keep a smile but you burn it hot;

          SAMANTHA MILLER, 34, SOCIAL WORKER.

NAME. samantha miller FACECLAIM. sophia bush AGE. 34 BIRTHDATE & ZODIAC. 12/3/1987, Sagittarius GENDER & PRONOUNS. cis female, she/her OCCUPATION. social worker/councelor at the new hope high school MAJOR TRAITS. + hardworking, approachable, open minded // - self destructive, bossy, passive aggressive SONG: all american girl by carrie underwood

BASICS.

TW: parental death mention

sam was born and raised in new hope, kansas

throughout her formative years, she was as stable as you can get - apart from a personal tragedy that befall her family with her mother passing away early in her childhood

this ultimately led to many of her insecurities despite her spitfire personality

she went to college to the university of kansas, kansas city - and thought it was her ticket out of new hope

it wasn't that she didn't like being there, she loves her hometown, but she felt lie she was meant for more. excelling at her studies and being the social chair for her sorority, sam added on to her workload by frontlining her extra curricular activities, and later on internships. the girl was busy.

all of this, of course, as she felt that she needed to be an overachiever at any cost. the bigger the dreams, the lesser the sadness that she felt on the inside, that she couldn't quite explain. she was happy with her life, but the more she had on her plate, the less that happiness was tangible.

after a few unsuccessful college relationships, she decided to give someone a chance, a guy who was always around but she never took him seriously. it turned out to be the love of her life.

after college, their life together was mostly peaceful and they got along well, despite the differences they might've had - they accepted each other the way they were. when she thought she had it made, and work was also doing fine, years started piling up - lifetime started piling up.

she was growing increasingly agitated with everything and everyone, and when her partner suggested to go back home, where it all began and find some semblance of herself, sam jumped at the opportunity. the bigger the world was, the less she felt like herself.

as it turned out, returning to new hope was not as bad as she might've once thought. it was home, after all.

ANYTHING ELSE.

“A haunted farm house? Uhhh,” Sam said as she was thanking the vendor for a rich and flavorful pumkin spice latte. Call her generic, she loved that beverage. “That’s not really my thing. I remember always being afraid,” It was moreso beacause she had almost no control, and Sam was a bit of a control freak. Not really about fear per se. “But a good ol’ pumpkin patch, sign me up. I’m really good at carving the jack’o’lanters as well.” She nodded as she turned around and moved out of the way, after picking up a paper napkin. The Fall Festival was her second favorite, and it was the one good thing about her return to New Hope.

If there was one thing Andrew loved the most about their relationship was the fact that around Sam, he didn’t need to pretend to be someone else completely different. Around Sam, he was comfortable enough to let his guard down and show his true self that she wouldn’t judge him for his ways, in fact, she accepted him, his quirks, his ideas. She always understood him, where he was coming from and where he was going. But lately? Lately he felt like she was turning into someone else completely different in front of him. There were moments when he felt the need of holding back a comment, when he would so easily tell her something first hand he was starting to question it and that was starting to become a problem for him. 

Andrew couldn’t help but feel like Sam was slipping through his fingers even though he was holding on to her for dear life.

“Seriously?” He asked a bit surprised by her temperament, not expecting her to give him an attitude over something so simple like that. “Are you really going to give me an attitude over that?” The frown on her face was a clear indication that he was in for a wild ride with her. For some reason she wanted a fight and he was the first one she snapped onto. Andrew wasn’t known for running away from an argument, and he wouldn’t do so now, even if that was with his own girlfriend. “I can really show you what a real potty mouth is if you are so concerned about that.”

Every time he’d react surprised, Sam would ask herself if she went too far. But he’d become surprised so often that she was also getting annoyed with it, too. And if anything was a deadgiveaway of his reaction, it was the way her facial expression changed from blank to almost angry. “Giving you attitude over what?” She then frowned at the scene. “Over not wanting you to end up in front of a disciplinary board because you couldn’t keep your mouth from being foul every five minutes?” In reality, Sam knew better - this had never happened and there was no reason to doubt that, but it felt like he was rubbing her the wrong way for every single thing he did. “Excuse me?” She stopped in her tracks as she raised her eyebrows at him. “What is that supposed to mean? Are you threatening me?”

“That would be how this happened,” she replied easily enough, waving off all the concerns of the other. “All my cooks called out, and I’m not really supposed to cook more than eggs. I’m awesome at eggs - not much else. I was trying a new grilled cheese and my bag of chips was too close to the edge. Promise, we’re good.” She whipped out her order pad, thinking about the options she had - “I can make you a BLT - I got some bacon on standby, don’t worry, no stove needed - or a club or tuna or something. Hell, I even got PB&J - plus fruits and veggies. You name it, and as long as I don’t gotta turn something on, I can make it. What’s your poison?” 

***

“Ugh,” Sam threw her back almost with a hint of drama. Scratch that, it was definitely dramatic. “I so wish for some good grilled cheese right now,” It was her hunger that spoke out of her, and she knew that there was probably something at home, but home equaled Andrew and she didn’t want to deal with that. “Thanks, Jas, let’s go with a club sandwich. Plus, you gotta be careful, this is the only place I would ever go to eat in New Hope - the choice is scarce anyhow.” Sam admitted but a cheeky smile rolled off her tired expression. “It’s so strange being back. The school has changed a lot, I will give you that.”

Every since he came back to New Hope, Andrew was somewhat struggling. From getting a grip on his relationship and trying to fix it somehow, to getting used to life in a very small town where everyone new everyone and you just didn’t have much to do. Almost twenty years ago he left this place with a promise of leaving the person he used to be behind and never coming back, yet, he came back to his starting point, where ghosts of his past would for certain come and hunt him down.

The job offer was unexpected, Sam agreeing to move was even more surprising, but perhaps this was what they were needing, a fresh start. Ten years or so into their relationship and Andrew believed they were ready for the next step, but how did he feel like they were drifting farther and farther away daily?

“Hey babe, are you ready to go?” Working on similar fields meant they got to see each other more easily than many, and although that could become an issue to most, Andrew believed it was a blessing on their case. “You know you might call me too old for this shit, but guess who got his first apple today. Guess I am already starting to become a favorite, or it was that creepy student that looks at me funny during classes. Should I be concerned?”

@samanthcmiller​

Sam couldn’t remmember a time where she felt uncomfortable around Andrew. In fact, it was always the exact opposite: other people sometimes didn’t get him, but that was never once the case for her. And now, she was the person to not get him. She didn’t particularly think he was the problem, but somehow his presence made things worse. Sometimes she couldn’t decide with herself if he was the problem - the more he didn’t create one, the bigger of a problem he was and that made zero sense. She didn’t know what to do. For the most part, she was happy to be back home. Her father was also happy to have her back, and athough they had rented an apartment together, Sam had a habit of going back to her childhood bedroom more frequently than she anticipated. She liked to explain that as nostalgia, but she had a feeling Andrew was starting to question it. You don’t start a life with someone and then prefer to spend time away from them. She knew he could feel something was off.

“Potty mouth,” She muttered to herself as she passed by him trying to put her earrings on. “You do know saying things like that will eventually cause you to say things like that in front of those kids, right?” Turning to glance at him, there was a frown in between her eyebrows that screamed disapproval of his language. “You can be a favorite all you want, but one of those kids could say something to their parents and then you’re gonna be in more trouble. Your “sense of humor” - she did those in air quotes on purpose. “Won’t be able to help you.”

“The stove may have caught fire,” Jas explained, though that was probably evident by the fact that - well, the smoke was still lingering out the door, and Jas had soot on her face like a small child in old British movies. “So like, I got soup, and I can make milkshakes, and we got tons of pie but….cooking may be out of commission for a little bit,” she apologized, scrunching her nose up as she tried to shrug off the scene like she didn’t nearly burn down an entire building. “I can offer you a rain check? Free burger next time  you stop in. Oh! I also got some cold cuts, so I can make a decent sandwich with some chips, if that’s sustainable enough.” 

“Hope I didn’t ruin your phone call with the disaster. I’m not picky about people being on their phones in here, if you need to call ‘em back while I prep whatever you want.” 

“Are you certain that’s not some type of a fire hazard? Do we need to call the fire department or something?” Sam was a natural worrier, and things like that almost went hand in hand with her job. She was practically trained to notice the hazardous surroundings. “I’m starving so if we don’t need to call 911, I’ll just take a sandwich or something.” She waved off the suggestions, still a little uneasy over the situation. “So how did this happen? Is there anyone else around here to help?”

open starter / @nohopestarters​ location: on the rocks in new hope park content warning: mentions of murder

“What other evidence do they have?” Elijah continued on, fingers lightly rounding the beer bottle before taking another swig, eyes mindlessly trained on the Jayhawks game on the tv. “A child pointing fingers at her older brother who simply had the affinity for heavy metal music? It just sounds like a reach to me.” He didn’t know Molly, and he barely knew Scott but he knew Mary Ellis. And it didn’t make sense for Scott to murder his sweet mother who would have done anything for her children.

“Not to mention the lack of consistency… Different murder weapons… And no disrespect to him but without a high school education I doubt he’s smart enough to devise multiple methods to murder his family. Usually messy murders have only one weapon because multiple weapons… the user would need a strong sense of organization… Like you get what I’m sayin’ right?”

“To be quite honest with you, the thing that bothers me is that in these times people tend to forget that this was a tragedy for one family. Everyone just gets wrapped up in the evidence, news, stories, theories. You know what I mean?” Sam was just not the type. She loved investigative shows but when it hit so close to home, she was just not the one to get involved in speculations. “I get what you’re saying.” Sam finally nodded, despite her protests. No one could deny that the thing was intriguing, at the very least. But it just gave her the creeps and she felt a certain amount of lack of respect in the way people spoke about it all. “Those poor kids,” Sam shook her head. She knew the foster system was going to be hard, as she was the one that had some firsthand experience in it - as a social worker, not being in it herself.

open starter / @nohopestarters​ where / the diner, obviously  what / jas may or may not be allowed near the kitchen for obvious reasons. tagging below, but content warning small kitchen fire ! 

“okay, i can explain - “ she started, even as she tried to figure out how the fuck one was supposed to use a fire extinguisher. there was a reason she was stuck on the floor, taking orders and serving pop instead of in the kitchen, where anyone could accidentally set something on fire. 

( who left a bag of chips that close to the burner? why wasn’t anyone there to pick up after her? this was insane, truly. ) 

the diner had been empty, but of course this would be when someone sauntered in. covered in what could only be described as ‘fire extinguisher juice’ ( did it have a name? ) she finally put the extinguisher down, watching the stovetop warily in case it started again. “okay, i can’t really explain it but like, it could be worse, right? hope you didn’t want a burger right now.” 

“Yes, Dad, don’t worry about it, I do have a conversation with him scheduled for tomorrow. We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?” She spoke on the phone as she pushed the door of the diner open, starving from a day filled with meetings and form filling. She was kind of lucky to have been friends with the principal, or rather - her father was. That was the perk of small towns, among many obstacles - you kind of knew everyone and their mother. Sam was not particularly happy to have been back, she always felt like she was meant for a bit more than New Hope, but given the state of her relationship and how genuinely unhappy she was being, the idea of getting back to her roots didn’t sound half as bad. It was then that she was met with the very obviously pungent smell of burned-something, and she frowned a little at the sight. “Are you okay?” She asked, only then grasping onto the fact she was still on the phone with her Dad. “Yes, sorry, I’ll call you back later. Love you,” Muttering into her phone, Sam cut the line and put the phone back into her purse, a little dumbdfounded. “What happened here?”