts, but I can recommend a black tourmaline crystal. I'ts believed to shield whomever wears it, creating a boundary of blocking negative energy and turning negative energy into positive energy," Emma suggested. If only she put this much thought into her classes. "I believe I read somewhere that they call this crystal the king of protective crystals, so it just has to do something, right?"

WHERE: the quad, early morning following the fire. WHO: @flawlessclosure & jesse.

Maybe it was the fact that Emma still felt a ping to her heart whenever she saw Jesse - a reminder of how quickly she fell for a version of someone she didn't truly know. How naive and frail the girl was before ending their relationship. The hopeless romantic in her had always thought that she would meet the right person - one who would make her feel like the only one in the world. That wasn't true in their case. But here she was, just a knock in the shoulder that could send her back to the night of their demise.