𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐒.

⏤⏤   He cannot explain it, but there’s something fishy with the way Cesca reacted to him calling out to her. Can she not see him properly? When he sees her squinting as he strides over to her side, it’s clear to Miko that she really cannot see him. If Miko has fun teasing Cesca especially when she does not have her contacts on, he’s not telling anyone. 

“Normal and totally relaxed, that’s a totally normal response from you, Cesca.” Miko laughs, crossing his arms over his chest as he waits for Cesca to finally recognize him. She must have been so disoriented, because really, Miko expected a kick to a body part of his that Cesca can reach once he neared her but so far—there hasn’t been any kicking or punching or throwing projectiles yet. “So why are you here? Also—are you like, okay, genuinely?” 

“ big exclusive event?? chances of meeting celebrities?? why i’m here should be pretty obvious!! well, that and the fact that somehow, everyone i know is attending. and i don’t want to be all sad and alone at home, y’know?? ” she’s still skirting over the how someway, and only hopes he doesn’t bring it up again. “ and yeah, i’m really okay. absolutely average. completely regular. ”

she takes a moment to fully think about what she can see. the height, the suit, the hair. she thinks can picture his face now easily, but still she needs the confirmation, so she reaches her hands out for his face- where it should be at least- and fumbles around until she gets to the top of his head (which is a feat, considering the clear height distance between them). 

aha!

& ( somewhere in the love alarm new year’s party ) & … @highsway​ … ​

⏤⏤   Losing his date is not something Miko frets about. Sure, he’s now left to his own devices to handle himself tonight but it’s all good to him, no hard feelings whatsoever. Plus, he’s sure to meet familiar faces in the crowd⏤just sometimes, not the exact kind of familiar face he’s expecting to meet in the party. “Cesca?” He asks, waving over when he spots the girl’s familiar stature over the crowd of people. “Hey!” He calls again, sticking out another long limb to wave at her as he slides between bodies to get to her. “Hey Cesca! Yo! What the hell are you doing here? Are you alright?” 

being unable to see past just blurry figures in motion is only slightly unnerving. cesca makes do though, and pretends to her best ability that she actually knows what’s going on around her, that she belongs here and didn’t sneak in by way of a cliche spy movie trope. 

“ gah!!! ” she exclaims in surprise, when she hears someone heading towards her, her name seemingly stretching across the distance between them. she squints, tries to make out who it is that was heading towards her to no avail. she thinks she might recognise the voice, the manner of speaking, but things are a lot less clear when her vision is obscured this way. “ ‘m fine. just... i mean, i’m cool?? i’m fine. normal and totally relaxed. ” 

“cesca! why did you forget to put in your contacts! are you stupid!?” already beyond frustrated as they make passage through the vents. “kevin! this looks nothing like your blueprints! did you make everything up?!” of course she had to be the one to lead the way. “it’s starting to feel like i’m the only one taking this mission seriously and it’s honestly – like, totally ruining my vibe!” coughing and puffing, nearly on the verge of tears as she thinks about not getting a new years kiss. “it’s like you guys don’t want to see me suceed! i-i-it’s like you guys don’t want to see me kiss timothee chalamet! don’t you want that for me?!” —— @highsway​, @opcningscene​

‘turn that frown upside down.’ celeste leaned towards her roommate, cheerfully poking the other’s cheeks with the complete intention of annoying her further. ‘listen… i know it’s really late and you have stuff to do tomorrow, so trust me when i say i woke you up for something really important. like… monumental! and maybe i’m a bit delusional because i’m sleep deprived but i promise this is… like… epic.’ she whispered for dramatic effect as she tugged at the other’s arm. ‘okay, get up get upgetup!’ cue the maniacal giggle. 

fcesca just posted a photo!!

“you’re not my mom!!” she screams like a child who was told they weren’t allowed to get the toy they wanted. and that toy for rue, being boys. not like any boys really want her regardless. “now you’re yelling at me! you’re so mean!” stomping her feet after each word. “well, if all cute boys were nice, they’d ALL want to date me and i’d have TOO many boyfriends! that’s not fair to me!” her expression and ager subsides upon cesca offering to treat her. “i SUPPOSE that’ll do.”

as soon as rue raises her voice, cesca starts to regret having left her one paper bag with rom. idly, she wonders if maybe she should start carrying more?? for emergencies?? perhaps rue would be more tolerant towards paper bags with a more appealing colour. did paper bags even come in different colours to begin with?? cesca ponders this for a while before her attention snaps back to the girl in front of her when the word ‘boyfriends’ fall from her lips. oh, right. “ i’ll stop yelling if you stop also, deal?? ” she asks, acting the part of a stern parent, though she was more amused by rue’s actions than anything else. 

francesca is hit by a stray, wandering thought, that maybe she should update her playlist. she’d sat through about four songs she didn’t recognise, and figured that probably meant she should try a little harder to keep up with what people were currently listening to. but any lingering thoughts of music are pushed out when her stomach suddenly lurches, when she spots a familiar face just across the room, seemingly standing right in her line of sight on purpose - so that she couldn’t possibly ignore them.

the light from the desk lamp flickers, catching francesca’s attention just as she feels herself drifting off. she frowns a little, as the lightbulb flickers on and off again, and then she sighs and stretches a little in her chair. a cursory glance at her phone shows the time to be well past midnight, and cesca forgets for a second why she was even up still, but then someone makes a sound to her left and she feels fully awake suddenly. 

james, right. 

she coughs a little, cursing under her breath for forgetting why she was here, and who she was here with. it’s a mystery how she feels both utterly comfortable and yet still unbelievably tense whenever she was in his company, but she’s too scared of the answer to even try and puzzle that one out, so she tries mostly to pretend they’re exactly what they say they are - friends.

            IT  FEELS  JUST  AS  RIDICULOUS  as  it  looks  ——   when  she  first  suggested  it,  rom  was  sure  it  was  a  joke,  but  one  thing  led  to  another  and  now  he’s  here.  he  feels  like  he  has  something  to  prove,  and  he’s  so  earnest  to  do  so  that  he’s  gone  to  these  lengths  and  would  maybe  go  further.  he  doesn’t  fully  understand  any  of  it,  and  he  never  will  ;  the  immediate  bias  she  had  against  him  is  still  something  he  can’t  wrap  his  head  around  because  of  it.  by  now,  he’s  too  far  in  to  back  down,  and  he  can  only  hope  that  this  will  end  soon  enough  and  she  can  admit  that  he’s  not  all  that  bad,  despite  his  looks.  (  for  now,  those  looks  are  hidden  away.  as  is  some  of  his  mobility.  )  “  i  can  barely  see,  ”  rom  replies  in  frustration,  adjusting  his  position  in  his  seat  so  he  can  try  and  have  a  better  view  of  the  work  in  front  of  them.  “  can’t  i  take  this  off  for  five  minutes?  i  won’t  make  eye  contact  with  you,  i  promise … i’ll  give  you  ten  bucks  if  i  do.  ”

she knows it's not his fault that she can’t seem to behave normally in the presence of a boy that’s even remotely attractive. still though, when she thinks about it she can feel the familiar sensation of heat creeping up her neck, ready to spread to her cheeks, making it very obvious to anyone looking that he had an effect on her. and she really, really, couldn’t have that. she’d like to keep her cool facade in tact, thank you very much.

but every once in a while, when pushed, she feels just an inkling of remorse, of kindness, maybe a little bit of pity too. she supposes it would be fair, to give him five minutes at least. “ oh, ” she huffs, frowning slightly while considering the potential downsides to this deal, “ fine. five minutes!!! you’re treating me to ice cream later. ” 

for a moment, she wonders if maybe it would be easier if she cut some holes in the bag, for his eyes, but realises that might make the whole thing less weird and lean more towards creepy. no, he’d just have to deal with the paper bag until either of the two following things happened: a) he becomes ugly, or b) she’s somehow able to get over her thing, her weakness for pretty boys. 

there it is again. that taste of displeasure on her tongue.

lately, she’s been thinking that a friend of hers isn’t a friend at all.  it’s the last thing that jessie wants to deal with; there’s too much nagging and desperation and not enough comfort for friendship.  it’s more like something stifling, or being crammed into a room with too many people even if they’re alone and trying to have fun.  read: cesca might be having fun.  jessie has lost the ability to have it when she’s in the other’s presence.

“     are you really going to bitch about this again? you’re not my only friend.     ”    she’s not even her best friend.  even jae doesn’t do shit like this, and he’s chaotic enough, crumbling at the seams even if he doesn’t seem to think so.  truthfully, she’s tired of this.  francesca’s constant whining whenever she goes out with someone who isn’t her, or even if jessie brings someone along on one of their outings is just so … tiring.  she’s tired.    “     i don’t have to listen to this all the time, cesca.  honestly? i shouldn’t have to listen to it at all.  i’m not going to play this game with you anymore so, i’m done.  we’re done.     ”    she’d rather cut the ties of friendship than to feel herself slipping away.

after all, jessie’s already been there, done that once  -  lost herself because of someone else.  she won’t go through it all again.

                                                                                        .  .  .             ˟ ˟   ❤︎    a starter for  @highsway​     、

francesca’s aware she probably looks mad, lips turned into a frown, eyebrows drawn together, arms crossed over her chest. but mostly, mostly she just feels bitter, bitter and inexplicably hurt. she’s done this dance before, burned so many bridges by letting her feelings get the better of her, but still - still - she is caught off guard.

“ we’re done?? ” she repeats, her anger just now flaring up and threatening to take over. logically, she knows this is her own fault. she knows but that doesn’t make it easier to swallow, for her to accept. so she ignores it, she ignores everything but the fact that jessie had just effectively ended their entire friendship in just a few words. 

before rue could holler out to the crowd again, someone cuts her off. she gasps, exaggerating her offence to being silenced. “what!” she retorts, stomping her feet in evident annoyance once knowing that it’s cesca. “why not!” she whines further, arms flouncing as she expresses herself. “i want to yell for cute boys! is that such a crime? how else am i going to talk to them! rom is too busy to hang out with me because he has homework so i have to find another cute boy to occupy my time so i can squeeze in a quick date and a free meal before going home!” 

it had never occurred to her that her problem - if he could even really be considered a problem - could be solved with something as simple as a paper bag. but here she was, not nervous, not blushing from head to toe, speech completely devoid of embarrassing stutters, despite sitting next to someone who would usually (if it weren’t for the paper bag) be causing her to have those exact reactions.

‘cesca?’ celeste lightly tapped on her roommates door, solely out of courtesy (it being 3 AM on a weekday and all). she wasted no time before entering. the room was dark and francesca was very clearly asleep, though cel feigned ignorance. ‘are you awake?’ a whisper as she sunk into the foot of the bed. ‘francesca. are you awake?’ she nudged her leg. ‘are you awake???’ this whisper came with increased urgency as she resorted to pinching the other’s nose closed. ‘are you awake, cesca??’ @highsway​

dammit! she was short two dollars short from being able to ride the bus. if she hadn’t bought new nikes, she would have had plenty to afford a ticket home. regardless, she has no regrets. she loves her new shoes. she takes out her pigtails from the hood of her jacket, applying a bit of lip tint. thinking to herself: a cute boy will definitely give me some money! she walks into the street, speaking out loud, not at anyone in particular. “which one of you cute boys is going to give me money!” instead, she’s rudely shoved to the side for being in the way. 

hello!!!!!!!! i’m adeline n i’m here w my baby miss cesca. all the info you need to know will be under the cut <333.