The early rush of breakfast sandwiches had died down which meant Jeremy had time to mess around a bit. It wasn’t technically sanctioned by his boss but he’d brought ingredients from home to test a new recipe and he wasn’t charging the customers. They were, well, a free focus group. He’d plated a small bite consisting of toasted bread, strawberry jam, shredded smoked chicken, and a bit of feta on top. “Wait, wait!” He called to someone at the counter before they left with their food. “No charge, dude. Can you try this and tell me what you think? It’s sweet and savory and it might look weird but i think it works. Just, yeah, give it a try and be honest.”

“You know, if I actually believed in God I’d think you were an angel,” Reagan replied with a slow growing smile when she realized it was Monica who had spotted her. “Not sure I was heading anywhere. Maybe I was just trying to find you,” she joked, groaning as she finally started to get to her feet. God she had a fucking headache. “Fuck yes to doughnuts and coffee, we walking or driving?” He finally settled herself and leaned forward to give Monica a kiss on her cheek as she took the cigarettes. “Truly an angel. Mm from what I remember, which isn’t much,” she started but paused to light a cigarette and handed the pack back to Monica. “it was an okay night. I was with some guy but I so didn’t want to stay in his apartment and after that I don’t really remember but apparently I wanted to enjoy our great outdoors,” she joked, cigarette freely hanging from her lips as he fixed her hair and adjusted her clothes. “You working today?”

“You don’t have to believe in god to have eyes. I’m angelic as hell.” Monica reached her hand out to help her friend off the ground. She had a slight pang of regret for missing out on what was clearly a wild night but she knew there would be more in their future. She loved a good party but she sometimes had to ration her nights with Reagan considering the likelihood of them ending like this. “Next time you’re trying to get to me try ringing the bell. I might be cranky if you wake me up but I’ll still let you crash. I was planning on walking. It’s not far. Up for it?” She took back the carton of cigarettes when Reagan was done and pocketed them. "Was he no good or you did just really miss the smell of grass?” She smirked. “Yeah, I work but not until later. I’m doing a huge back piece that’ll probably take four hours minimum so I’m taking advantage of movement while I still can. You?”

“ slow days aren’t always so bad ; it’s probably more comfortable to be reading on a sofa or something , but at least i can get paid for reading on my feet here , ” he chuckled , but still , despite having said that , iggy was glad to have a customer that was more interesting than some others . despite needing and appreciating the money , iggy had also intentionally taken up a job that he thought would be quite customer facing as he was interested in connecting with the people of this town - at least until he had enough of doing so . “ is it a fruit ? a vegetable ?” he asked , not ashamed of not having the knowledge , even though some might have thought he ought to be . “ oh , i wouldn’t make you - ” before they could reject the offer , their customer was already peeling the fruit , and iggy - not being one to pass up an offer like it , despite what the managers at the grocery store might have told him - figured he shouldn’t let it go to waste . “ well sure , ” he accepted . “ do i eat the whole thing ? or is it like , one of those things that had seeds or a stone in it or something ?”

“Yeah, that’s true. It could be a lot worse. Plus, they give you those cushy mats to stand on back there, right? I wish we could have those in the kitchen but they’re slippery as hell.” Jeremy shook his head slowly. One of his favorite things to do was share his love and knowledge of food with others. He did it gladly and without judgement. You can’t learn a thing if no one teaches you, right? “It’s a fruit. It’s almost like a grape texture but a little different. Oh-- and yeah, there’s a seed in the middle you don’t eat so don’t bite too hard on it.” Jeremy offered the peeled rambutan to the guy with a smile. He tried not to look to expectant as he waited to hear the verdict but he was too earnest to completely disguise how eager he was. 

Whitney, Prince, and Madonna were at the top of Noah’s personal needs and fulfillment pyramid. He’d probably mentioned it time and again whenever he came in to the salon and requested Aaliyah. There were very few people he trusted his curls to, but she nailed his cut every single time. In fact, ever since he started seeing her, he was sure he hadn’t had a single bad cut, and nothing and got nothing but compliments. Hearing about her experience at Tracks nearly made his jaw drop.

“Are you kidding me?! No taste. I mean, I love Madonna as much as the next person, but Whitney is one of my all-time favorite albums. And So Emotional?! Probably second best only to I Wanna Dance,” Noah said, sounding almost scandalized that anyone had the sheer audacity to say it was bad. He was definitely passionate about his favorite music.

Noah could talk music with her better than most. Their tastes seemed to align on most things and this was no exception. “I couldn’t believe it, honestly! No taste!” She agreed emphatically. “Right! I Wanna Dance was the clear single, no one can argue that. But So Emotional was literally number one last year? And you’re gonna tell me it’s the worst one? Trying to be cool and saying overrated... maybe. But bad? Not a chance. They seriously need to get checked.”

valentine , a frequent client of daniela’s salon , was happy to find a face that he recognised in the food court . even while valentine himself had never been attacked in shrike mall , he had still been attacked by the killers who so frequently were responsible for bloodshed right there in the mall . needless to say , that was more than enough to leave valentine feeling anxious while there . as aaliyah spoke of slander against such a good song, however , his anxiety - while still there - was taking a back seat to his interest in the conversation . “ you’re kidding , ” he shook his head in disapproval . “ but that’s such a good song . the entire album is really good , i wouldn’t want to skip any of the tracks , ” perhaps valentine’s opinion on the matter wasn’t the greatest to be listening to , however , considering he liked most of the songs that he listened to - duran duran’s discography included . “ maybe they’re just going through something , ” he suggested . “ now that i think about it , almost every time i’ve heard somebody talking about disliking a great song , it’s because it’s something like a love song , and they’ve just gotten their heart broken , for example . ”

Aaliyah may never have done Valentine’s hair personally (though, she was hoping he’d let her try her newly acquired coloring skills next time he came into the salon), she knew him well enough. She’d always liked his vibe, too. Anyone who could change their hair color that frequently and be excited about it was good in her books. “I’m not kidding.” She replied, tone matching his disapproval. She was glad he was taking this as seriously as she did. “I know! It’s one of the best but you’re right. No skips on the whole album.” She considered his thought. It didn’t seem like a good enough excuse to bash one of the dance anthems of the previous year but she knew heartbreak could do a number on a person. “Hmm, maybe you’re right. It is technically a love song. I think if, and only if, they just had their heart broken I’d let it slide. Otherwise, there’s no reason for the hate. Glad I’m not being unreasonable, though. Thanks for that.” She grinned at him. “What are you up to, today? are you freshening up your color?”

Sylvia nodded along with her friend, picking at the few french fries left on her plate. She honestly couldn’t say she’d listened to the Whitney Houston album in question. She loved music - but she had a small niche, and clearly Aaliyah knew more what she was talking about then Sylvia would. “To each their own, I guess? I mean, I haven’t..” She paused, not sure if this was something she wanted to admit. “I haven’t actually listened to the album, so I wouldn’t know.”

Aaliyah was hoping for some commiseration on this topic from her friend. She knew Sylvia’s music taste didn’t always align with her own but, come on, Whitney Houston was the greatest voice of their time. Everyone listened to her, right? Wrong, apparently. “You’re very generous for-- wait, what?! You haven’t heard it? Sylvia, how are we friends and you haven’t--” She stopped to gather herself. Ali could be, what her mother liked to call, a drama queen. She was spirited, that’s all. “Okay, this is a clear failure on my part. I’m not doing my job as your friend and it won’t do. Are you working today? I just finished my shift and if you’re free we’re taking food to go and going back to mine. Like, now.”

Location: Shrike Mall Food Court Closed: Aaliyah ( @radiccls )

Reed’s relationship with Aaliyah was simultaneously simple and complicated. Outwardly, it seemed simple enough. They got along well, seeing each other every now and then when he wasn’t actively avoiding going past Daniela’s. It’s not that he wanted to avoid her, exactly… but in his own fucked up way of thinking, he thought maybe she wouldn’t want to see him. They had wanted different things in life, Reed couldn’t commit to give her what she wanted, and they’d both made the very mature decision to go back to being just friends after having finally made the leap from friends to something more. Except Aaliyah was one of the few people in Reed’s life who seemed to really understand him. They’d always bonded over their diverse tastes in music and mutual appreciation for art. She was a dreamer, and he always thought she was absolutely genius for what she could do with hair and make up, and how she was able to make dramatic transformations in people. He didn’t have that kind of super power, though. But he hoped to aspire to something impactful through his music. Maybe one day he’d be brave enough to let her listen, but that day wasn’t about music. That day was about how he’d been avoiding going past Daniela’s, and running into her at the food court anyway. He came to an abrupt halt with his tray of McDonald’s that thankfully didn’t go flying as their paths crossed.

“Oh, hey! Fancy seeing you here,” he said with that sweet little smile of his. Reed was nothing if not a little charming in his own subtle ways, even now when he had slight awkwardness, too. Mostly at the accidental jumpscare. “Just walking with my blinders on while thinking of literally everything except where I’m going,” he mused.

From an outside perspective, one could be confused about the relationship Aaliyah had with Reed. Most people seemed to think that, once a relationship becomes something more than friendship, there can be no going back. The popular opinion seemed to be stay together or never speak again. That didn’t work for her. She loved Reed as a friend well before she ever loved him as anything more. Sure, there was a transition period that was a bit awkward but they worked out the kinks and seemed to be back on track. 

Aaliyah wondered sometimes what her life would be like today had they stayed together. Had Reed stepped up their relationship when she told him what she’d wanted, they could have been living together and still happy with one another. She liked to romanticize that option sometimes but Aaliyah had done a lot of growing up since then. She knew it was just as likely he’d have grown to resent her and they may not have had such an amicable break up after all. She was grateful for the relationship they had now. 

She clocked him walking in her direction well before he spotted her. She laughed freely in that way you can only do when you’re comfortable. “Your eyes are stuck in the clouds with your head, hm?” She teased. “It’s all good, not harm no foul. I might steal a fry to make you prove you weren’t just trying to walk on by without saying hello, though.”

Ever since coming back from New York, Leo had been a bit reclusive. He basically worked, went grocery shopping (sometimes), and went to a bar once in awhile (more often than he cared to admit these days if he were being honest). One thing that kind of comforted Leo was the fact that not everyone he went to school with had left Shrike Heights - some of them were still here, just like him, so he didn’t feel so badly about that when he thought about it that way. Even so, because of his reclusiveness, he didn’t often see them, and it always sort of caught him by surprise. This was one of those times. He was just walking through the food court on his way to get a slice of pizza or something when he heard a familiar voice, and turning in that direction, he saw Aaliyah. This was a little different from when he ran into most people he used to know because the two of them had been friends, and it always made him feel kind of awkward. For one thing, it made Leo wonder if he should have kept in touch better. But for another, Aaliyah knew what Leo used to be before his life all went to shit, and he hated when people could tell how far he’d fallen. However, he wasn’t about to ignore someone he knew, so he sat down at the table with his former friend. “Half the people at Tracks wouldn’t know good music if it bit them in the ass,” Leo replied, having had similar experiences. “Some of them know what they’re talking about, but definitely not all.” Yes, Leo knew musical tastes were subjective, but he could still think they were wrong. Looking across the table at Aaliyah, Leo said, “It’s been awhile, Aaliyah. How’ve you been?”

Working at the mall meant Aaliyah saw a large bit of the Shrike Heights population on a regular basis. Working at Daniela’s meant she was privy to most of the gossip and updates on much of that population. Because of this, she knew Leo was back in town but it was still a surprise to see him in the food court. She hadn’t seen him since his return from the big city and the pleasant surprise showed on her features. “You have never been more right, Leo.” She agreed with a smile. Ali moved her tray over to make room for him at the table as he sat down. She offered him a bright, warm smile. “A while feels like a understatement, huh? I’ve been pretty good. Honestly, can’t really complain. Well, of course, I could but nothing more than little life things here and there. How have you been?  It’s really good to see you.”

"I had the craziest conversation on my break today. I was in Tracks looking for a new record and they said So Emotional was the worst song on Whitney Houston's album. Can you believe that? Like, let me get this straight. You're seriously telling me you heard that song and wanted to skip past it?" Aaliyah scoffed at the thought. "I expected better from someone buying the new Madonna but I guess that's my own fault. I bet Duran Duran was hiding in their pile somewhere, too."

hey look, it’s monica weaver! they’re 38 years old, they’ve lived in shrike heights for her entire life, and they’re currently working at skin deep in shrike mall. i heard they’re pretty aloof, but i think they’re so protective at the same time. can they make it out alive? || tessa thompson, pansexual, woman + she/her