𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙏𝙃 𝙊𝙉 𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙀

What might have never bothered her before certainly did now. It wasn’t like they did everything together, but even still, it wasn’t uncommon for one or the other to dip out early, save face and turn in instead of doing something they simply weren’t feeling - but it never happened like this. It never felt like ice crawling up against her spine and hardening. It felt like she couldn’t move, like every word Nell spoke to her now nailed Brielle in place a little more. “Yeah but..–” Of course it sucked on new years, but the plan was that they’d all throw themselves into one later and split the bill in the value of cheeseburgers and shakes later. It was tradition - one that came with some of the best memories that Brielle had of this city without her brothers. Whatever kind of lie Nell thought she could get away with wasn’t working as well as she might have hoped. Everything felt off. “Nell, I told you that he’d be coming, we talked about this last week and you said you were cool with it?” Confusion muddles dark hues and Brielle casts such uncertainty across the room to where Atticus is and back again before she sighs heavily. “That’s fine, just give me a couple of minutes and I’ll come with you.” Not that it was at all conductive to what lay ahead for Brielle. Knowing that tonight was about far more than the momentary countdown and everything that she’d been instructed and intended to pull off the second it ended. Proving herself, to Dilara, Fletcher.. her brother, that she could handle this - that she was one of them and deserved to be noticed by then was what she’d been working towards for weeks now but.. “We can just go to your place and veg out and watch horror flicks or something. It’s just another day, right?”

&.

“AND I WAS COOL with it. I am cool with it.” Only it was clear with every word Janelle spoke that she wasn’t and she didn’t need to see the look that fell across Brielle’s face to know that she wasn’t fooling either of them in the way that she wanted, but words kept spilling in the hopes that maybe she could lie her way through just enough to at least seem convincing. Maybe blame her attitude on whatever fancy shit was being served by the bar in the form of long and carefully worded text in the morning to cover her tracks. Anything to rationalize why she was willing to flee so early on what should have been one of the best nights of their lives instead of actually having to explain it. And to be honest, she didn’t even know if she could. Not now at least, not when she can trail Bree’s gaze back to her boyfriend while they were still in the middle of a conversation. Jesus Christ. “Brielle— stop.” Her words let out like a puff of smoke oozing from her lungs, this feeling in her stomach starting to mimic flips from all this built-up adrenaline. “I don’t need you to like, hold my hand and come with me! Fuck, I’m just tired of all of this.” Tired of this night, of these people and their bougie ways, of Atticus, of New Years. “And you doing this isn’t helping, even if you think it is.” Nell lifted a hand and waved it off in the direction of the ballroom. “Just go back and . . do whatever it was you were doing before you finally noticed that I was gone.” She was starting to take small steps backward, widening the space between them so that she could get closer to the exit. “Okay? Just go. You’re probably missed.”

Somewhere between the nerves and the excitement of the night, Brielle had unknowingly realized that she’d never really made it beyond a certain crowd of people. Syndicate members congregating to celebrate the coming of a new year - it was tacky, and covered in three layers of cheese but it wasn’t unlike the ways she’d celebrated before, only with an additional amount of glitter and champagne instead of ash, dirt and a cheap bottle swinging between her fingers. Remembering where she promised to meet Nell, the small brunette shoved her way unapologetically through the crowd until she spotted the other. Immediately, she felt nerves slip away - it was one thing that never existed with Nell around and the only other people that came close to bringing her to such a calm standpoint were likely arm in arm somewhere else. Not that she minded at all, Asher and Maddie was something that Brielle had seen coming years ago, but it was kind of nice to know that she didn’t have to be some kind of third wheel at all. Pausing, only to tell Atticus that she’d find him in a short while, Brielle parted ways and moved to reach out for the chair beside Nell..

Only, apparently this wasn’t where they were going to stay, and almost immediately, Brielle opened her mouth to suggest more drinks - where had hers gone? “Wait.. – what?” It drew her to an immediate stop, “Lyft? You’re leaving?” That.. wasn’t at all what she’d expected. “But it’s only like, ten thirty? What do you mean?” It sunk, heavy in her chest and something about the way Nell spoke swelled a knot of panic into her throat instead. “We haven’t spent a new years apart in.. forever. If you’re bored we can get a few more drinks, dance a bit? Maybe see if we can find Riven and swindle his ass outta some cash.. You can’t just, leave..”

&.

BROWN EYES IMMEDIATELY are drawn to tiny pixelated numbers on her phone, the stark white 10:30 flashing across her screen and looking up at Nell almost mockingly until she shook her head and rolled her eyes because she hadn’t realized just how early it was until mentioned. Which made her feel even worse, if that was even possible, and it’s clear in the way she stuffed the damn thing back into her pocket that she was feeling less than spectacular about it. “Yeah, well, trying to catch a Lyft suck on New Years, so..” Shoulders tighten up as she raised them into a shrug. This was not the conversation she wanted to be having right now and it was proving to be more difficult than she had anticipated now that she was trying to avoid every memory that came to mind when brought with thoughts on how they spent this holiday prior. Flickers of vivid thoughts, memories, and feelings, all of it trying to zoom by like a busy highway and instead of latching on, she pushed them down and replaced them with new ones of Bree on the arm of some guy because she knew that if she didn’t then she would continue to stay and be miserable all because she asked. “No, B, I’m fine.” Nell shook her head to insert some sincerity to her lie but quickly stopped in tracks the closer she made it to one of the exits. “I don’t want to drink, or dance, or find pothead ass Riv.” Her gaze flicked from Bree back to the ballroom like she was ready to shoot daggers at it. “And I definitelyyy don’t feel like being ditched because you want to play tonsil hockey with your boyfriend at midnight.”

new years eve  ╱  somewhere in the hellhole  @brielleperez​

FOR A NIGHT that was meant to shine as it guided those into a new year, Nell certainly felt dull being trapped in a room with people who wouldn’t bother taking a second look in her direction as they sipped on drinks made from liquor so expensive she didn’t even want to know the price. She really didn’t need this type of overpriced prissy bullshit, so she settled for a seat in the furthest corner of the room at the emptiest table in the back and split her time playing Candy Crush and looking out for friendly faces that she knew and wouldn’t have minded talking to. Only it felt as if just about everyone in that small pod came with someone and from the moment she saw two faces in particular join the festivities arm and arm, the smile she had adorned for the sake of the holiday shrank until it was as small as she felt.  Now she really wanted to leave. Go home, eat some pizza. Anything that meant getting out the hell of here before that damn clock hit midnight.

And she would have gotten away with it too if she hadn’t run into the exact person she was purposely trying to avoid, the red flash of Brielle’s costume making her stomach flip for something other than annoyance. “Before you say anything,” Her hands are up almost defensively, breezing past Bree like she hadn’t just been waiting for her all night. “My Lyft’s coming in like, fifteen minutes.” It actually wasn’t, she hadn’t even called it, but details, details. “I’m blowing this popsicle stand. This shit is boring and I’m tired.” 

N Y E EVENT.

october twenty ninth  ╱ chicago navy pier ( halloween event )  @brielleperez​

❝DUDE, it’s a Pick - Your - Pumpkin, not the final question on How to be a Millionaire.❞ The concept wasn’t hard, at least not to Janelle as she sat crossed-legged at the edge of a trunk on a truck overflowing with leftover stacks of hay, a stolen pack of pumpkin Shipyard hidden from prying eyes beneath warm flannel blankets. ❝Pick the two you want and drop your five bucks into the tin.❞ It felt like she had been saying these words to hopeless townies all evening despite the overhead sign that clearly stated what all this was for. When the middle aged woman she directed her tone to had turned away, Janelle refocused her attention back to the familiarity of a figure framed with raven hair and held an expression that looked just as pained as she felt. ❝I hate working on Halloweekend.❞ And she only had herself to blame for agreeing to work the small pumpkin patch for a little extra cash before the real holidays hit. She grabbed a beer hidden behind blankets and offered it out to Brielle. ❝It’s like everyone's brain cells turn into actual monster mush.❞

— HALLOWEEN EVENT

❝Halloween is cool.❞ — HALLOWEENTOWN

CHICAGO LITE September 5th w/ everyone!

Brooke knew it was easy to blend in being a fresh face in town, most would assume she was a civilian of the sorts. Her fingers tapped against the surface of the bar as the shot glass was set in front of her. Her head tilted to the side as she lifted it up, staring at the brownish liquid inside of it. “Sorry… What did you say this was?” She asked the bartender, humming when he replied with the word tequila. Being hidden away her entire life, there were certain luxuries she was not allowed to participate in. Alcohol had been one of them. Her father’s excuse was always about how the awful liquid would make her act stupid and she was too good for that. She brought the shot glass to her lips, taking a small sip of it. She scrunched up her face, looking back at the bartender as they raised their glass towards her. She lifted her glass up and when he clinked it with hers her eyes focused on the way he drank back the shot. She mimicked the movement he did and the bitter liquid went down her throat with a burning sensation following with it. She coughed, shaking her head as she pushed the glass away from her. “Wow!” She laughed. “Can I get another?” Maybe she was a little too giddy but this had been the first taste of actual freedom she had in sixteen years… Maybe it was time for her to have a little fun. When someone came up next to her, her eyes were looking into the glass the bartender gave her but as a hand touched her shoulder, her gaze lifted up to look at the person standing there. “Uh… Did you say something? I didn’t think you were… talking to me.” She awkwardly laughed. 

////////////////// *

WHY WAS IT so hard to find service around here? Granted this side of LITE was significantly less crowed than the side she had just came from, but she was still working her way through the most of party and trying to slot herself in by the counter to order, a task she hadn’t managed to accomplish in quite some time now. Thankfully, the last few moments of standing around waiting for the current figure in front of her to move didn’t take much longer and the space cleared up quick enough for her to witness the tail end of someone taking a shot. Their cough almost brought laugher to Nell’s lips but she had been too drawn to the fact that the brunette was already order another and without thinking she let her own voice latch onto to it as she lifted her right hand and put up two fingers. ❝Hey! Make that two, please!❞ So, she was leeching off someone else’s order. Who cared? Venmo was a thing and patience was a virtue Nell hadn’t mastered yet. If she was lucky enough, the brunette beside her wouldn’t care, maybe she’d even be too drunk enough to notice. Regardless, she didn’t have time to wait another minute to grab a different bartender’s attention and she was getting desperate. Nell turned her attention back to the other’s and knitted her brows at the oncoming question, her opposite hand lifting to their shoulder so she could lean in, letting her voice raise once more over the music.  ❝I sorta hijacked your order just now,❞ Nell weighed her head side to side as she explained further,  ❝ordered two shots inside of one. Which is totally my bad, the wait time for order just sucks around here.❞  

― with: @brielleperez

《 ABOUT ―

ALIAS: Janelle Nell M. De Faria 

BIRTHDATE & AGE: November 11th | 27

AFFILIATION: Civilian | Waitress at Burton Place

FACECLAIM: Kiana Maderia 

《 INTRO-ish ―

Meet JaNelle. Born and raised right here in Chicago as an only child who lived with her mom and her aunt while her dad pretty much eff’d off elsewhere across the country for reasons unknown to her. No love lost, she grew up in a happy home despite that, and hasn’t really put much thought much into it whenever it came down to him. Has fully been aware that people just suck and that there isn’t much a person can do about it if the other person isn’t willing. 

Spent most of her childhood jumping fences, hanging out in bodegas, and making music anyway she could. Hyperactive and a klutz. She’s had plenty part time jobs, broken noses resulting from petty fights, and could easily be considered a mild kleptomaniac. Professional eye-roller and best person you’d ever want to do karaoke with.