narrow escape

“Oh, no. I just can’t get into it.” Eleanor shook her head. “It’s way too early for me. Christmas starts the day after Thanksgivin’ in my family. Christmas movies and music any time before just aint allowed.” @frostfordstart​

“Aw, c’mon-- you’re killing me here. Honestly I’d get ready for Christmas as soon as the leaves start changing if I could,” Jacob admitted with a shrug. “I can wait for the music but the decorations? The movies? Hell-- I’d watch A Year Without Santa year round.”

Entering the door of Wild Flour Bakery, Elsie couldn’t stop the smile on her face as she was greeted by the smell of freshly baked goods. It was something she’d never tired of. Since moving to town it had fast become one of her favourites with her making almost daily visits to grab some cookies. Today, she’d opted for some shortbread. After recieving her order, she admired the goods that were on show. “Don’t you wish you could bake things that tasted this good?” Elsie admired the cakes in front of her. “I’m the worst baker. It’s a skill I just cannot seem to master so I gave up. Maybe I should start trying again.“ @frostfordstart​

Jacob, in all of his shameless glory, had only come into the bakery to deliver the mail for the day. It would have been a hell of a lot easier if there had been some boxes for some of the businesses that he could leave everything in, it would have eliminated a lot of eating on his part. There was a buttermilk muffin held in the air, halfway to being bitten when she asked her question and his eyebrows flew up in surprise, looking around to make sure no one was taking notes on the fact that he was eating on the job. “I can’t even bake things that don’t taste this good,” he told her, settling the muffin back into it’s little box. “I can’t even make funfetti,” he admitted with a grin. “Ask my sister, I’m banned from the kitchen on anyone’s birthdays.”

It had been a long day and she’s in a bar itching to get a drink. Normally she doesn’t drink, but the way her day went today, she could use a bottle or two.  “So… any recommendations? I’m the worst at drinking so I don’t know what to get.”

( @frostfordstart​ )

“Guess I naively thought that this time the guy would pick me,” Lexa said with a shrug of the shoulders. It wasn’t a dig, just a simple fact of where her mind set had been at the time. “That’s me though, jump first think about it later.” It was true, Lexa was all heart, and when she cared she was all in but it meant putting her heart at a risk of being broken over and over again and she was no stranger to that. “Not any guy.” She corrected him. “After everything, I just needed a fresh start.” She transitioned quickly not wanting to linger on the earlier comment any longer than she had to. “Yeah, right Ryan and Cass. I remember that, always thought it was sweet you entertained them by watching it with them.” Nodding her head now realizing for a moment she’d let herself believe he’d actually watched because of her, rather foolish if she was being honest with herself. “Yeah that seems to be the consensus from America…. and Sadie Lockhart.” 

It felt like a dig. At least, to him it did, he who was guilt ridden anytime he saw her face about how things had ended. He loved to pride himself as someone who was a good person and when it came to her, their relationship, a good person he hadn’t been. Another statement that felt like a dig, he supposed he deserved it. “Any guy that matters,” he amended. “Any guy worth your time.” At least he had the decency to give her a sheepish sort of smile, apologetic in it’s nature. He felt like he was digging his own grave here with every word he spoke, maybe she had been right in avoiding him. “Yeah--” at least he could give her a genuine laugh at that one. “She ruined the whole damn show, made a lot of enemies that night.” Nevermind that Sadie already had a lot of enemies, he didn’t dare speak ill of her.

juliette nodded her head at everything jacob said.  there wasn’t much that you could do for thanksgiving.  decorate with a bunch of turkeys?  that wasn’t as fun as all the lights and the santas and reindeer that she could put up for the christmas season instead.  “nah you’re right.  i mean, what am i gonna do?  i don’t really have any thanksgiving decorations,” juliette paused, then sighed and turned to look at jacob with raised eyebrows, “are there thanksgiving decorations?  like, other than turkeys, obviously.”  juliette snorted, laughing lightly before nodding her head at jacob’s comment.  “of course i’m goin’ with ya.  ain’t no other way i’m gonna be able to get my own tree back home without some help.”  she explained with a shrug of her shoulders.  then, with a long pause juliette hummed, brushing her hair away from her eyes as she tapped her hands on her legs.  “okay, d’you remember the, uh, lockdown durin’ the festival?  cause somethin’ weird happened afterwards and i gotta talk to somebody about it.”  juliette rushed out with a sigh before turning to look at him once more.  “rico and i–well, we found each other after the lockdown was lifted.  and, well, he kissed me.  and then, uh…ran off?  and i haven’t spoken to him since.  which was, awkward since we were a duo costume for halloween.”

Dick could talk sports all day long, which came as a surprise to absolutely no one in town. But talking about his own sports career could be a bit of a sore subject for the usually cheery man. He could’ve gone all the way, as people liked to remind him. “Yea, I miss it,” he answered with a bit of a sigh. “Whoa, no. If you’re too old than I am too old and I’m not ready to have old associated with me yet.” He definitely didn’t want to think about that just yet. Especially considering the fact that he was no closer to being married or having kids or moving out of his parent’s guest house. “Have I never had them? Do you remember Jenny Washington?” He asked but then continued without waiting for a response. “I asked her out in ninth grade and she said she only dates real men and that I needed to prove myself by eating the nuclear wings. And if you do remember Jenny Washington, you’ll remember….she stopped talking to me in the ninth grade. And that’s because I tried the challenge, got halfway through it and then threw up on her.” 

“Forever young?” He asked, knowing when to change the subject. “I dunno-- I think m’ready to fully embrace the old man yells at cloud attitude. When I have kids I’ll remind ‘em about how I had to walk fifteen miles in the snow every day to go to work-- nevermind the fact that it’s my actual job,” he joked. “No gray hair yet?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. “Jenny Washington was a savage,” he told his old friend with a wince. “Sounds like she was setting you up.” His lips turned into a full grimace as he tried not to imagine the scene. “Can’t judge you on that one-- I’ve done stupid stuff to impress girls too at least. Not at the expense of my stomach lining of course.”

“Fair point,” Lexa said looking around now and she actually kind of hated giving him that and stubbornly she was really trying to hold her composure on this one and just continue to be mad at him, but damn him. He was too damn nice for his own good which made being angry hard. Suddenly she was glad she’d left town when she had at the risk of her falling back into something. Hearing his question she didn’t think twice about it, “Oh yea know it went as well as any time you date a guy who’s dating 20 plus girls at the same time. So a complete disaster.” Lexa drawled and then she paused, scrunching up her nose in confusion. “Wait… you watched? You watched the Bachelor?” The surprise was clear in her voice now. 

The way she’d described it had him wondering a million questions. “Why’d you do it then?” And it wasn’t mean, no malice or ill intent behind it at all, he was genuinely curious. “I mean-- you could get any guy here, Lex--” and it was all he’d allow himself to say, because he’d been one of those guys and he’d broken her heart. He knew that. It ate him alive every day. Jacob wasn’t too good with the guilt. “Yeah, I watched-- I mean...I watched before,” he clarified, not wanting to seem like he’d only watched because of her. “Ryan and Cass are big fans.” Awkwardly Jacob stuffed his hands into his pocket, scuffed around the ground with the toe of his shoe. “That guy was an ass. He didn’t deserve you.”

“Surprisingly, not a lot of weird stuff when I’m on my routes, just every day stuff. There’s a dog on Casey St that used to get super aggressive with me, he’s probably my height when on his hind legs but now he’s just a little puppy, I usually bring him treats. The good stuff is when you’re working the counters. I’ll never get over the woman who kept trying to mail dead pigeons to someone. I think she was trying to send them out as some sort of warning? I don’t really know– we talked about banning her from coming in but I don’t think we can actually do that.”

“I’ve never really had a bad date. I guess I’m lucky in that respect, I always seem to get along with my dates, even the blind ones which are honestly the scariest.”

“I don’t know that I got a chance with Anna if I’m being honest. And if I don’t– not like that– then I’ll be content with being in her life as her best friend instead.”

“You think my mother would be happy that I came home to be with them. Instead, I get like asked if I’m marrying and having kid soon, not in that order. I know it’s because they’re not getting any younger, but c’mon…” She groaned, “I hope the start of your day isn’t as awkward as mine?”

( @frostfordstart​ )

“Right. So you can be sure nothing happens to me,” she gave him a knowing smile and nudge his shoulder, all the while hoping this wasn’t going to end with her at the top trying to guide him either all the way up or all the way back down. With a leap of faith, she bent down to tighten her shoe laces one more time and set her sights on the ladder, thinking of how much taller it seemed now than it did when they were younger. 

It took her all of five minutes to get to the top and surprisingly, Jacob wasn’t much further behind. Granted, she did watch she could to keep a slow and steady pace so as to not make him too anxious. Firmly at the top, she reached her hand over to help him over the last hurdle. “Look at that–,” she stated before realizing it wasn’t the best phrase to use. “No, no, don’t look. I just mean– you did it.” 

Despite himself, his cheeks reddened. And he looked down at the ground as he muttered. “You didn’t have to call me out like that,” but there was a hint of a smile on his lips, he wasn’t embarrassed, she knew him too damn well and honestly, he didn’t much mind that. It took him a moment to follow, letting out a shaky breath and steeling himself, eyes closed to remind himself that once they reached the top it would be worth it. 

And it was. As soon as he stepped foot on the grating and he felt the change in the air he knew it was and he didn’t regret it one bit. He’d given her his hand and in his haste had held onto it a little too long for his own good. Jacob didn’t dare lean over the railing, only leaning against the basin that held all of the water. “It actually feels amazing up here,” with shaky legs he managed to sit, patting the area next to him for her to sit down. “Let me get some drinks in me before we take another picture,” he told her. “Does this remind you of high school?”

Looking around like a caged animal for a moment she was quickly finding that the corn maze was not going to be her friend this year and she made a mental note to just avoid it completely next year.  “What was this place created with no fire exits? That can’t be up to the fire code.” Lexa huffed looking back at him. “Yeah, lucky me.”  Lexa said quietly, she needed to stay mad at him. Being angry was easier than admitting that she’d let him break her heart. Than again that wasn’t something she was unfamiliar with these days. “It’s good to see you Jacob,” Lexa finally said politely, it was a bold face lie but she was a southern lady after all and she hadn’t completely lost her manners. 

He didn’t want to laugh. Really, he didn’t, but despite himself he found himself letting out a chuckle, no ill intent behind it at all, more nerves than anything else. He wasn’t enjoying seeing her nervous. “I’m guessing it defeats the purpose of the corn maze,” and he felt dejected at her next words, though Jacob had sure known she’d been avoiding him, it felt strange to see her actively tried to do it, guilt flooded him instantly. “Yeah?” He couldn’t help but ask wondering how much of that was truth, if he knew any better, not much. “I uh-- I saw you on TV, Lex--” had it been anyone else, save Anna and his sisters, he wouldn’t have admitted to watching a show like the Bachelor. “How was that?”

@karinahhh​

Maybe it was a little stalkery, but sitting outside on the porch every afternoon as an excuse to casually check out the mailman was something Karina just wasn’t ready to give up yet. Of course she tried to make it look like she was doing something outside so it wasn’t totally creepy. Usually it was tending to the little garden she set up on the porch, though she wasn’t so great with the upkeep and have to replace the plants all the time. “Hey,” she greeted Jacob as he walked up the sidewalk, broom in hand as though she was actually cleaning up. Of course his question cut her off guard, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. “Uh…um, you know,” she laughed, awkwardly, trying to buy time as she thought of a lie. “Turns out, total catfish. Like, fifty year old dude pretending to be a teenager. So, yea, like…had to cut that off.” 

Too good-natured for his own good and always thinking the best of everyone, Jacob was probably completely oblivious to Karina’s tendencies, and frankly, he’d probably be flattered if he found out. “You need help with that?” He offered, despite the fact that he still had a few blocks to go, and passed her the mail, offering to trade the broom for it as he listened to her story, eyes widening in shock. “Really? I didn’t know people did that through the mail that’s--” He looked at her with concern in his eyes suddenly. “Sick,” he finished. “I can’t imagine if my little sister got roped into something like that, I used to get paranoid enough from her using those chatrooms you know?” 

Dick reached forward, grabbing the stack of mail that would need t be sorted and handed to the appropriate people within the office. One of the easier jobs he had to do throughout the day. “At the end of the day, faiths all you got, man.” He began shuffling the mail around, though not actually doing any sorting. He was too involved in the upcoming game to actually do real work. If things are being ran any way like when I was on the team, the coaches have back up plans on back up plans.” He always remembered his coach being cool under pressure and having the answer to anything. Then again, Dick was known to have a brighter recollection of moments than how things actually played out. Plus, in his mind, Bama could do nothing but win. “Get some nuclear wins so if you do get a little heated, you can pretend it’s just from them,” he suggested. 

It was easy to reminisce with someone like Dick. The conversations with the two of them were so easy and not in the mean way, there was no difficult conversations to be had with him, which might have been why they always found themselves wrapped up until they’d gotten entirely too distracted. “You ever miss it, man? I mean I wasn’t even that great at it and I kinda get nostalgic. Makes me feel kinda weird when I show up to watch all the games at the school, like I’m way too old to be there.” It was the main reason he participated in the alumni game in the first place. Dick, in particular, he figured would miss it. With a low whistle, Jacob laughed, shook his head. “You ever wanna see a grown man cry?” He asked. “Have you ever tried those wings? I dunno how those people on the wall do it. I can’t even smell them without my nose starting to run.”

closed for @jacbsterling​

sitting on her porch, juliette looked down at the box of halloween decorations she had just taken down.  a whole case of fake spiderwebs and window decals that had just recently decked out her whole house.  sitting inside the house was the christmas decorations she’d taken down from the attic at the same time.  “so, d’ya think it’s too soon to go all christmas-y?  like, what if i just did the icicle lights round the porch for now?  like, if i could.  i’d have those guys up all year round.”  juliette hummed out her question as she turned to look at her cousin.  the dogs laid down on the floor between juliette, ponyboy resting on top of her feet.  so that, even if she wanted to move, she couldn’t.  “i mean, not that i can do it now.  this puppy is fast asleep.”