Rayna Norwood

-

“She’s just happy to see me on dry land,” Arturo says, patting Tilde’s back as he moves in beside Rayna. “I dunno how much she likes being on the boat, even when it’s docked.” 

There’s something comforting about having become a more present aspect of Jannik’s life. Being a noticeable fixture by someone other than himself, somehow, makes it feel more concrete. Their relationship is something that exists in the real world, rather than just his own mind or their closed off bubble. “Been letting Randy take the boat out for more night tours,” he says, by way of explanation. “They’re not my favorite thing and I gotta have somewhere to hangout while my house is out in the middle of the ocean.” Saying nothing of his own, sorely neglected condo. “How’s residency treating you? My sister in law said her first year was absolute hell. Kinda surprised you’ve got time for much else.”

~

“Oh, she’ll get used to it,” Rayna said with a laugh. “An island dog has to get used to being on boats sometimes. Might just take her a minute to find her puppy sea legs, right?” She asked, reaching down to scratch Tilde’s ears. “Right,” she answered her own question, given that Tilde wasn’t going to, and looked back up at Arturo with a bright smile.

“Well, as far as places to go and people to see when someone sailing your house around, Nik is pretty good company.” Once they made it into the park, Rayna reached down to unhook Tilde’s leash, watching as she took off to go and chase after a playful lab puppy running circles not far away. “It’s amazing how much time you have after medical school trains you to exist on three hours of sleep,” she joked. “It’s been crazy, honestly. But I didn’t make time to do anything during school, so I’m trying to now. Even if it’s just coming over to walk Tilde. I’ll be done with my first year in a couple weeks—Not sure if that means its supposed to get more hectic or less.”

Jack: Oh, I'm honored. I'm so happy you liked the gifts!

Jack: Really!? Because I was so serious.

Jack: Do you have a guitar?

Rayna: LOVED the gifts!

Rayna: Seriously? Cause that would be amazing!!

Inside a dark green envelope wedged between the door and doorframe of Ryan’s front door, is a plane ticket to Vancouver, a card with contact information, a list of dates, and a letter written in the barely legible scrawl of a doctor.

Happy Whatever-Holiday-You-Celebrate, lovely @ryanwhitmxre

I too am a lover of holiday movies! I guess I could’ve given you a stack of the all time best holiday movies ever, but I figured that A) You probably have all the best ones already, and B) Any that you don’t own are available on some various streaming service. SO!! I thought instead you might enjoy a sneak peek on the set of a Christmas movie being released next year, (Noelle 2!! Hope you’ve seen the first one, it’s amazing!) I’ve included a list of the pre-approved dates you’re allowed to go to the set (probably dates they’re not shooting any major spoilery scenes). You can hang around the set all day, chat with the crew, actors, costume designers (say hi to Julia! She was my first roommate in college and helped me pull together this Secret Santa Surprise), the hair and makeup team, everyone.

I hope you have a fun time, and hope this adds a little bit Extra to the holiday movie experience!

Amazingly wonderful holiday wishes to you!

➵

Mason is far from a history buff, books always bordering in the realm of horror and disbelief (Pet Sematary is still unabashedly tucked underneath his arm). He’d found comfort in reading about worlds that didn’t exist, because on his lowest days, it was nice enough to know that he wouldn’t get his a car dropped on him by a murderous, telekinetic teenager. 

Call it willful ignorance, but he didn’t exactly understand the draw for books dipped in real world tragedy. Didn’t have the strength for it, he supposes. 

“Me?” Mason pulls his shoulders up, shrugging. “Some Stephen King. Pulpy, I know, but this is basically a classic at this point.” His eyes fall to the cover of the book, a corner of his mouth lifting up. “I didn’t actually read that much until I started acting a lot more and had to go through scripts. First thing I picked up was by him.” He chuckles, holding up the garish cover. “You read this before? I saw the movie first, but I thought it was kind of funny and worth a read.” 

A unwilling smile pulled at Rayna’s lips and she nodded her agreement. “It is basically a classic,” she said, only a hint of teasing in her tone. Stephen King wasn’t high on her list of preferred authors, but She’d read a couple of his, and Mason was right—he was a well enough known name, with works studied by enough academics, that his work was basically of the classics by now. “They didn’t have audio book versions of the scripts?” She teased.

Her yes dropped to the book he held up, shaking her head. “Haven’t read it, I saw the movie, though,” she admitted. “I’m sure the book is better, it always is. My old roommate thought I was crazy, but I fully believe in watching movies before reading the books. We’d go see movies that she’d read the book of, and I hadn’t, and she’d spend the entire time pointing out how it wasn’t as good or what they’d changed. She loved the books and hated the movies. I got to enjoy the movie then read the book later and enjoy the story a second time.”

Status: Open @catalinastarter​

Back in Long Beach, and… quite frankly, back in her childhood home in Catalina, Fiona had a particular habit of walking out of the house whenever she needed, permission be damned. Sometimes it happened during the day, just to get out of a family outing that she wasn’t looking forward to much, and sometimes, it just so happened to occur at night. The latter, Fiona learned, tended to freak her family out. Especially Reese. He could never get why Fiona did what she did.

Over time, she had learned that it was a way to subdue herself. At least, it had been. Now, it was a way for her to dislodge this brick in her head that she had named boredom. So, she left her apartment with little else aside from her apartment key and spare cash, thinking that if she were to take a midnight walk, she might as well see what’s open.

If any other girl heard footfalls behind her at nighttime, they would get goosebumps. Not Fiona, though. She was just… curious. Coming to an abrupt stop, Fiona waited and listened, a little amused when footfalls suddenly stopped. But, she did not turn around. Not yet.

“Hel-LOW,” she called out in a sing-song fashion, not waiting long for a response. “Is anyone there?”

In Rayna’s experience, the only people out walking around after midnight were drunks and hospital staff between shift changes. She usually distinctly fell into the latter category, as she did tonight, a jacket pulled on over the scrubs. Rayna vaguely registered that the woman walking in front of her distinctly didn’t fall into either category. She wasn’t really paying attention, mostly because she was exhausted and mildly dazed from getting off a twelve hour shift, and it didn’t occur to her that she’d missed the street she was supposed to turn on a couple blocks back. She didn’t realize that she’d been aimlessly following the woman, that was, until the woman in front of her stopped walking.

So Rayna stopped walking, several paces behind her. She blinked a few times, trying to remember why she was still walking, turning around to look behind her, eyes catching on the street sign a ways back where she’d meant to turn. The woman’s voice caught her off guard, and she felt herself cringe as she turned back around. Would she say anything if Rayna just turned and walked away? If she hadn’t thought Rayna was following her before—which she had been, just not on purpose, sort of—then she would definitely think she was being followed if Rayna just dipped out as soon as she said something.

“Hey, yeah, sorry, I was just super spaced out,” she admitted with a laugh. She took a chance and walked a bit closer to the woman, offering a smile as she came around to stand beside the woman so she could look at her more clearly. “You don’t look like the usual type to be seen wandering the streets after midnight,” she teased. “Or else you’re much better at holding your alcohol than the rest of the drunks stumbling around.”

➵

If Mason was somebody more perceptive, perhaps he would have grabbed the book and left Rayna alone to her devices. Even if she meant to knock on his inelegant way of remembering her name, he wouldn’t have noticed, instead shrugging, entirely nonchalant. He met a lot of people. In his mind, his forgetfulness hadn’t reflected poorly on her memorability rather than simply being another face in the crowd.

“Shit, that isn’t really nice,” he jokes, immediately reaching up to grab the book from the shelf. “The Paris Architect. What is it about? Any good?” He flips the book over, scanning the summary before slipping it into Rayna’s arms. “Wow. All right. Heavy hitter, isn’t it?” Nodding, he looks at her with a curious expression. “You always read books like that?”

~

His comment made a smile creep onto Rayna’s lips in spite of herself. He might’ve been an interesting person to talk to if their first blind date hadn’t gone so poorly. He never seemed to be without an odd comment to make—not unless she was making him uncomfortable with tabloid-fueled jokes, apparently. She let out a short breath, reminding herself that any awkwardness was mostly her fault. She didn’t actually have reason to be short with him, other than almost forgetting her name. Hell, she’s been in the habit of purposefully forgetting names of bad dates and awkward meetings in the past. She couldn’t actually fault him for that.

“Thanks,” she said when he reached up for the book. She bounced on her heels a bit, holding her hand out for it, pulling back a little when he decided to read the summary of it for himself. “It was recommended to me. I’ve heard good things.” She smiled a little brighter, a little more genuine at his words, accepting the book with a short nod of her head. “Yeah, certainly is,” she agreed. She expected him to just turn and leave, maybe offer the obligatory and vague offer to hang out sometime that neither of them would follow-up on, but he didn’t.

“Fiction is more interesting, but I feel like I should know more about history and heavier subjects than I do,” she answered. She held the book up between them, waving it in a short gesture. “Historical fiction gives me both. The Tattooist of Auschwitz was good, and I was told The Paris Architect is somewhat in the same vein.” Rayna paused, eyes flicking back to the section Mason had been looking in before she requested—okay fine, demanded—his assistance. “What were you here looking for?”

Ominous in a fun, festive kinda way! I love it! Okay, let’s see. I love music, no matter my mood. When I’m down, I like listening to softer music, Loud, upbeat stuff is great, but when I’m not feeling it, I can’t stand it. Troye Sivan is always a favorite when I’m feeling down, or just in the mood for more chill music. I don’t play any instruments. I wish! I always thought it would be cool to play guitar, but I’m hopeless. I do sing, on my own or with friends when something good starts playing. I also have bene known to sing loudly and obnoxiously off key to annoy my sister on occasion. 

➵

Mason never thought much past their awkward first date, mostly because like most things in his life, he never mulled over one thing for too long. After their stilted meeting, it took all of an hour before Mason’s mind wandered to what he’d have for breakfast the next morning, and the scene he’d been rehearsing for an audition the following week.

Sundays are usually dedicated to the gym, but his trainer, out sick with a cold, had told him to enjoy the day off. So the man had taken his usual run from Lafayette to Avalon, where he’d taken a brief pit stop at Little Bird Books on his way back. Ever since he’d begun acting and reading scripts, he’d gained a new appreciation for books and the world they could create.

Right as he pulls Pet Semetary from the shelf (hey, just because he read didn’t mean he was reading the classics), he hears his name and he turns, seeing the last person he’d expected in the world calling out to him. “Hey!” Mason strolls over, tucking the novel underneath his arm. “Rayyyyy… na. Right?” Maybe he would’ve felt bad for almost forgetting her name, but hey, it’s the end point that counts, and he does remember it. “How are you?” he asks good-naturedly, before pointing up at the top shelf. “Which book? Or — I could lift you up and you can grab it. You know, give you the sense of accomplishment and all.” He mimes lifting a person up, as one would a small child or a dog. “You know, what am I getting in return for this? My height isn’t just a free-for-all, you know,” he jokes. 

~

Rayna knew the date hadn’t exactly gone well. She didn’t think she was that forgettable though. Maybe the reason he’d gotten annoyed at her comment about the tabloids was because they were all true, and he really was a jackass. That wasn’t fair, and she knew that. Some people just weren’t good with names. “Funny thing is, you could’ve just stuck with Ray and successfully hidden the fact that you almost forgot my name,” she commented, in far more chipper a voice than she was really feeling. The book wasn’t worth this, but her pride was, and she wasn’t about to just bow out and avoid him over nothing.

“It’s The Paris Architect, just there. The one with the orange and black spine,” she said pointing up at it. The shelves here really were too tall for the average customer. She could only imagine the frustration Harper would have. Rayna looked back at him, eyebrows raised a bit incredulously. Her eyes dropped to his hands, and she made a face at the thought of him picking her up to grab the book. “I’m really not that attached to an empty feeling of accomplishment,” she said, looking back up to meet his gaze again.

She sighed, even if she couldn’t hold back the slightest hint of a smile as she crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s bad enough having to ask for help. I’m used to being the tall one hiding things from my sister on high shelves. What you get in return for this, is me not accidentally-on-purpose throwing a few hardcover books at your head as I try to climb the bookcase to reach it.”

-

Despite Jannik’s less than subtle insinuations, Arturo hadn’t quite begun calling the other man’s house “home” just yet. It shouldn’t require this much thought, but he’d never been good at making big changes in his life without some level of coercion. He’d get there. But until then, their lives consisted of meeting up at one another’s homes like casual acquaintances. And for all that anyone but them knew, that’s exactly what they were. 

So, he’s not alarmed, necessarily, when the Jannik’s bubbly dog-walker bounces towards him. Tildie sniffs him for a sign of familiarity. And when she decides she’s satisfied, she laps her tongue at his fingers. Not alarmed, no. Just a little concerned. He does his best not to show it, matching Rayna’s inviting smile. “Where are we headed?” he asks, scratching at Tildie’s head.

~

Rayna’s smile widened curiously at the clear acceptance—the familiarity with which Tilde accepted their new walking companion, but didn’t comment. She’d only seen Arturo around a few times, enough that she knew him even if not well. Nik hadn’t told her anything about why the man was coming by more often, and she didn’t pry. It wasn’t her business. “Tilde’s taken quite a liking to you,” she commented.

Ok, while that was true, she was curious. But she didn’t want to pry. Much. “Oh there’s a park a few blocks away. It’s a bit of a walk, but Tilde loves running around there,” Rayna said, bouncing a little as she tugged at Arturo’s sleeve and need the way down the sidewalk. “So what’ve you been up to? Been running into you a lot lately.” An exaggeration probably, but when one got out of the hospital as infrequently as Rayna did, running into anyone more than once by accident was a lot, even on an island so small. And she wasn’t prying. She was… curious. She didn’t see many people that weren’t clients when she came by Nik’s.

Rayna didn’t do awkward. She hated awkward. Awkward meant that someone wasn’t saying something, or someone had said something, and someone else didn’t like what had been said. In either case, it meant that someone did not want to be in the presence of someone else, and she did not want to push or in any way be involved in that. And she did not see a point in hanging around in awkwardness, when it was usually created by one or both people not wanting to be around each other. She was too straightforward sometimes, which meant she ended up in the someone-saying-something-someone-else-didn’t-like sort of awkward more often than not. 

She was pretty sure that was why she hadn’t heard from Mason since her coworker had set them up on a blind date. She had made a joke about how much she should believe from the tabloids, and that had been a mistake. She was happy to apologize, and not force Mason to ever interact with her again. It sucked, cause he seemed like a nice guy, but she had made it awkward, and as stated, she did not do awkward.

At the moment though, that ended her up in a difficult situation. The book she wanted from the top shelf was just out of reach, and no employees were nearby. The only person she saw actually, was Mason at the other end of the aisle. She wasn’t even sure if he’d noticed her, and she could easily just avoid the situation all together and find another book. But she also didn’t do avoidance. It seemed as pointless as awkwardness. “Hey, Mason, can you help me out?” She called down the aisle, wincing a little at how loud her voice sounded in the otherwise eerily quiet bookstore. “Promise I’ll leave you alone to your own devices in like thirty seconds, but if you don’t help me get this book down, I’m going to end up trying to scale the shelf to get it, and that’s not going to end well for anyone.”

Rayna never missed a chance to hang out with a furry friend if she could help it. And since meeting Jannik and convincing him to adopt a particularly sweet poodle, she was never in need of a furry friend to hang out with. It was a rare day off from the hospital when she leashed up Tilde and started out on a walk.

“Where should we go today?” She mused allowed to the dog. She reached down absentmindedly to scratch Tilde’s ears as she continued talking. “We can go to the park. We haven’t been there in a while. You’re up for a bit of a walk, right?” Rayna only made it as far as the end of Jannik’s driveway before her eyes set on a face that had become increasingly familiar as of late. “Arturo!” Her smile brightened, a skip in here step as she made her way towards him. “Come walk with us?” She asked with a hopeful smile. “Nik’s gonna be on work calls for a while, I think, so me and Tilde are heading over to the park.”

❤

“I’m pretty sure you only have the second best sister in the world” Harper joked back. “Because I have the best sister in the world.” Harper would have done anything for Rayna, but she also knew Rayna would do anything for her. After all, they were the only family each other really had. Harper’s relationship with their parents wasn’t as bad as Rayna’s was, but it certainly wasn’t like being a character on The Brady Bunch, either.

She noticed the way her sister’s smile fell when she mentioned her hook-up on the yacht. “Okay, I will admit I’m confused, but not about who I slept with” she said after a long moment. She was only confused about Rayna’s apparent reaction to this news. “What’s wrong with Jamie Atwater?” she asked, worried that she’d missed something. Did Rayna have feelings for this guy? Had Harper somehow broken the rules of sisterhood by sleeping with a man her sister was attracted to?

~

“Lies,” Rayna said, narrowing her eyes teasingly at her sister. “I am a pretty great sister though,” she added, flipping her hair over her shoulder dramatically, before falling into a fit of giggles. She would never believe that Harper wasn’t the best sister in the world, and this was most of the reason why. Harper seemed to make it her mission to make up for all of the family love Rayna didn’t get from their parents. And Rayna loved her for it more than she could say.

“You can’t be serious,” Rayna said, her mouth falling open. She didn’t even know how to put into words—sure, she hadn’t actually told Harper exactly who Jamie was to her, but she hadn’t expected this. She didn’t think she had to worry about her sister fucking Jamie fucking Atwater. “He’s—“ She broke off, not entirely sure what to say, how much to say. She’d put her past with Jamie behind her, and even didn’t hate being around him lately. What could she say about him. That he was horrible, an asshole, a transphobic jackass who made her middle school life hell? All of those had been true…. More than a decade ago. He wasn’t any of those things now, but even so. He was still… “He’s Jamie fucking Atwater,” she hissed, as if that explained anything. “Why? What could possibly have possessed you to sleep with him?”

❤

“I think we can find a better phrase than harassing for it” she joked. “Maybe asking over-eagerly?” she added. Then she shrugged. “There’s plenty of right persons out there for you. Its just a question of which one you find first.” Harper didn’t believe in soulmates, but she did believe that there were several people out there who were perfect (or as close as possible) matches for everyone. “Hey, if that’s your dream in life, than you go for it.” Harper would support Rayna’s love life not matter what her sister chose for herself. Because nobody deserved love and happiness more than Rayna.

“I wouldn’t say I found the right person” Harper admitted. “But I definitely found the right person for that night.” She wiggled her eyebrows mischievously, dragging out the explanation to build suspense. “Let’s just say I gave the yacht’s owner a very happy birthday.”

~

Rayna rolled her eyes dramatically. “Fine, I’ll ask over-eagerly,” she teased. She laughed, resting her head in her palm for a moment. “How’d I get so lucky to have the best sister in the world? It’s really not fair to everyone else who got stuck with below-par sisters.” She always made jokes about it, but she fully believed her life wouldn’t be nearly as good without Harper in her life. Honestly, she’d only made it through some of the worst patches because of her big sister.

Her smile fell immediately when she continued though. She couldn’t mean—not him. Her sister wouldn’t, would she? Not that she knew exactly who Jamie was, or what he’d done. She’d never revealed exactly who had been one of the sources of her childhood torment and more recently the resurfacing nightmares. “Please tell me you’re a bit confused about  who’s birthday it was, and you’re talking about the much more attractive Atwater sibling,” she said, before adding in a hushed, almost hissed tone, “And that you did not fuck Jamie fucking Atwater?”

LOCATION: One of the many unexplored wings of the manor TIME: Around midnight TAGGED: @catalinastarter​

Wandering the halls of Wollstonecraft manor on her own seemed like an excellent idea at the time. Of course, there were others passing her as she investigated the rooms and wings that were on offer, but there was something unsettling about the entire event. Honestly, why did they only open this place up on Halloween night? Why was it so mysterious and exclusive? If she was being honest with herself she was surprised that she’d even been invited, but when she’d been handed the invitation she couldn’t help but admit she was intrigued. That was the main reason she’d decided to actually come along.

She stepped foot into one of the many vacant rooms, wandering out onto the terrace that lay just beyond the billowing curtains. It felt like some kind of movie set but the distant sounds of the party occurring around her was a reminder of what was actually going on. For a second she just took in the view, muttering to herself about how insane the entire thing was before stepping back into the room. Her own musings had distracted her from the fact that another guest was also exploring the space, so she let out a sound of surprise and jumped visibly when she finally noticed them. “Oh my god,” She breathed after a moment, closing her eyes and placing a hand over her chest. “You scared the shit out of me. Why didn’t anyone tell me that exploring this place was more of a two person or group venture? Is it obvious that this is the first time I’ve been to this thing?”

~ The manor was as beautiful as it was mildly terrifying, and Rayna loved every ounce of it. She’d been invited as a friend’s plus one the last few years—likely a result of her family being a known staple on the island—but had been away at school. This was the first year she’d actually been able to accept the invitation, and she wasn’t about to waste a second of it. The odd staircases, the bookshelves that she swore hid secret rooms if she could just find the right secret passageway, and the many balconies and terraces that reminded the inhabitants of the world outside. That the world contained within the walls was only partially complete, though it felt like an eternity unto itself the more she explored.

She’d passed by several people as she explored, some of them jumpy, some looking more like they were in a trance. Everyone seemed to be a little on edge in the mysterious manor, sos it wasn’t all that surprising when her presence startled another guest. “Sorry,” Rayna said quickly, offering an apologetic smile. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” She couldn’t help but laugh at the woman’s words, and stepped up around the woman to look out at the view she’d been staring at off the terrace. “Is it? I guess it’s probably a bit more comforting to explore with company. I’m happy to volunteer,” she said, turning a bright smile back to her. “I’m Rayna, by the way,” she added. She was pretty sure she’d seen the woman around the island at some point, but couldn’t recall her name. In any case, she was happy to have an exploration buddy through the manor.