WATCH THE QUEEN CONQUER

THE CHAMELEON: ever done something without your parents finding out?

THE COMIC: what's the most ridiculous thing you actually attempted thinking it would work?

THE INGÉNUE: what’s something you wish would happen, but know won’t?

THE JUVENILE: do you have a favorite poem? poet?

THE LEADING LADY: how far have you gone to get ahead? would you go farther?

THE LEADING MAN: if you could play anyone in any form of media, who would it be and why?

THE SCENE STEALER: what traditions or rituals or mantras have you created for yourself?

THE STATUE: do you prefer to blend in or stand out?

THE STUNTMAN: are you an optimist? why or why not?

THE SUPPORTING ROLE: how do you deal with betrayal?

THE TEMPTRESS: what trait are you most proud of?

THE TOMBOY: what is your biggest regret? would you change anything if you could?

THE UNDERSTUDY: who are you most envious of—real or fictional—and why?

THE UTILITY: do you usually instigate arguments or do you try to diffuse them? which would you prefer?

JOSEPHINE FLORES as folklore lyrics

and women like hunting witches too doing your dirtiest work for you it's obvious that wanting me dead has really brought you two together

format inspired by (x) psd (x) pictures (x)

It seemed that Harry was developing a pattern of being approached at the bar by people she truly couldn’t want to talk to less. She’d been slowly nursing her beer, but at the sight of Josie drawing near, Harry brought it up to her lips in a swift gulp. By now, the sting– no, the heartbreak– of what happened between her Josie (or rather, what Josie had done to her) was faded, although not exactly healed (could she heal from something she’d never gotten real closure from). But it still made Harry flush with anger to see her so unaffected by how she treated the people around her, by the damage and hurt she caused. In short, she’d made up her mind that Josie was rotten to her core. And once Harry passed judgement on someone, it was usually quite difficult to make her sway from her position, no matter how much time passed.

“Really? I think you know better than most people that if I’d brought you up in my interview, I would’ve had no problem telling you so,” Harry replied evenly, no patience for matching Josie’s passive aggressive tone. She was too tired to be anything but honest and straightforward with the girl, as she’d always been when it came to telling Josie exactly what she thought of her. “Yeah, you’re right, you still piss me the fuck off because I’m bitter over the fact that you broke my heart and never apologized. I’m glad it makes you feel good to know that, Josephine, I really am.” Harry raised the beer to her lips again, finishing it off in a huge draining gulp. A burp made its way up and she let it out unabashedly, not one to care for how she came off to Josie anymore. It was incredibly frustrating that a person could mean so much and so little to Harry at the same time.

“Besides,” Harry lowered her voice, “we both know I should’ve brought your name up to the police, and Mathias’. I’m not a snitch– no matter how much the two of you make me want to claw my eyes out– but when are you going to come clean about whatever the fuck your shady asses were doing that night?”

.

Why was it that Josephine was so insistent on antagonising Harry? Someone she had once laid next to, spoken to, told things to with absolute ease? If you asked Josie, she wouldn’t have a straight answer. But the honest truth was, she was afraid. She didn’t understand it. She didn’t get it. She wasn’t used to it. The feelings she felt towards Harry were something she couldn’t control, and Josie hated not being in control. Over two years ago now, when Josie had sat opposite Orson and gotten the answer for what to do with her relationship, she had believed she was in complete control of the situation, going as far to say that how she had handled things was the only way for her to maintain control. But Josie had never been in control when it came to Harry. She couldn’t control herself when she had first fallen for her, and she couldn’t control the order she had been given to end things. She had never gotten closure. And it was so much easier to lash out, to be the bad guy that she had always been, then to try and confront these feelings, or even understand them - especially now that the reason they had broken up was now dead.

Starting fights was all she knew. It was her semblance of control.

“Maybe so,” Josie snipped, her sinister smile still coiling as she accepted her drink from the bartender and took a slow sip from the straw. There was a moment where Harry’s words made Josie falter, the words broke my heart ringing in her ears before she squashed them down and decided it was much easier to ignore this. Confronting the idea that she had even had Harry’s heart to begin with seemed much too dangerous. Instead, she took a moment to break eye contact as Harry finished her drink, glancing down at the bar and allowing her smile to drop for just a second before she returned to scrunch her nose at the burp Harry issued.

When Harry lowered her voice, however, Josie could no longer maintain the smile. It vanished in an instant, replaced with a steely gaze and a hardened, thin mouth. “You didn’t see shit,” she hissed, leaning in ever so slightly to keep the conversation between them, as it should be. “We were just having fun, it was a party, wasn’t it? Just because we were having fun doesn’t mean we fucking murdered someone. Because we didn’t. And therefore what you did see is none of your goddamn business, so you would do well to continue keeping your mouth shut.”

one would think that pretending to be an unsuspecting, innocent student would be a much harder role to play for orson’s actual murderer. but teddy surprised even himself with how easily he rolls with josie’s conversation. with how calmly he nodded and listened to her words. she did have a point, though. someone gave the police their names. and teddy really, really, needs to find out who suspected hudson. was it some sort of sick strategy to play with ted’s head? or were they just as clueless and rather stupid when they dropped his best friend’s name?

not knowing what the police actually had on them was sickening. teddy can’t remember the last time he had some proper sleep. nightmares of orson, of a jail cell, an orange suit, followed him everywhere.

“right,” he agreed, nodding his head. “it’s so fucked up, how someone would just drop your names to the police like that.” truth be told, the whole situation is all sorts of fucked up. “and how stupid could the police be to believe them?” teddy scoffed. and this one was genuine. except for hudson, who could eventually lead them to teddy, the investigators were looking in all the wrong places. at least to ted’s knowledge.

“if you need me to go talk to the police myself, i’ll do it.” oh, the audacity. “i know you have nothing to worry about, but i imagine it must be annoying,” he added. was teddy willing to do it? maybe. lately, he had been feeling rather fearless. “i’d be annoyed as fuck if the police suddenly called me a person of interest.” and then, for good measure, “they’re just doing an awful job.”

.

josie couldn’t lie - there was a partial motive behind her decision to stop and actually pay teddy the decency of a conversation. she knew what he would say. that he would agree with her. and she needed to be told she was right, that she wasn’t overreacting, that this was fucked up. even if they were not as truly, honestly close as they once were, teddy was still josie’s friend, he was someone that orson had trusted and therefore that josie believed she, too, could always trust, even if his motives (and talent) sometimes seemed blurry. and, frankly, a small part, narcissistic part of josephine believed that teddy looked up to her. and so if she said it was fucked up, he was sure to say it too.

“people have always fucking hated me at this school, same with matty, i guess in a way i’m not surprised, but it doesn’t make it okay. i still want to fucking kill whoever mentioned us.” gritting her teeth and tensing her jaw, josie blew a small breath of air out through her nose. “clearly the police has no idea what they’re talking about.”

stepping forward again, josie lowered her voice even more, holding onto teddy’s arm to pull him closer to the wall, away from the straggling students who were still leaving classes. “you know where we were that night, remember?” throwing a glance over her shoulder, josie paused for a moment before continuing. “if you’re serious about talking to the police, i mean... you know what matty and i were doing...” josie considered whether it was such a wise idea to talk about this out loud, only pressing forward once she had leaned in closer. “after you left us, matty and i stayed in that room and just... kept going. that’s all we were doing, all night. when we left that room it was to go back to the castle, that’s it. i mean, all we really need is an alibi, right? you could really help us here, ted.”

Mads could famously hold a grudge, she still doesn’t talk to her supposed high school best friend who had snatched up her boyfriend right from under her (was this it? was she used to disappointment? was that why she kept everyone distant?) Still, she can’t deny the fact she gave Josie her heart- maybe in more ways than one. But, hers belonged to Orson first. She wasn’t ever going to be anyones the way she supposedly belonged to Orson. Mads wished she had realized this sooner, she wished she had been the one to break off from Josie first before Orson could taint what they had. They still stood tall, her with a clenched jaw, and Josie with suspicious eyes, but there was a softness there that neither could quiet place. She waited for her cruel sneer, waited for a sharp insult, burning hot and vengeful, but it didn’t come. So, Mads acquiesces a bit. They both were still on guard, and Mads had no issue of fighting back just as cruelly as Josiee could be, but there was no need. Not yet, hopefully not anymore. Not that she wanted to make up.

But god, was she tired.

Mads raises an eyebrow at the way Josie ignored her question, expecting a remark, but nothing came. She shrugged and that was the end of it. The tension was in her bones, the way she’s gotten used to seizing up and clutching tightly whenever Josie was nearby, or forging her existence all together if she could. Honestly, she had several questions, none of them about the investigation. But, she knows better. Some people get to have closure, some get to have answers. Her mother shutting her out was the first time she realized she was not one of those people, and today was no different. But, unlike her mother, Josie was here. All the questions were on the tip of her tongue, all her resentment and anger bubbled beneath her blood, but Josie was here, and she was standing besides her. It would’ve been nostalgic, if there wasn’t a corpse between them. Mads had chosen Josie, but Josie chose Orson. Maybe she was right, Mads would do almost anything to get ahead too. Not in the same way, but Orson had a point. She did have potential, so of course he had to crush it.

February treated Alderidge nicely. While bigger cities had snow that was brown slush by now, it still managed to look picturesque on campus in its own way. Some things never change, but her world did the other day. She couldn’t ignore that feeling away no matter how bad she wanted to. She exhaled out, smoke and the cold air mingling past her lips as she nodded. “Oh, I know right? How very fucking meta of me.” She laughs humorlessly, irritation and disbelief mixed in one. What did everyone else know? Did Josie know? “You think so? I think she feels sorry for all of us. She gave off that vibe.” She shrugged, glancing over at Josie. It was a big question to ask, even if she didn’t technically ask it. She could tell with how she averted her eyes, despite how strong her voice sounded. There’s a painful nostalgia here, shit talking their classmates together like before, a comfort that Mads sought after more often these days. “Funny, I was gonna ask you the same.” She almost rolled her eyes at her hypocrisy, but she could argue about that later. She had to approach this delicately. “All except one, I guess. Be honest. You think I could’ve done it? Clearly someone did.” Though she’s perfected her devil may care attitude, there’s an edge to her voice no one really got to hear- no one except Josie. 

.

If all of Josie’s exterior was on defence mode, ready to switch into attack at any moment, than it must’ve been her interior, the very far pits of her mind and the small, dark corners of her heart, that felt comforted standing her, talking and teasing with Mads as if it were sophomore year and they hadn’t yet been broken. While Josie’s jaw remained ever so slightly tensed and her body stiff, she allowed that small corner of her heart to feel a pang of nostalgia for what had once been. The voices in her mind were slightly more sinister --- as she took another drag from the cigarette and tossed a glance over at Mads, something hissed at Josie, asking her why they had ever ended up like this in the first place. Orson. Orson. Orson. Josephine had always told herself that she had come to the decision all on her own to strike at her friendship Mads when the opportunity presented itself, but the voices wouldn’t stop. Orson. Orson Orson. He’s gone. Why should it still be like that?

It took everything Josie had not to physically shake her head to stop the voices from getting to a level that made it hard to hear what Mads was saying to her. She hadn’t stopped for a cigarette to confront her demons and try and mend things, or whatever stupid thing some parts of her might’ve been saying. She was being as cordial as she was because the two girls were on common ground, and Josephine wasn’t stupid. She knew she had a plethora of enemies at the moment, some of which could now be found in the police force, and if there was even a single moment that she could share with someone who partially understood where she was at the moment, she would take it. Contrary to popular belief, Josie was not a heartless bitch --- something in her had always craved understanding, as well as the classic attention. And that’s what Mads could do. What she had done numerous times before, and what she could do now --- understand her. 

Looking out over the dewy grass of the courtyard, Josie blew out a breath of smoke, biting at the edge of her lip at the comments concerning Heidi. If Josie had been looking for a fight, she would’ve pounced at this comment, tearing apart the idea that Heidi ‘felt sorry for them’, or at least where it concerned her, and poking at the holes in Mads’ theory, tearing her down along with it. But that wasn’t what she had stopped for. (She was tired.) Moving past the topic of their new director, Josie looked back at her old friend, eyes squinting against the glare of the sun behind Mads’ head. You think I could’ve done it? She surveyed the girl a moment, as if considering her answer, knowing all too well that she had the answer already. “No. I don’t think you did it.” Pausing a moment, Josie inhaled another breath of smoke before continuing. “And if we want to be honest, I truly didn’t name anyone in my interview, apart from a brief mention of Chandler --- but frankly, it was more of an aside, and almost a mistake. It was something I thought they already knew.” Josie bit down on her bottom lip. “I told them I didn’t think any of us had done it. But I don’t know, lately... I’m just not so sure.”

Josephine didn’t sleep much any more. Each night was the same. It was 1am, she was scrolling through her phone, her eyes grew heavy and she fell asleep with her screen falling on her chest and two hours later she was awoken, panting and sweating, the image of Orson’s body writhing on the grassy ground still fresh in her mind. Most nights he was silent, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as the life drained slowly from his eyes. But some nights he spoke - some nights his bloody mouth opened and he seemed to whisper something that chilled Josie to her very core. She didn’t understand it. Before about a month ago, she could hardly decipher it. But it was the same every time, each time a little bit clearer - Orson looked at her and whispered ‘we’re dying, Josephine’. The words would echo through her until they were all she heard and then he died and she was awake. She hated how she felt when she woke up. Powerless. Out of control. Not quite alive yet. 

Every night Josie woke, she would toss her gaze through the darkness towards Saffi’s bed, assume she was asleep or in between someone else’s sheets and then get up. Pulling a sweater over her slim frame, sometimes she would go towards the window to smoke or vape, sometimes she would curl into a ball beside her bed frame and take slow sips from the bottle of whiskey stashed beneath her bed, sometimes (when she knew Saffi was in her own bed) she was message Mathias and ask for his company. But sometimes she just wanted to be alone, outside of the suffocating claustrophobia of her bedroom, and so she would slip some socks on her feet and tiptoe out into the common room where the fire was often still on its last dwindling sparks and she could find some warmth in the blanket draped over the couch. This night was a night for the latter. Orson’s words were still echoing in her mind when she silently opened her door and slipped out into the hallway, stepping quietly across the wooden floor into the common area. We’re dying, Josephine. What the hell did he mean? She wasn’t dying. She was living. Right? She was alive… right?

Josie was still mulling these questions over in her mind when she stepped into the common room and nearly died of fright - sitting by the fireplace, in the armchair he always occupied, was Jonah. It took everything in Josie not to scream. She almost never had company when she came here this early in the morning. Glancing at the clock, she confirmed the time (3:16am) and assumed that Jonah, too, couldn’t sleep - and maybe it wasn’t so bad to have some company when the nightmare was still playing on repeat in the back of her mind. Clearing her throat to make her presence known, Josie walked towards the armchair next to Jonah’s, snatching the wooden blanket from off the couch on her way over and wrapping it around her shoulders. “Morning,” she croaked, still half asleep in some parts. “Didn’t expect to find anyone here. Couldn’t sleep?”

Josephine was well acquainted with the allure of addictive substances. Some days it was cigarettes, others it was weed, on select days it was cocaine with Mathias in the small room tucked away in Orson’s home. But today, it was just plain old alcohol. The end of the week had come kicking and screaming, and after classes had ended on Friday afternoon, Josie had headed straight for the Anchor, texting Matty on the way there and telling him to meet her out the back. She needed something stiff and she needed lots of it. Something about having the words person of interest following you around all week had Josie even more on edge than she normally was - angry and frustrated and still on the weird edges of grieving. 

When Josephine entered the bar, she saw Harry almost immediately. It was still relatively quiet inside, the dregs of most students still yet to finish classes and pack themselves to the walls of the small pub, and so it wasn’t very hard to see her. (Although, Josie had always had quite a talent for finding Harry, even in the most crowded of rooms.) Shoulders stiffening and jaw setting, Josie walked slowly towards the bar, unwrapping her scarf from around her neck and finally setting it down on the countertop, right next to Harry. “What, no girlfriend to keep you company?” She said in way of greeting, throwing her coat on top of the barstool before taking a seat. Turning to the bartender, Josie ordered one craft bear with a flashy smile that immediately dropped when she looked back at Harry. It was hard to know what to say. She hadn’t needed to sit right next to her ex classmate, but it was the seat she had chosen, and now Josephine wasn’t so sure her plan of attack was such an inviting idea anymore. She was tired. She didn’t want to fight. (But it was all she knew how to do.) “You were awful quick to try and defame me in the group chat the other night, got anything you want to say to my face now that I’m here? Anything you want to confess? My name coming up in your interview, perhaps? Confession or not, it was nice I was the only one you seemed to respond to, though. Love living in your head rent free, as Chandler would say.”

jason: i don't know why you expect confidence from me

jason: i could ask you the same question but it's just not worth it.

jason: that's not what i meant. i meant that if there is a killer of orson, having us all accuse each other makes it worse by turning us against each other and we're playing into their hands.

jason: i wasn't "pussying" out.

jason: your stuff is by mathias's bed, come pick it up whenever.

chandler: happy 2 entertain

chandler: that's low, josie, even for you.

chandler: i get berating me for hurting grace, trust me i do, i'd do the same if jonah cheated on helen.

chandler: but accusing me of being with orson just for a role? of not caring about him?

chandler: honestly it's funny, i'd expect you of all people to understand why i was with him. why i fell in love with him. it doesn't make cheating right, don't accuse me of saying THAT, but it's fucking complicated and i sure as hell didn't do it for a fucking part.

josie: [ read: 1:03am ]

josie: [ one day later ] don't act like you know how i felt about orson. and definitely don't compare it to what you did with him. it's completely different.

Josie didn’t regret how she had reacted in the days following the police report - not even a little bit. In fact, the part she regretted the least was the way she had acted in the group chat. For every time she had been told to calm down, Josie grew angrier with the situation. She had been named as a person of interest in the murder of a man she loved, whether that be because they thought she killed him or she knew who did, and it infuriated her. She didn’t know shit. And of course she wanted to know more - she wanted to know who had done it more than anyone - so surely that passion should be enough to acquit her.

If only Helen hadn’t run her fat mouth. Then no one would suspect anything at all, right? Because now that Helen had confessed to what they had all agreed to keep quiet, well, now they all looked like liars. And suddenly everything that Josie had said in her own interview didn’t matter anymore. Helen deserved to be chewed right through, especially when she continued to play herself off as the victim. So when Josie crawled out of her tent for breakfast on Saturday morning and there was no one sat around the fire they had set up last night except dear old Helen, Josie couldn’t help but smile - a sick, twisted, terrible smile. “Good morning, blabbermouth,” Josie greeted, falling into the camping chair opposite Helen. “Told the police anything interesting lately? I mean, I know I’m not keeping any secrets anymore, but surely if you’ve got some bubbling under the surface there, the police will just have to look at you to get it out. Or maybe you just wanna tell them some lies now, to embellish your own truth - I mean, surely you had a motive to blabbing, so who were you trying to implicate? Was it me? Or maybe Matty? Or maybe even poor old Hudson. I saw Chandler hit him with my own two eyes, Officer! You have to believe me!”

God, the surprised look and lack of fire was much worse than Josie chewing her out for some reason. It was yet another reminder that she was a person, not the easy scrapegoat who betrayed her trust and broke her rose colored glasses. In some ways, Mads knew she was a better actress for it- to have the strength to branch out and find a new theater to command. Josie opened her eyes to the corruption of Orson, of Alderidge, she was the perfect weapon to wield against her classmates. Orson did his job well as playmaker, she supposed. Still, she hated the feeling of guilt. She had nothing to be guilty of, if anything maybe Josie deserved it. It was the first time she really saw everyone against her like that, and maybe it was time for Josie to realize what she had done to herself.

Still, Mads did actually have a heart. And she didn’t want to see any of her classmates hauled off to jail, not even her. She was nervous, the detectives knew something. Was is her potential expulsion? That would give her motive, she supposed. But what was more unnerving was her dealing and the potential of being caught. She didn’t have the resources Josie had, or most of her peers. She would be screwed, no matter what kind of lawyer she got. She raised an eyebrow in response, still surprised that Josie was being… civil, but she supposed being suspects puts things in perspective. “Just. Letting you know.” She shrugged, tapping the ash off her cigarette before taking another drag.

She scoffed, yet there’s an amused half smile curving her lips. “One goes, ‘I’d kill for the punchline right now’” She finishes, silently offering a cigarette to Josie from her pack. “But sure, Heidi can deal since.” She waved a hand, a roll of her eyes. “You know.” It’s not an olive branch, not really. But, she spent the night getting too high and maybe that left her in a more calm mood than usual. Plus, maybe it was smart to not be at the top of Josie’s shit list in case she tried to throw Mads under the bus as well. Did she think Josie was capable of murder? Not really, but she did know Josie would do anything to get ahead. In a way, so would Mads. Not in the same way, but Mads would branch out and perfect her craft to ensure she was the stronger actress in the end. “Need a light?”

.

If you asked Josephine why it was she was being so civil towards Mads all of a sudden, she wouldn’t be able to tell you. The truth was, she wasn’t sure where this was coming from - it was almost as if, piece by piece, the resentment she held towards the other girl was being slowly buried along with Orson. But it was still slow. When Josie looked at Mads, it was still through slightly narrowed eyes, as though she were trying to analyse the girl (which in a way, she was). Josephine was still a lion poised to pounce at any given moment, she was simply waiting for Mads to send her a sign. As of yet, no sign had been given. The two girls were in something of a predicament together, as of right now, and so all signs pointed to relax, you can understand each other, and yet still, Josie was ready. She would still continue to approach the conversation with caution.

Josie’s eyes flicked down to the cigarette she had been offered, eyes glancing over the pack and taking careful notice of the brand that was stamped on the side. Josie’s favourite. And with a lurch of nostalgia, she remembered - Mads’ favourite too. Mads had practically been the one to introduce Josie to them. Once upon a time, they used to share them. Piece by piece the resentment was being buried... But not just yet. As Josie reached out to pluck one of the cigarette’s from the pack, she heard Orson’s voice in the back of her head, cursing out Mads with a spiteful laugh in the same tone he had used the morning after Josie had snatched the lead role from her. We’re not here to make friends... And so when Mads offered a light, Josie made a point of silently refusing, pulling out her own light as if Mads hadn’t even said a thing.

Blowing out a plume of smoke, Josie quirked an eyebrow and sighed. “Yeah, I know.” Narrowing her eyes against the glare of the sun and looking out over the courtyard in front of the FAB, Josie allowed the elongated pause to draw out before continuing. “She should be proud of you. Getting into character before rehearsals. First murderer... I don’t think she’d be so inclined to give me the same special treatment, though. She probably thinks I did it, too.” Josie scoffed, following it up with a laugh filled with absolutely no humour. Her eyes drifted to the ground, kicking at the dirt beneath her shoes. “You know, I’d ask if my name came up in your interview, but I doubt anyone who named me managed to implicate themselves, too. All those assholes who named people managed to get off scot free, right? Fuckers.”

𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗: who knows? time’s a social construct.  𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎: a classroom at the fab.  𝚠𝚑𝚘: @joseqhine

truth be told, teddy was a little guilty about how upset josie and mathias sounded on the group chat. but just a little. deep down, he knows they’d never get convicted. after all, they adored orson. it makes teddy wonder how on earth they ended up on that list. how anyone but him ended up on that list. 

“josie,” he calls out, walking over to her once the class is over. he is not so sure what he is supposed to say now though. but it’s too late now. teddy is right in front of her. so he says the first thing that comes to mind: “i’m so sorry about the police thing,” he mutters, fingertips reaching for the back of his neck. “i don’t know how the investigators reached such an awful conclusion.” and then a half-lie: “i hope they fix their mistake soon.”

.

attending classes felt so futile in the grand scheme of how josephine’s life was currently going. it almost felt like a joke - naming four students as ‘people of interest’ in a murder case and then allowing them to continue leading their lives as if nothing had happened, to continue interacting with their friends and classmates who now had to live with the knowledge that the police suspected them of something deadly. like the police wanted them even more isolated than they already were.

but she still showed up. she put in effort all the same as if the murder had never happened. she only wished to spend as little time talking to her classmates as possible. but when she heard teddy’s voice, it felt wrong to ignore him - he was one of the few people she didn’t utterly hate, anyway, right? no harm in talking with him. “yeah, thanks, ted,” she replied, fighting the strong urge to roll her eyes. sorry. what for? “come on, we know how they got there - someone dropped my name, like they did matty’s, and mads, and hudson and even chandler.” well... josie, you were the one to mention chandler. “but whatever. i know i didn’t do it, so i have nothing to worry about, i guess. and i mean...” josie’s eyes fell for a moment before she looked back at teddy and shrugged with a small roll of her eyes, lowering her voice. “if the police happen to find out you, me and matty knew orson a little better than the others, then that can’t be all bad, right? i mean... why would we kill him, let alone know who did? why would we want to jeopardise our solid position in the program by hurting him? i figure that can send them off mine and matty’s track, and then you get the added benefit. ‘cause i mean, it wasn’t us, you know?”

chandler: it doesn't matter who i auditioned for. i got lady macbeth. end of story

chandler: whatever happened in that audition room is between you, heidi, and god so like ??? can't judge what i don't know! u should try following that philosophy and leaving me alone :)

chandler: also not really!! i don't particularly care what u think about me! but i have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway so let's get this over with so i can just block ur number and live in peace :)

josie: i can't believe you just mentioned god. that's probably the funniest thing you've ever said.

josie: i knew i shouldn't have left you on read for so long, mathias already said what i was thinking in the gc. but i'll say it again if i have to

jason: yeah, i know. that's why i said it.

jason: listen, i don't think you murdered orson, i didn't say anything about you in the interrogation.

jason: i know we don't like each other but i don't want to make things worse. i muted the gc because the convo was counterproductive and pitting us against each other isn't helping anyone.

josie: you don't 'think' i did? love the confidence

josie: and why should i believe you?

grace: since day 1!!!

grace: i swear these people don't deserve you lol it's ridiculous how they act towards you sometimes

grace: she was acting so stupid about the party. like i did something? idk what was up with that.

grace: also okay. we talked a bit after the cast list went out but it wasn't anything serious.

grace: besides i doubt she'll have much time for me and whatever we are after getting lady m

grace: fuck i forgot all about that. how are u doing with heidi and this semester's play now?

josie: they definitely don't ;) but it's alright babe you know i'm used to it by now. it is what it is, you know?

josie: yeah that was genuinely fucked like to go from acting like you should be on her side to basically accusing you of doing something is so fucked

josie: girl

josie: look after yourself first, all right?

josie: don't forget what she did to you, even if it's easier to remember when it was good

josie: honestly i'm still furious and hate heidi so much lol, but i'll just show her by making lady mcd's scene the best goddamn scene in the whole play.

josie: she was obviously just trying to prove some point about how she's not orson and will be doing things differently and if that means she's going to ignore talent then that's on her, not me, you know?