hmmmm, maybe?

BTW, I AM HOME! BRING ON THE THREADS!

TO: alex_zacharias
FROM: hepstein

Did I leave my pants in your car???

to be done AFTER the one shot.

Abby got out of her Explorer and turned to stare at the house in front of her. Behind her, the Long Island Sound crashed gently onto the long, flat beach, the house's dark windows looking out at the water. She stared at it, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. So. This would be it.

Our new home.

Her face pale and sallow, with dark circles under her eyes, Jacqui drifted into the mini-mart, her shoulders curled in as she stared down at the floor. Ignoring the suspicious look of the clerk who knew Jacqui as a habitual shoplifter, she went straight to the counter and quietly asked for a pack of Marlboro Reds, sliding a five dollar bill and some quarters over without making eye contact.

Without comment, the clerk gave her the pack of cigarettes--knowing Jacqui was underage, but really, who cared at this point, it was her--and put the change on the counter. Jacqui ignored it, turning back and heading out of the shop, still watching her feet shuffling across the tile. Once she left the sliding doors, she ripped the cellphane off and slid a cigarette out, slumping to the sidewalk and leaning against the brick wall of the shop, lighting the cigarette and taking a long drag, fixated on a crack on the concrete, staring so intently and so blankly, she didn't notice Brad approach.

"Brendan has a pool," Bailey said, out of the blue, as David turned his car down the street towards her friend Brendan's house.

"I kind of figured," David laughed. He glanced down at her. "You know, since you're wearing your bathing suit?" And because she's been dancing around the house all morning singing about how she's going swimming at Brendan's, which has put 'I'm Going Swimming At Brendan's' stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

"He said that we can play boats, and he has a basketball hoop," Bailey continued, then waved out the window as they pulled up to his house. David looked into the yard as he pulled his car into the driveway, seeing the little boy who he recognized from Bailey's birthday party and other things that her class had done throughout the year.

Brendan, who had been playing with a remote control car on their front sidewalk, waved to Bailey as he made the car spin in circles.

"Don't forget your towel and stuff in the backseat," David told Bailey as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out. "And you remember our phone number, right?"

"Uh huh," Bailey said, opening the back door and getting her bag. "Do you want to get out?"

"That's ok," he said. While Bailey loved the fact that his wheelchair was light enough for her to pick up, David didn't like her doing it, so he figured he could stay in the car. He looked over as Bailey ran to Brendan, then glanced over to the front porch, where an older girl was sitting. After a moment, he realized who it was. Well, almost who it was.

He rolled down his window, not sure which of the twins it was, but hoping that his first guess was right. "Mariah?" he asked.

Art history lectures were just dull sometimes. There were days where Jeremy was fascinated at the offering of the slides, and some days where he wanted to off himself. This section on Chinese art history was no exception.

But he had already paid the tuition to take this class, which was an attempt to give him something to do at SU other than attend their parties. Besides, he didn’t want to give his mom the satisfaction that he didn’t have anything to do this summer other than visit her.

But he snapped out of his thoughts as he recognized the person that had just walked into the classroom and narrowed his eyes. That girl who bummed a cigarette off of me…

Only she wasn’t a girl – she was Annabelle Clausen, the newest Art History professor in the department and today’s guest lecturer and – holy shit he got hit on by a professor? How old exactly was she?

( Read more... )

To: davereporter
From: woodyjefferson

Dude. It is the summer and I have barely seen you. Little Miss Shits and Giggles keeping you that busy?

I request manly bonding time. It is essential.

The Woodster

Stifling a yawn, Shannon raised her eyebrows in surprise as she walked into the kitchen and saw her father sitting at the kitchen table. “You’re home early,” she commented lightly as she reached for the refrigerator door and removed the bottle of pomegranate green tea that she had asked Hilda to buy the other day.

( Read more... )

a very important oneshot

To: em_bernstein
From: retlin

Em,

Do you have any free time tomorrow? How do I even explain this whole stupid situation with my bitch mom and with Kristy "I don't know what privacy is" Thomas? There's some...stuff going on and I just need to talk.

Maybe get some advice. I want to call you. I want to call you and explain it, but I'm still not on control of my temper. I need to lay low until I get over the damn bi-.

RJ sat down on a bench in the carry-out area at Pizza Express, having just put in an order for two large pizzas to take over to his dad's. He was already thinking longingly about the large barbeque chicken and bacon pizza he'd ordered, knowing that he'd probably end up eating a couple of slices on the way to his dad's place. There was nothing better.

He opened the 20-ounce bottle of Mountain Dew he'd bought, and downed half of it, leaning back against the wall, not noticing as someone else walked in.

Oops. Okay, THIS is what I need to write. Andi is still going to ADA nationals on Saturday and coming back on the 27th.

If anyone needs her before then, let me know. You can comment here. Or E-mail me. Or whatever.

"I will kill Noah," Tree vowed as she walked into her and Hadley's room, drying her hair with a towel.

Hadley looked up from her book and grinned. "Why, what'd he do?"

"Threw me in the pond," ( she grumbled. )

To: ericainblum
From: twinabby

ERICA.

I HAVE A QUESTION. OR A SECRET. OR BOTH.

While it was usually his father that insisted on taking a last tour of the golf course before heading back to the house for the night, he was away on a business trip. Which meant it was up to Kevin to do the tour, to make sure everything was in perfect condition for the next day.

Well, at least to make sure if something needed fixing, he would mention that to the maintenance workers. That's what the spics were for anyway.

As he drove the golf court to last hole, number 18, he glanced over his surroundings and was about to turn around when movement around the green caught his eye. Squinting through the darkness, Kevin frowned as he drove the cart towards the green.

His eyes widened in shock as he realized that someone was sitting near the actual hole. Someone who he was positive was smoking something up. Someone who was...was...tearing up bits of grass??

"Wha...how...what's going on here?" Kevin sputtered, his jaw dropped in shock and outrage that someone would dare deface his golf course!

Mia was lying on the couch, watching the Disney Channel. The twins had just gone to bed and left it on. A bowl of melted ice cream sat on floor next to her. Mia wasn’t really paying attention to the TV, she was preoccupied by tickling her stomach and feeling a fluttering of kicks to her tickles.

Janet stood in the living room, waiting her daughter play with her kid. She walked over and put her hand on Mia’s stomach, feeling the kicks. This was her daughter, her grandchild here. The thought still blew her away.

“You are really getting big,” she said, “It’s not that long now.” Mia looked up at her mother.

“A couple of months,” Mia said, “It doesn’t seem that long anymore. It feels really close.” Almost too close.

“The time will fly by in no time,” Janet said, not picking up on her daughter’s unease, “Then you will be holding your baby in your arms, in awe of your creation.” Mia tickled her stomach again, trying to picture that day. Would she be ready enough to be the mother her baby deserved? Would she be strong enough to be the parent she needed to be? When she first found out that she was pregnant, the responsibility weighed on her but now as the due date drew nearer, the responsibility seemed heavier.

“I signed up for Lamaze classes,” Mia said suddenly, “They start next week. I was hoping that you would want to be my partner.” Janet looked up suddenly at her.

“Really?” Janet asked, disbelieving at first. She had figured Mia would have asked Brad or one of her other friends first. Janet smiled, taking her daughter’s hand and squeezed it, “I’d be honoured to! Thank you for including me in this.” Mia smiled at her mother.

“Thanks for agreeing,” Mia said, tickling her stomach again. I don’t feel ready yet. Maybe Lamaze will help. Maybe reaching out to my mother more will. I can’t believe the due date is coming up so fast.

David placed his tray on the table in the hospital cafeteria, then slid a chair out of the way so he could roll up to the table.

"Is this your first time having hospital cafeteria food?" he asked Lindsey as he opened his can of soda. "I promise, it's not all that bad."

"Benson? Steig?" Kristy called as she pulled the mail out of the mailbox and opened the front door to the Retlin house, giving the air an experimental sniff. So far, so good! Not that she was really worried. So far, aside from a few broken picture frames and a torn couch pillow (both of which Kristy had surreptitiously taken back to her house to replace or have her Nannie mend, respectively), her brilliant "random check-in" strategy was working beautifully.

Dropping the mail on the hall table, striking photograph caught her eye. Curious to identify where the image had been taken, she flipped it over. And that's all she intended to do, really! But the signature at the end of the written message caught her eye and she couldn't help reading it over. The mysterious absence of Cary's mother, like so much about his life, gnawed at her. It wasn't like she had really known the woman, but still, she had been with the Retlins when they moved to Stoneybrook, and then she wasn't. Who wouldn't be insanely curious about that!?

Her eyebrows rose steadily until they were at her hairline as she quickly parsed the message. It almost sounded like ... like ... well, something her father would have sent them when they were small.

She was so perplexed by the sudden rush of kinship she felt with Cary that she didn't hear the door open until it was too late.

It had been two weeks since Hannah had arrived in Hong Kong to spend the summer holidays with her dad.

She was loving the experience, seeing the sights and of course spending time with her father.

During one of her shopping expeditions she had picked up a few postcards to send home so that evening she decided that she'd get a start on them and she sat down out on the balcony of her father's apartment and began to write.

To: claudkishi
From: artistashley

claudia,

if you manage some free time, i would like you to come over to see the new studio space my parents have allowed. since the brats babies took my old one, we have fixed up the basement as my new studio. i would like your opinion.

"JESS!" Marty hollered, turning to run backwards so he could face his sister. Rather than running, the blonde was bent over at the waist, her hands placed on her knees. Com'mon. Didn't she say she was working out at school? "You gotta keep up if you're gonna run with the Bukeman!"

His pretty sister just straightened up slightly and waved her middle finger at him. "If I could breathe, I'd smack you for that nickname right now. I'm goin' home."

Well. How boring. Running alone was retardedly boring. It was necessary if he was gonna stay in shape over the summer and insure that he was far and beyond the basketball star, but it was still boring. Marty waved his middle finger back at his sister before turning back around and veering off of the sidewalk onto one of the running paths. At least if he was going to be alone, he could get in a more difficult run, right?

Until a pounding of feet echoed behind him and he slowed down to let whoever it was catch up. Maybe Jessica had decided not to be such a pussy after all.

Grace laced her fingers through Dave's as they headed into Uncle Ed's.

"Do you know how to use chopsticks?" she asked him. "Because I think it's way cool to use them but they're also way hard. I always spill stuff when I try and I'm wearing a new dress so I don't want to mess it up but it'd also be way fun to like feed each other with chopsticks."

Lauren looked up from her Nintendo DSi as her floating chaise bumped lazily into Mariah's. She giggled and closed her game. "You know what the one bad thing about not being in summer school is? I have no fucking idea what day it is."

Running a hand through her slightly mussed hair, Sheila pushed open the door of her car slowly, wincing at the brightness of the sun.

Last night had been way too much for her, and the combination of the drugs and alcohol were taking their toll of her body. Even now she was shaky on her feet, even though she had managed to avoid becoming physically ill. Still, it was a firm reminder she needed out.

She needed to get back to her workouts, she needed to get ready for her camp that started Wednesday.

Yet, the intelligent part of Sheila knew the Badd Boyz would not just let her walk away; she would still have to be part of the group, in a way, and could not just get away completely. But even getting slightly away took a lot of effort - and took standing up to Ice Box, which scared the living daylights out of her.

Which is why she slowly made her way to the front door of Theo's house. Knocking, she adjusted her sunglasses and silently wished the sun would stop shining so brightly, as it was very rude.

happy bday claud, from janine. hee.

which i will (hopefully) do tomorrow, on my big rp catch-up day! today, i have a date with the stone temple pilots, woo!

I suppose as long as I have 3 1/2 hrs to kill @ the airport I may as well try to do something...

brina/alex breakfast goodtimes!

Polly was extremely glad that her brother was home for the summer holidays.

Even though she was spending the majrotiy of her weekdays at the office with her father, she was spending her evenings hanging out with her brother and sister.

That Saturday evening they had decided to have a Star Trek marathon and watch their dvds of some of the movies. It had been a while since they had done something like that and after some debate had settled on a few movies to watch Wrath of Kahn, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home and First Contact. First Contact had been Polly's choice because that movie was her personal favourite out of the Next Generation movies.

Polly and her sister set up the living room as they waited for their brother to bring in the drinks and the popcorn, which didn't take long for him to do so.

"Okay are we ready?" Martin asked as he came in balancing a bowl of popcorn, which he quickly passed to Tricia and three drinks of diet coke.

"Ready," Polly grinned as she took two of the three glasses and passed one of them to her sister.

"Then let's get started," Martin grinned as he placed his drink down and put in the first movie into the dvd player, then they settled back into the lounge to watch the movies.

To: cutemaryanne
From: ecodawn

Mary Anne,

I think...I think I'm ready.

I think it's time I told mom. And maybe even Richard.

But I don't want to do it alone, even though I know it's silly to be scared? I can't help it. Would you be able to come to the house - or somewhere else private - to be there when I tell mom? Richard doesn't have to be there, I can tell mom alone. That might be better, anyway. I know you're busy but do you think you can squeeze in a few hours?

-Dawn

“Held in the beam of a light I thought we shared / shone between two shores / and wants to be traveled like the gravel that / runs from my door to yours,” Anna sang, strumming along on her guitar without looking at the words or the tabs in front of her as Caroline harmonized next to her. “I'll be way down a silver road, I'll go / where the moon has it lit up / turn off your headlights and go slow / I don't want it to let up.”

She continued strumming her guitar and turned to face Nina’s brother, Benj, who was sitting at his drum kit, and nodded with him so that they finished out the song together. When the notes had died out, one of her hands curled around the neck of her guitar and the other rested on the solid body. Okay then.

( Read more... )

Jason leaned against the wall, looking out into the empty lobby of the movie theatre. Weekday matinees were always quiet. It was a Friday with big new releases, so he knew that things would pick up later, but right now, for the first showings of the day of each movie, there was hardly anyone around.

He tore some tickets for a group of people heading to Transformers, then began looking around aimlessly again, when he spotted Jo Deord leaving the concession stand.

While they'd never been particurly friendly with her, they weren't not friendly, so he gave a small wave as she headed his way.

“I think you should always work at a job where you get a discount on pie,” Leo declared as he set his empty plate on the coffee table. “No, let me rephrase; you should always work at a job where I get a discount on pie.”

“Sure,” Carly agreed easily, taking a sip of her tea. “When I’m trying to sell my art and working whatever job I have as a day job, I’ll also take a job at a pie shop so that you can have cheap pie when you visit me.”

“That’s all I’m asking,” Leo nodded, stretching his arms above him as he leaned back on the couch. “I’m stuffed. I ate too much.” He sprang up off the couch without waiting for a response and then glanced over his shoulder at Carly. “Wanna walk to the bookstore with me?”

“Walk?” Carly asked dubiously, although she leaned over to slide her feet into her Chaco sandals and clasp them closed. “Leo, I walked home from school once this spring, and it kind of… sucked. Town is really not that close from here.”

“We could bike, but are you even capable of that without falling off?” he teased, getting a grimace from her in response. “C’mon, I chowed down, I need to walk or I’m going to explode or something.”

Carly ran her palms over the thighs of her jeans and stood up slowly. He’s been making a huge effort to show me I matter to him since our fight. And I’m more than happy to just let go of that anger and heal our relationship. But it wouldn’t hurt to work a little harder--both of us. I’m still a little hurt, but… She glanced at Leo and tucked a curl behind her ear. “I really don’t want to walk to town and back,” she told him apologetically. “I don’t mind hills and I don’t mind concrete, but combined…” she trailed off, wrinkling her nose. “What if we drive out to the trail near Norwalk and go for a hike and then go to the bookstore after?”

Leo pursed his lips and then nodded once, turning to head toward the back door to go to the garage instead. “Works for me. Let’s get a move on, Chuck.”

Carly rolled her eyes good-naturedly but smiled, stopping to grab her keys off the hook in the mudroom before following Leo outside and taking in a deep breath of fresh air. I meditate, I sit still. Leo makes sure that sometimes, I move. We need each other. This family needs each other. We all need to embrace that more instead of staying so far apart. The details are flexible. The need isn’t.

Robert dribbled the basketball on the asphalt of the middle school parking lot, aiming a shot from the free throw line and letting out a grunt as it banged against the hoop and fell away. Fuck.

"When you were little, you used to do so many of these drills. But you never did in baseball. Why's that?" a voice said behind him. Robert turned, looking at Patti who walked up to the free throw line and watched him retrieve the ball.

Robert shrugged. "Basketball mattered. Baseball was just something I did because they didn't have rec leagues in the summer for hoops."

Patti frowned. "But you were good at it. You were good at both, why are you playing basketball again, but not baseball?"

He was quiet as he went back to the line, spinning the round mass of the ball between his hands. "Baseball was fun and stuff, but it didn't mean the same to me as basketball. Baseball is a really individual thing, but basketball--everybody has to work together. All five of you, always working together. I liked that."

As he dribbled the ball, Patti stuffed her hands into the pockets of her shorts. "What if you had gotten...different during basketball season? If baseball kinda made you feel alone, and it didn't help, what if--what if it had been during basketball, when you wouldn't have felt that way."

Robert stopped bouncing the ball and stared at her. He didn't say anything for a minute, but he finally said, "I don't think that would have helped. The only thing that could have helped was me wanting to be helped. And I didn't want to be." He offered her the basketball. "Wanna play HORSE?"

Patti gave him a lopsided smile and took the ball. "You gotta start with H, though."

"Bitch bitch bitch," he muttered, giving her a small grin back before stepping away slightly to let her take the first shot.

To: claudkishi
CC: cutemaryanne
From: stace_mcgill

Hey you! Mary Anne and I were talking, and we thought that it was about damn time that you got your butt on a train and came down here for the weekend. If you got here after school on Friday, we'd have plenty of time to go get something to eat, and then hit one of the shows (I'm voting for Hair, since there's guys getting naked. Awesome!). And Ethan said there's a party on Friday night at his best friend's--though Mary Anne totally refuses to go to a college party if Logan's not there. Because she's whipped. But you and I are single and ready to mingle with guys with fake IDs! C'mon, Claud! I'll even go to the museum with you two on Saturday...?

♥ Stace