wicked;

“ are you trying to tell me that you’re crazy ?? ” she scoffed, running her fingers through her unruly hair before pinning it back. “ now you’re trying to get to me mentioning my self worth— how low can you get ?? ” a soft chuckle escaped eli’s lips, her eyebrows raised. “ i don’t think gaining confidence from being this iniquitous is any better. so if you find pleasure in calling random people dumb, then accusing them of being rude, then i think we’ve got a bigger problem here. ”

“ i’m guessing that was your attempt at making a threat, and if it was, then it’s going to take a lot more to get a scare out of me. good luck trying though !! ”

" nope. ” jack said shortly, their eyes unblinking. this girl was absolutely annoying to them, she was nearly the definition of all the things they hated in a person. even her hair disgusted them. “ you don’t want to see how far down I can sink. ” they still hadn’t blinked. “ it’s only a problem if you make it one. ” 

“Oh, I wish I could.” Chloe Lynn sighed, looking down. “I would be the Brangelina of parents. I wish that I could afford to adopt every kid that enters my office, and help them, and raise them, and love them.” she frowned, drinking another gulp of wine. “But I can’t I can barely pay for myself. And governement stipends are limited - the older ones don’t get as much money, and they also happen to be the ones who can’t get adopted. The system is corrupt.” she bit her lip.

“I myself, prefer gin, but I can probably muster up some rum  I suppose.”

“I want coconut rum. That shit’s the best, makes me feel like a pirate.”

“yeah, but…” jude counters lightly, deciding on a pack of wintergreen gum as he spoke. “that’s so dangerous! not just for the jaywalkers but like, for drivers too. i swear, i’m in jeopardy of cardiac arrest every time i get in the car.”

jack simply raised an eyebrow at him, their thumbs tapping away at something on their phone. “it’s not dangerous if you know how to do it. you ever been to new york? it’s worse there.”

“Sometimes the shit just gets to me, you know?” Chloe Lynn asked, drinking her wine and sighing. “Like, I’m a social worker, I’m supposed to be able to help these kids. But sometimes the best we can do is put them in foster care, and who the fuck is that really helping?”

Jack merely nodded, only half listening to the stranger beside them. They couldn’t remember how or even why they engaged her in a conversation, but it looked like it wasn’t the greatest decision because now she was guzzling wine and talking about social work. “Quit your job.” Jack began. “Or adopt the kids yourself. Your call, babe, but kids suck. I dunno why you’re even a social worker. That’s what you said you were, right?”  

“I certainly wouldn’t have a problem with someone because of what they’re wearing because who gives a fuck? As long as you like it, it doesn’t matter. Guess you and I aren’t the same then.”

"Oh c’mon, I was just joking. Do you really think I’d have an issue with someone wearing a stupid hat? I’m wearing pajama pants right now, I can’t judge anyone. It's not even Tuesday, I judge people on Tuesdays.”

“Well, I will happily give you that. You are pretty convincing.” Naomi smiled and looked at the magazine in their hand. “Why are you just sitting on the curb reading a magazine? Is it your lunch break or something? I’m Naomi by the way.”

“I live in that giant oversized lake house down by the waterfront. It has a dumb sign on it that says ‘Wallace Palace’. It’s a little ridiculous.”

"A lake house? I love lake houses. What kinda shit have you got? I like rum, you better have rum.”

“see,” jude starts, pointing towards the sidewalk from inside the grocery store briefly and then fiddling with his wallet, “that’s the best thing about marion pointe.” his cheeks dimple as he turns to the other: “the pedestrians! they actually wait for the walking signal.”

jack was torn from their focus on their phone to whatever the person beside them was pointing towards. “i don’t see why they would.” they mumbled out the words as they glanced at him, confused as to why he was even talking. “it’s easier to jaywalk.”

“it could be a fancy library. i mean, i’m pretty new around here, so i don’t know how everything works. there is a nice coffee shop i visited recently, though.” britta’s eyes widened at the mention of ‘the big apple’. “god– i’ve always wanted to visit new york city. i’m from warren, ohio. –if you don’t mind me asking, why’d you move from new york city to oregon?”

"i don’t either. i’ve already got a job though so i should probably find out how things work and whatever. oregon’s fuckin’ weird, that’s all i can tell you.” jack pushed a blonde lock of hair off their shoulder. “new york’s not as great as it seems. you won’t understand it until a rat runs over your feet while you’re walking through manhattan.” their eyebrows raised at her question, they weren’t fond of speaking about the topic but they figured talking about it just this one time couldn’t hurt. “to get away from things, said things are fairly unimportant but i don’t need them breathing down my neck. a better question: why did you move to here from ohio?”

“Same here, swing by my place at say, 6? I need to get hammered, and soon.”

“I’ve gotta know where said place is. I bet you live somewhere super fancy, your hairs too nice for you not to be on the higher side of the economical scale.”

“For me to have a problem with someone, it’d mean I’d have to care enough. Wouldn’t it?”

"Hm, maybe for you. I’ve got a problem for whoever I want. I saw a lady earlier wearing a hat I didn’t like and I’ve got a problem with her. It really just depends on what kind of person you are.”

“I almost fell for that shit.” Naomi shook her head slightly. “You always this evil?”

“ it means you’re stupid, and i guess i was right in saying it if you didn’t even know what it meant. and i’m not trying to scare you, darling. i was merely replying to your insult, and i guess i also proved you wrong. i’m not dumb. in fact, you’re the idiotic one if you don’t even know the meaning of a middle school level word as simple as vacuous. ”

" rude. you know, you really shouldn’t be that mean to strangers, you never know who’s crazy and who isn’t. ” jack paused, their grin fading from their face as they fiddled with one of the rings on their finger. “ i don’t need complex words, pretty sure your fancy vocabulary holds up your fragile self esteem, girls like you always have one of those. anyways, new conversation topic, what’s your blood type? just for reference. ”