#blueras

               THEY’D GONE LATE in the night and into the early morning just... holding each other, all of them. But eventually, even the adrenaline rush of playing the Orpheum and saving three hopeless ghosts had worn off for Julie and she’d fallen asleep. And Luke had relished in the ability to pick her up and carry her inside. Alex had said he wanted to find Willie, and after a warning to stay away from the Club from Reggie, he’d left. 

First, he got himself out of the horrific clothes Caleb had put them in. They were fine, he supposed, but they weren’t him. He guessed he had to be grateful that apparently his clothes were tied to him, because when he closed his eyes and asked the universe to please give him his pants back, they appeared, same as their instruments. He slowly changed, feeling almost alive again. 

And then, he’d disappeared from the garage himself, going straight to a very special house. 

He stopped in the entryway where she’d set up the small little bell earring as his ghost knock, and he smiled. Feeling stronger than he had since they died, he easily picked up the little bauble and gave it a little ring, breaking the silence of the night. 

     ❛   oh my god ,   you’re  such  a sneak .     i knew you didn’t follow me in here to help with refills ,   ❜         kayla  keeps  a  pointedly  quicker  pace  than  ro  as  she  rounds  the  kitchen  island,   her  and  tanya’s  nearly  -  empty  candy  bowls  hugged  tight  to  her  chest.      her  eyes  fall  absolutely   anywhere   other  than  in  ro’s  direction,   scanning  the  room  for  whatever  candy  bags  she  can  get  her  hands  on.     for  once,   she  doesn’t  care  about  color  -  coding  the  treats    ;    she  just  wants  to  get  out  of  here  and  back  to  the  safety  of  the  couch  where   (  she  hopes  )    the  girls  won’t  try  anything  in  front  of  their  guest.     ro,  at  the  very  least,   had  the  decency  to  wait  until  they  were  out  of  earshot,    but  the  same  can’t  be  said  for  the  others. 

     she  curses  herself  for  immediately  jumping  back  to  play   DEFENSE.       the  erratic  way  she  shakes  the  bag  of  tootsie  -  pops  over  her  bowl  must  only  add  to  her  best  friend’s  suspicion,   to  the  many  theories  she’s  probably  been  dreaming  up  since  the  night  began.     what  kayla  wants  to  say  is  that  she  doesn’t  appreciate  being  dive  -  bombed  repeatedly  like  this.     perhaps  if  she  had   known   reggie  was  coming  tonight,   she  would  have  been  better  -  equipped  to  handle  the  situation.      but,  as  she  would  say  if  the  tables  were  turned  :   where’s  the  fun  in  that  ?

     her  cheeks  must  be  an  absolutely  stupid  shade  of  pink  right  now.     the  question  is  too  nuanced  for  her  to  try  to  worm  her  way  out  with  a  simple    YEAH,  HE’S TOTALLY CUTE,    which  is  easily  admittable  -  or  -  whatever  because  it’s  just  a  fact.       saying  she’s   catching  feelings   or  whatever  dreamy  way  ro  had  put  it  is  a  bit  bigger  a  move  across  the  game  board  she  finds  herself  poised  on.      isn’t  it  like,   totally  against  girl  code  to  like  him  if  he’s  in  their  rival  band  ?      and  isn’t  it  like,   technically  a  best  friend  sin  if  she  admits  that  when  carrie  isn’t  around  to  make  her  regret  it  ?     

     oh  my  god,    they’ve  been  sort  -  of  flirting  all  night,   haven’t  they ?      she’s  never  gonna  fucking  hear  the  end  of  this. 

A shaking Carrie never meant anything good. Carrie was hardly ever nervous about anything. She was so used to just being in control of everything and knowing when things were about to go wrong. The last time she was this shaken...

Carrie didn’t want to think about it because while this betrayal did hurt just as hard, it felt wrong comparing Reggie to her mother.

At least Reggie tried to explain, her mother never did. Not that she stuck around to listen to his explanation, she just couldn’t take listening to his voice or his words or lies...more lies.

Everyone knew, that had to be it. Everyone knew that her father was terrible and no one thought that she deserved to know the horrible truth and everyone sucked and who could Carrie even trust anymore? If she couldn’t trust her father, who always told her that her hard work would get her to the top when he had apparently never worked hard in his entire life, then who could she trust?

Ro lived a few blocks away from her, and Carrie usually went down to her house whenever she needed an escape. Whenever Nick was too optimistic, whenever Julie was getting on her nerves, and more recently, whenever Reggie’s smile made her a little nervous, Carrie would find herself with her girls. Dirty Candy had started as a band that Carrie had only wanted for the fame but the girls were now...part of her really. 

Carrie depended on them so she was hoping that they didn’t know. That this secret wasn’t something everyone was keeping from her. 

SEND A 🍓 AND GET COMPLIMENTED « @kindofvertigo / @blueras / @bopcats​

   ❛   oh no ,  babes ,    are you not having a good time ?   ❜         ro’s  admission  stops  aimee  dead  in  her  tracks,   the  shots  she’s  carrying  sloshing  a  tad  over  their  rims  as  she  momentarily  forgets  them.      if  there’s  one  thing  she  takes  great  pride  in,    it’s  her  parties  !         she   LOVES   hosting    ;    even  if  the  house  always  gets  wrecked.       and  her  mother  always  scolds  her.       and  she  ends  up  having  more  heart  murmurs  than  she  does  good  times.      even  if  it  isn’t  necessarily  fun  for   HER,   it’s  fun  for  her  friends  !      and  at  the  end  of  the  night  when  her  mom’s  favorite  vase  is  broken  and  there’s  random  stains  that  may  or  may  not  be  vomit  on  her  couch,     that’s  what  matters.    

     so  to  hear  that  someone   ISN’T   having  fun  ?       that’s  like  . . .   well,  she  may  as  well  just  shove  her  head  in  the  oven  or  something.      aimee  sighs,    shifting  the  tray  of  drinks  to  one  arm  as  her  other  comes  to  rest  around  ro’s  shoulders.     she  foregoes  her  dramatics  to  give  the  other  girl  a  little  squeeze.       .