#arcadiafound

Given that it was such a small town, there were not many people who came into the Snack Falcon throughout the day. Gregg could spend his whole shift without seeing anyone at all sometimes. Besides Angus or Mae, one of them always deciding to come visit him while he was at work. It was the reason why he could get away with sneaking some of the merchandise. Why he could get away with sneaking off into the back when Mae visited to do some mutually assured destruction by taking a baseball bat to a bunch of lightbulbs. 

It was the same reason why he did not think about what if someone came in? when he turned off the lights. Body practically sinking into the floor as soon as he laid down. There was no good reason why he felt so exhausted. Maybe it was the back and forth with Angus, the stress about saving up money, that had finally gotten to him. Maybe it was a different thing entirely. All he knew was that it was just one of those days where you had to lay on the floor and just let yourself feel shitty. A move that he was familiar with ever since he was a teenager. The only difference was that life seemed a lot simpler when you weren’t expected to be a grownup. 

[ ESCORT ] receiver notices the sender is starting to get sleepy so they pick them up to carry them to bed.

The weekends that Nathan came to visit her were always some of her favorites. While they texted and called each other regularly, it was like the two of them had not seen each other in years. There was a lot to catch up on — The little things that happened throughout their days that they forgot to mention or simply held on to until they could see each other again. There were some times were those little bits continued to be forgotten as their conversations jumped between several topics and god knows what. 

victoria, realistically shouldn’t have been her first choice. the two girls were friends... kind of ? rachel wasn’t sure what to call them. sometimes they were friendly, most times they were pissed off. whether it be from victoria calling out rachel’s bullshit or rachel not giving a fuck about it -- whatever the case may be victoria shouldn’t have been the first one to come to mind. there was dana, and chloe and almost everyone else at blackwell academy that’d offer most anything to be in her presence. yet a few taps on her phone with her thumbs --  ‘ im on the beach rn and im hella bored. r u busy?’ and it was done. would she actually come out? the reply back comes back just moments later, causing rachel to quirk a brow at the acceptance of her proposal. 

the blonde slips her phone into the pocket of her black sweater, fishing out the pack of cigarettes and flicking the top open. the crash of the oceans is peaceful, and it’s the only thing rachel can focus on as she produces her lighter (designed with the leo constellation; a gift from chloe) from her other pocket and lighting the end of her cigarette. she takes her first pull, feeling the way the smoke fills her lungs and reveling in it before finally exhaling a few moments later. it was dark; rachel didn’t even bother to look at the time on her phone when she texted victoria but could guess it was past midnight. the moon was enough to light up the beach, casting things in the distance in shadows but rachel cared little for monsters that could be lurking in the dark. hazel eyes remained on the waves as the water ebbed and flowed, moving in some unspoken rhythm. how easy it’d be to go in and never come back out, disappear into the depths of the current and hope that they’d whisk her away to anywhere else.

rachel’s free hand moves to the back of her head, scratching and raking her fingers through her long blonde hair. from what she knew, this was just how it went the first time. awkward, uncomfortable -- ultimately not that fun. at least that’s how girls had talked about it, how it’s expressed in the movies and tv shows. she thought she knew what to expect but somehow rachel came out of the rv feeling equal parts disgust and wholly unprepared. she should have just left completely, take that painfully long walk back to blackwell academy and pretended that it never happened. it was just a means to an end anyway, right?

what the fuck are you doing?

she huffs, taking another pull of her cigarette when the sound of a car engine in the distance comes closer. rachel doesn’t bother to look back to know it’s victoria. the rv sits behind rachel several hundred feet away, far enough to grant her some peace of mind that frank wouldn’t stumble out of the door half asleep with his pants off. a few minutes pass and rachel can hear victoria exit her car and move across the cool sand to where she sits, staring out at the ocean. when she turns to finally look up at the other woman, she forces a little smile.

since she came to haven, she's spent her time learning what each of these people need when they're feeling sad. like for ethan: asking really in-depth questions about thaynor and his realm, or playing dino racers accompanied by an absurdly large sack of gummy power bears. for steph: jam sessions, or trying her damndest to kick her ass in something; foosball or video games. just to name a few.

it's funny. if you asked her what the formula is for her own sadness? she can't really say. sometimes quiet nights on the roof, sometimes records, sometimes journaling, sometimes movie nights. but this? well, how do you really get over a gut betrayal from one of your favorite people?

especially because she knows. she knows it's not ryan's fault. that his dad was his biggest hero, probably one of the reasons he chose his life path. that this bomb was dropped on him and was about as improbable as it sounded. but it happened, it came down on them like that rockslide and he hadn't believed her. had told her that she'd gone too far.

how do you get the clinging sadness to ebb from around that? alex really wants to know, because she's sad, and she's truly missed this man these past few days.

rachel amber was used to these little rants from victoria chase by now. it seemed like whatever rachel did, victoria’s watchful eye was surely there. it had been like that ever since she beat out victoria for the role of propsera sophomore year, one that the frenemy took insult too. sometimes it was annoying, most times it was entertaining, but either way rachel would just smile and play along. the blonde found it irritated the chase daughter just that much more. 

“is that right?” rachel says nonchalantly, bringing the red solo cup to her lips. the combination of alcohol in the cup bites at the back of her throat but rachel has been working on her poker face for years now. “and what fake bullshit life would this be exactly?”

rachel’s not sure when their conversation started to tip south. her brow tightens, lips tugging into a frown at the cheerleader’s brash words. the popular blackwell student had grown accustomed to these types of jeers from chloe price, the blue haired woman who was so sure that rachel’s freedom from arcadia bay meant freedom from her. maybe she knew something rachel was too afraid to admit, that once she was gone that she truly wouldn’t look back.

still, the blonde shakes her head at her friend.

“sheesh, kinda harsh dana, don’t you think?” is her immediate response, a bit taken aback by the bluntness in her friend’s choice of words. it was unlike her usual cheery upbeat responses, eager to keep up with rachel’s talk of wild schemes. “did something happen with trevor?”

rachel takes a sip of her flavored beer, knocking her shoulder into dana’s as the pair sat on her lofted pink bed. lately rachel favored these quiet nights with her, a change from the high pulse techno music that would be blaring from speakers in the chase mansion. not like victoria would actually want her there anyway except out of obligation. they both knew it but hardly mentioned it.

“maybe you’re right though, there could be some curse over the residents of arcadia bay,” she muses, taking another sip of her beer but barely tasting the fruity artificial flavoring. “would make this place a lot more fun, i think. maybe we can test the theory out on logan.”