charliesghosts

[charliesghosts]

skelewrite​:

-

Their brows came together in confusion and amusement for a quick second, but in the next they relaxed as they gave a small nod. They knew the story of the Trojan Horse, though it didn’t occur to them how it related here. But she continued, and they understood. They weren’t the most trustworthy person in Lockhorn County before the challenge, they were even less so now. There’s a crude remark they think of making, and a cruel comment too, but they leave them both for something else. “ Well, ” They unfolded their arms, holding up open palms to say, “ No rocks. ”  A shitty joke.

However they feel the tone shift when she mentions her brother. Or something shift within themself shifts at least, they didn’t know if Brig felt it too. They didn’t think her a fool. They might have at some point, definitely with some of the shit Mikey told them. Maybe they thought it when they’d helped her drunken ass get home. But they didn’t think it now and they hadn’t done what they did with the intention of making her look like one. Their hands shove into the pockets of their jeans, finding some comfort in their stance like they had when they crossed their arms. “ I’m not lookin’ for anything in return, if that’s what you’re tryna say. If that’s what you’re worried about. ” They say, their tone matching their shift away from amusement to sincere, but still keeping a safe distance from serious. Their lips part to say something else, but they hesitate and think a second longer. So far they’d avoided admitting it directly, and they’d intended on continuing that path. Brig thought she knew what she saw, so be it. Right now, in public, right outside their workplace, there was no benefit to them admitting it. “ I don’t think you’re a fool, and I ain’t trying to make you one. Fools are fools all on their own, don’t need my help. ” 

⛏️

“I ain’t worried ‘bout anything,” she said sharply, her tongue laying the bricks of a defensive wall where no defense was needed. Maybe it was because she had considered what Koda might want in return. It was about as plain as the nose on Koda’s face that they weren’t no regular girl- in fact, they kinda sorta weren’t any typa girl at all. It was Michael who had tried to explain that to his sister, as best he could anyway. Koda didn’t wear skirts or lipstick and didn’t go ‘round kissing boys but neither did Brigid when she wasn’t on shift and she gave one of the supervisors at the mine a hand job for eleven bucks a couple times when his buddy only gave her five. It was more than just a dress code for Koda though. Brig couldn’t quite get her head ‘round it but she knew enough about wanting the person on your inside to match the person on your outside to respect it anyways. 

Maybe it did worry her though. Cos if Koda wanted the kinda something that girls who didn’t wear skirts and didn’t go round kissing boys might want then maybe Koda thought that Brig was the kinda girl that might just give it to her. There were rumours sure, and if Koda had heard any of ‘em, it was likely from Mikey trying to get under his sister’s skin- but maybe, just maybe, it had nothing to do with them rumours at all and Koda just knew. Sensed it. If that was the case, well then Brigid would have been better off fallin’ from the highest point of the Monster ten times over, she figured. 

“Just don’t want you to think I ain’t gonna feel you paintin’ a target on my back just cos you went and did something to help me out last night,” she clarified. “I got a long list of people I wanna see fuck things up before you - so don’t go thinkin’ I’m doin’ any favours if I just so happen to help you out too,” she didn’t have any particular plans for sabotaging her competitors but Koda’s stunt had admittedly inspired her. It was bold, it was badass and maybe Brigid had something like that in her too, if she couldn’t dig deep enough to find some semblance of it in the remains of her shattered former self.

[charliesghosts]

skelewrite​:

-

As she starts to speak, they turn to face her, shoulder blades brushing against the metal. A cool sensation in the shade of the Windy Shot. Their arms cross lazily over their stomach as they listened, attempting to balance their relaxed stature and the way they listened to everything Brig said carefully. They didn’t get the impression Brig was a narc, but thirty thousand dollars was enough to change that about a person, Koda thought. But, if Brig’s intention was to tattle, either to the cops or Panic judges, why would she come here first? Why would she speak to them at all? 

And eventually they get their answer. It wasn’t a question of why Koda did what they did, it was why make sure Brig didn’t suffer the consequences of their actions. And Koda knew the answer, they saw it in every feature in Brig that reminded them of Mikey. If he’d still been around, it would have been him in line with them, and they didn’t know if Brig would have entered at all. Maybe that made them soft, or a sentimental asshole, but it had felt right last night when they’d stepped away. They were a little less sure of it now, but they couldn’t turn back the clock and change their mind. Live with it and live through it. Stupid saying had gotten them this far.

“ I reckon I don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout. ” They answered after a beat, but they stayed where they were. Back against the bin, door to the Windy Shot closed, no one else around. All the same they glanced past Brig before they continued, making sure to eye the corner of the building, make sure no shadows were making their way around to the empty lot. “ But if I did, ” They looked back to her, meeting her eyes, still trying to get some sort of read on her, “ I’d say it’s funny you ain’t said nothin’ like a thank you yet. ”

⛏️

It was an unsatisfactory response and Brigid had no doubt in her mind that Dakota knew it. Still, Koda had barely moved since their lips had met once more, following the end of her statement. What that simple gesture suggested, Brigid thought, was that they weren’t quite done here. Not yet.

She hummed softly to herself, accepting of the other’s words. Sure, a kind gesture deserved a thank you. She wasn’t an animal and though her Daddy had failed to teach her much about manners n’ the like, he had certainly made sure his offspring had the concept of gratitude drilled into their thick heads. Yessir, he was makin’ sure they was sayin’ their thankyous for everything he did, everything from serving up an undercooked TV dinner to giving their hides a good tanning with the buckle end of their belt, rarely for any reason they could figure out.

“You ever heard that story ‘bout the Greeks n’ that big old horse?” she hadn’t been a particularly good student but she’d always resonated with a good story. Whether it was reading A River Runs Through It or hearing tales from the Civil War, she was always better at learning something with an interesting tale attached. “See, I don’t say thank you ‘til I know what I’m sayin’ thank you for. You might be tryin’ to soften me up,” she gestured loosely to Koda’s hands, “Shakin’ my hand with your right, holdin’ a rock to bash me over the head with in your left,” she offered - a more Appalachian recital of the Trojan Horse, she supposed.

She paused for a moment, wishing she could read Dakota’s thoughts. “I got no way ‘a knowing what you heard ‘bout me from my brother but I can tell you, I ain’t nobody’s fool,” she said confidence, correcting her posture. She’d been given a lifetime’s worth of reasons not to trust anyone and she had only just celebrated her twenty-first birthday.

[charliesghosts]

skelewrite​:

They moved passed her to the dumpster, shifting box to their side. Balanced on their hip, held in place by one arm while their free hand pushed up the lid until they heard the familiar sound of metal moving into place. I got an assumption ‘bout you too, Dakota Reid, you wanna hear it? They didn’t think so, but all the same they looked back over their shoulder with a quizzical look on their features. “ Just the one? ” They asked, tone jestful. Unserious. They’d had plenty of assumptions pinned to their name over the years, and for the most part they hardly bothered Koda. Though, depending on what Brig was about to say, most previous assumptions were either wildly untrue or something they were proud of. They turned back to the bin, “ Sure, shoot, ” they invited, words echoed by the sound of box of waste landing on the bottom of the bin.

⛏️

It was true that Brigid was trying to maintain some air of seriousness as she intended to lightly interrogate Koda but when they questioned her right back, without skipping a beat, she couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips. She tried to disguise it, breaking eye contact and turning her cheek for a fleeting moment, her tongue finding the back of her upper molars as she resisted a ghost of a laugh.

There was no denying that assumptions of Dakota Reid were plentiful in Hazzard. While the people there were poor in most regards, they had a wealth of harsh judgement to pass upon others that didn’t quite fit the mold. Brigid knew that all too well, the subject of unpleasant rumours of varying degrees herself.

“Well I been thinkin’ on what happened up there,” she was, of course, referring to the night they had spent on the neck of the behemoth crane. She’d replayed the event nearly a hundred times or so in her mind in the hours she’d spent staring at the damp-stained ceiling of her bedroom instead of sleeping. She’d thought nothing of it when Koda had disappeared, figuring they’d needed some time to paint the pavement with their dinner or just plain chickened out. It was what Koda had done upon returning that had made a home for itself in the folds of Brigid’s mind. They coulda went to the back of the line, coulda reclaimed their spot in front but instead they nestled right behind Brig and she’d ‘a chalked it up to getting a nice view of her rear if it hadn’t been for what happened next, well after Brigid had crossed the crane’s arm and was safe on the ground.

“I reckon somethin’ happened last night, and I ain’t pointin’ fingers or nothing cos Lord knows I ain’t got no clean conscience and we all got good reasons to do what we gotta do to win,” she prefaced, assuring the other that it was not an accusation. “-but somethin’ happened and it didn’t happen to me,” she continued, drawing nearer to the point and she took a half step toward Koda, “-and I reckon it weren't no kinda coincidence. You was in the right spot to take me out too, so why didn’tcha?”

[charliesghosts]

⛏️

“That right?” she questioned with an upward quirk of one eyebrow, an inquisitive expression on her face, though the questions she really had tucked into her back pocket were ones she was sure she already had the answers to. “I got an assumption ‘bout you too, Dakota Reid, you wanna hear it?” Her head cocked as the last couple of words fell from her tongue and she had her arms folded stiffly across her chest. She stood in front of the bartender with shoulders tense and slightly rolled forward, protruding muscles built from near two decades worth of labour, both physical and emotional. The burdening weight on the young girls shoulders could have sunk a ship but instead, it made her steely, somewhat indelicate with others.

@charliesghosts​

‘ Holy shit, ’ Dakota had said, when aged wire snapped under their purposely placed weight. A loud, echoing creak coming from the great steel Monster that guarded the mines. They’d held a hand on their chest as they had watched plank wobble out of place (with an extra little flick of their shoe), pretending to be reeling from narrowly surviving. Rather than the nerves of knowingly making the climb to the top a whole lot more dangerous for anyone who had lined up behind them. ‘ Be careful what you touch up here, ’ they’d advised the tiny few in the same section as them, eyes accidentally locking eyes with girl that crossed before them. Girl that was originally behind them in line for the challenge, until Koda made the decision to run back to their truck. Shoving themselves in behind her instead when they returned. 

Same girl that was stood out by the dumpster behind the Windy Shot now the following afternoon. They let out a small sigh as they finished pushing back door open with their elbow, hands occupied with a box full of cardboard waste. Looking down and making sure to kick door shut behind them as they said, “ We gotta stop meeting like this, Brig, ” The words themselves are a joke, but the way Koda says them isn’t as loose as they usually would be. A tiredness clinging to their words, or perhaps the suspicion they’d been caught. “ I’m gonna start thinkin’ you live in our dumpster here, ” They said, moving past her and keeping eyes locked on said dumpster. 

[charliesghosts]

skelewrite​:

-

Rocky smiled again when Lisa built a little on the joke she’d made. The stark differences between the two made exceedingly obvious by Rocky’s first thought being Charles Manson and her’s being a freckled, loveable redhead. “ You don’t have the colour for Annie, ” She said, pointing to her own hair. As if she needed the aid to know exactly what she was talking about. “ Or the perm. ” She added, as she held front door open, leaning into it slightly as she watch the other close gate and gross the front lawn. 

“ Rocky. ” She introduced, closing door behind her. “ Like the boxer. ” The was her most used go-to explanation for her name. It was the easy one, everyone had at least heard of the Rocky series even if they hadn’t seen it. Rocky hadn’t even seen all of them. As she turned around, looking for her bag, her eyes landed on something else. “ Don’t mind the decor, ” She said, pointing at the bikini clad girl on the wall behind the tv. Aside from the dog, Tyler had the worst fucking taste and was unfortunately completely unabashed about it. “ I’m housesitting. ” She explained, with a glance over to the other before she moved for her bag. Hanging off the back of a chair. “ Anyway, ” She moved along swiftly, grabbing bag and unzipping the top as she turned back to her, “ What were you looking to narc on? ” She asked, another smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, only allowing half a second before she added, “ That’s getting stupid now, right? I’ll quit it. ” She assured with a smile, before looking down into her bag. She wasn’t stocked, though if Lisa wanted something really specific it might be somewhere in this house. “ I’ve got weed and some tabs. ”

-

“Minor detail and an easy fix,’” she’d never dyed her hair before nor had she ever had a perm but she was relatively certain that it would be that difficult to acquire the Little Orphan Annie look. Not that she was under the impression that it was a particularly desired look, however. She looked at the other girl’s crudely cut and bleached hair and realized that she probably knew more about the matter than Maddie did or was perhaps ever likely to.

Her eyebrows lifted as she followed the Southsider inside, “Rocky?” she didn’t mean to repeat it as if it was the most astounding thing she’d ever heard but the word had managed to eject itself from Maddie’s lips before she could stop it. “Not like the moose?” she picked up on how quick Rocky was to explain her namesake, maybe she’d heard one too many Rocky and Bullwinkle jokes for one life time and had decided to counter it at her earliest opportunity every time she introduced herself to somebody knew.

“Wow,” Maddie admired the bikini model with a nod of her head, somewhat surprised to see the poster just hanging there. Weird placement too, she thought, though she supposed she wasn’t really an expert in these things either. “I’m more into brunette’s anyway,” she joked as she followed Rocky’s lead, tearing her eyes away from the poster before she walked into a doorframe. 

She hitched her backpack on her shoulder and smiled to herself at Rocky’s words, feeling relaxed for the first time now that they had dropped the gag. “So, you’re taking my word for it,” she noted, feeling somewhat triumphant that with a few goofy one liners and a fake ID she had managed to win over the Southie. “I just want to chillax on the beach, listen to some tunes,” at least that was the vision she had in her head, “- but I don’t have a lot of cash so  maybe just like a um, just a joint or-” she didn’t really know how to roll her own cigarettes. What the fuck was she going to do if Rocky handed her a bag of weed? “Whatever,” she wanted it to sound like she’d done this a hundred times before but somehow, she didn’t think that was quite the case.

[charliesghosts]

skelewrite​:

-

“ Lisa Gilbertson, ” Rocky repeated the name, nodding her head lightly once again. Sounded stupid, but sounded pretty realistic. Even more realistic as the other easily explained how the name had come about, that it wasn’t even a full on fake, it was very real it just wasn’t her’s. As she explained, she took final long drag from the cigarette before she leaned forward to extinguish it in ash tray. She was convinced– until she fumbled again. Causing Rocky’s eyes to lift and land on her again, that brow slightly raised again as the save unfolded. She’d allow the fumble. She wasn’t about to tell Lisa where she lived either, or her legal name– not that many people knew that anyway. “ Left it at The Home. ” She said, piecing together the two sentences. Teasing her once again. “ Sounds culty. ” She grinned as she pushed herself up, leaving notebook on the porch along with Tyler’s dog. “ C’mon then, Gilbertson, ” She beckoned her with a lazy wave of her hand. Pushing open door, and holding it open as she turned back to the other, “ Make sure you shut the gate behind you. It doesn’t close on it’s own. ” Even if the dog wasn’t in any great rush to run away, Rocky didn’t want anyone else wandering in off the street thinking they were welcome to bother her here.

-

“Lisa Marie Gilbertson,” Maddie corrected. She’d had to learn all of the details on Lisa’s driver’s licence, including her home address and her star sign- well, the latter had been Maddie’s own efforts to really sell the whole bit, though it had never actually come into use, at least not yet. She chuckled softly as the other girl picked up on her faux pas. Quickly. A little too quickly for Maddie’s liking in fact, reminding her that she was on Rocky’s turf and more than just a little out of her depth. “Or like little Orphan Annie,” she suggested, there were totally more than a handful of reasons somebody would refer to their place of residence as ‘the home’ other than being in a cult or being a total fucking idiot.

When Rocky invited her in with a half-assed wave, Maddie realised she’d been holding her breath and the sigh of relief that overcame her as she shut the iron gate behind her was welcome. 

“You gotta name?” she asked. Maddie could totally live with calling her Debbie Harry girl in her head but she didn’t think it would really fly if she said it out loud, “Or at least something I can call you?” she added, a  moment later.

[charliesghosts]

skelewrite​:

-

Rocky let out a soft, doubtful “ Mmmm, ” with a slow nod of her head as the other claimed the walking around blocks somewhat aimlessly was good exercise and that the Southside had much sightseeing to do beyond a couple graffiti spots that made you wonder how someone even got up there. But still, she was amused by it. Maybe she was in a good mood. Maybe it was because it was a new face and Rocky hardly ever saw those. Amusement became more obvious when a moment later what she said earned a soft exhale of a laugh through her nose. A pressing together of her lips before she couldn’t help the small smile that pushed past. Funny as it was, it was correct. Rocky did just have to take her word for it at this stage. Titanic reference she didn’t understand at all aside. “ Bigger douchebags around here would make you prove you’re not wearing a wire. ” She commented in same joking tone as she thought for a moment longer. Perhaps a little crass, but it was true. If the actual owner of the house had been home instead of Rocky then he’d tell this stranger to lift her shirt ‘to prove she was clean’ aka get a flash of tits. But Rocky still didn’t super love the idea of selling to a total stranger, especially one that didn’t even know who she was looking for. If someone had given her a name, a dealer, then yeah, Rocky would probably believe it. But instead, she had to be a little more creative. “ What’s the name on your fake? ” 

-

“Sounds kind of like a two-fold scheme to me,” Madeline noted, rather astutely as she subconsciously tugged at the hem of her top. She was well aware of how easily even the biggest knuckleheads could come up with a plan, however terrible, to get babes to flash a little boob their way. Why would it be any different on the Southside of Cherry? Of course it wasn’t. Maddie was admittedly glad that Rocky had made it sound as if she was above all of that, however. It wasn’t as if Maddie wouldn’t pop her top if it made the difference but she was somewhat glad it didn’t sound like she would have to. 

Maddie felt a sense of relief when her test finally came to light, it wasn’t so bad at all and she could keep her clothes on for now, “Lisa Gilbertson,” she explained, “She graduated a couple of years back, I know her cousin and we look enough alike. She got a DUI and can’t drive anyway so I bought her I.D. for an STP ticket,” she didn’t really like Stone Temple Pilots anyway, she had only made her parents buy her tickets to impress a guy she liked and then he started dating a girl from another school anyway, so whatever. “I could show you but it’s back at the-” she hesitated, deciding she wasn’t all that eager to let the other girl know where she worked nor where she lived, “I left it at home, you know, with my not a narc certificate, like I said,” she opted to distract from her fumble with another little joke. 

[charliesghosts]

skelewrite​:

-

Not exactly meant she was right, as far as Rocky was concerned. She wasn’t from here. Not that she was surprised by that. To Rocky it was obvious, and not just from the looking lost thing. She smiled lightly at her words. Now those she couldn’t tell if they were a joke or not. It was sort of stupid, but it was pretty funny. “ Oh yeah? And how many blocks did you walk just for me to bug you? ” She asked with a soft grin. She wondered for a moment how many other’s had seen her walk past, if anyone else had called out. Was it the sleeping dog by her side that made her seem more friendly than anyone else? Or that they appeared to be a similar age? Brow raised again, a questioning expression but more in a teasing way than any sort of suspicion. She followed her gaze down to the cigarette, the unspoken question clicking as she looked back up once more. “ This? ” She questioned as she lifted her hand. “ This is just good old fashioned tobacco, officer, I swear it, ” Her sarcasm becoming more obvious as she said the word officer, and then completely and utterly obvious as she smiled again. The cigarette was just tobacco, but the next one didn’t have to be. Her stash was in her bag inside the house, but she didn’t really know what this girl was looking for. Or if she was actually trustworthy. “ Which I’m not isn’t exactly the most convincing anti-narc argument, you know, ” 

-

“It’s good exercise, fresh air, I’m sight seeing” she commented optimistically, instead of opting to reveal just how far she had been walking that afternoon looking for any sign of life on planet Southside and then later, for a way home. Her smile grew and eventually she gave in to a small laugh at the utterance of the word ‘officer’, this girl was surprisingly comedic despite the whole Debby Harry thing she had going on. “See, the thing is, I left my official not a narc certificate in my other bag so you’re just going to have to take my word for it,” she explained, “That is unless you’ve got a better idea, cos I’m all ears,” she was willing to take the bait if she needed to prove herself. The only reason this girl would worry about being narc’d on was if she had narcs to narc on, so to speak. The sort of narcs that, if they cost twenty bucks and a friendly smile or less, Maddie happened to be in the market for, “-like maybe if you did have anything for somebody to narc on, I could just bum it off you and then if you go down, obviously I’d be going down too, you know, it’s like um, have you seen Titanic yet? You jump, I jump,” maybe she wouldn’t have to spend her twenty dollars after all, if she somehow managed to Stooge her way into scoring a joint from this girl.  

[charliesghosts]

skelewrite​:

-

Lips pressed together so that smirk wouldn’t spread any further, but even without it spreading, the amusement was hard to hide. She’d love to say she was a disadvantage, but she wasn’t. She’d called out. She just didn’t expect her to be sharp. “ Watched is a strong word. ” She replied, taking a quick drag from the cigarette. “ You happened to walk where I was looking. ” She said, her tone playful as she was purposely contrary. “ And you’re not from here. ” She stated, not bothering to pose the question. She knew, or at the very least felt extremely certain that she knew. “ Stands out. ” She clarified with a soft shrug of her shoulders, but did not clarify whether she meant that as a good or a bad thing. It could be either really, depended on this girl, she supposed. But the mystery was definitely intriguing to her, a harmless mystery as far as she could tell. “ So, what? Are you, like, the world’s worst narc or are you lost? ” She asked, tone light and still carrying that amusement. She didn’t really believe she was a cop, the going in circles would be pretty damn obvious. Only an idiot would do that. So she assumed the latter. “ Or both? ” She added on teasingly, a quick quirk of her brows.

--

“Not exactly,” the girl was right, surprisingly so. No, Maddie was not from the south side of town, in fact, she wasn’t really from the north side of town either but at least she was more familiar there, people knew who she was, expected to see her every Summer or so. She couldn’t help but laugh at the suggestion of being a narc, given the precise reason she had decided to wander past the invisible line that divided one side from the other and into unknown territory. “Well, actually, I was looking for somebody to ask me if I’m lost so technically now I’m exactly where I was trying to be,” she didn’t like to admit when she was out of her depth, especially not to somebody like this girl who was obviously quick witted and didn’t hesitate to demonstrate as much given the opportunity. Maddie didn’t want to feel like an idiot, though maybe it was well earned on this particular occasion. “-but if I was a narc, which I’m not, what would I be narcing on you for, exactly?” her eyes dropped to the cigarette in the blonde’s hand, she didn’t think she could smell weed but it was still a relatively novel concept to her and since she’d only smoked exactly three times, she was still learning the ropes as it were. 

[charliesghosts]

skelewrite​:

-

Housesitting wasn’t exactly the dream gig– unless you were Rocky Freeman. Then housesitting sounded pretty fucking delightful. Especially when it was a house. Even better that there was a old pitbull that wanted nothing more than to curl up beside her and sleep the day away. For two days she could pretend she was someone slightly different. She was the sort of person that had a one storey, two bedroom in Cherry’s southside. An old couch on the front porch. Kitchen and tv in actual separate rooms. Old metal fence surrounding the home and the front yard. The grass wasn’t that nuclear family bright green, but it was mowed. 

She sat on that couch out the front, self rolled cigarette between her fingers. Legs to one side, leaving room for snoring pitbull on the other. An abandoned journal and pencil between its pages on the wood panels beneath her. Her eyes out on the street, watching as the world pass it by. Enjoying the sort of invisibility from the porch. No one was looking for her, not now, not that she knew of. No one was looking at the house’s owner, Tyler, not now, not that she knew of. It was like she was a ghost of sorts. She rather liked that.

The peacefulness was somewhat disturbed however, by her attention being grabbed by someone unfamiliar. Unfamiliar people stuck out like sore thumbs in the small community. Especially to Rocky who had been tasked with understanding the community since she was fourteen. Her brows furrowed. It was at least the second time she had passed. Maybe it had been more, but definitely two at least. The first time was easy to dismiss. Maybe she was visiting someone, maybe she was going somewhere, Rocky didn’t know. Twice? More than twice? Pretty suspicious. Though maybe she was paranoid. “ You’ve walked past this place, like, four times now. ” She called out from the porch, inviting attention as she accepted she was not a ghost. As peaceful as that sounded. “ You know that, right? ” Corner of her lips pulled up in a tiny smirk as she flicked cigarette between her fingers, letting loose ash fall to the ground.

“You watched me walk past four times?” sure, it was pretty fucking suspicious that Maddie was wandering back and forth seemingly without reason nor rhyme but in her not-so-humble opinion, it was even more suspicious that this random girl had kept her beady little eyes on her the whole damn time she was doing it. “That’s kind of creepy,” she noted before she matched the smirk on the other girl’s face, “You know that, right?” she echoed the strangers words as she planted her hands on her hips and stood with a straightened spine. She was certainly proud of herself for somebody that could get beaten to into a pulp and mugged within an inch of her life at  any God given moment but that was sort of Maddie’s MO. Act first, think later - or don’t think at all, if you can help it. Just enjoy the moment until it comes back to bite you in the ass, fangs and all.

[charliesghosts]

@skelewrite​

If there one one thing that Maddie could learn from her uncle, it was to never judge a book by its cover. He had served in Vietnam with men of all kinds, of all colours and creeds and from all parts of the country and as a result Uncle Wilco had learned that it didn’t matter where somebody came from, it mattered where they were going. Like that Michael Jackson song, you know, before he got weird. 

Anyway, Maddie kept that in mind as she wandered the streets outside proper, further South than she’d ever been before. It would have been a noble mission if she was there to heed her Uncle’s advice and embrace folk from all walks of life but she wasn’t. She wasn’t trying to re-enliven Hands Across America, she wasn’t there to mend the severed ties between Proper and its south. 

She was there to buy weed.

The only problem- well, perhaps not the only problem but one that was becoming increasingly more apparent to her as she wandered the unfamiliar streets without a plan in mind was that she didn’t know anybody from the South side of town. She didn’t know anybody, let alone anybody that was willing to sell her a pocketful of ganja for a twenty bucks and one of her uncle’s Rush cassettes. 

-and wait. Hadn’t she already passed this house before? Didn’t it have a dog in the front yard before? No- that was the house on the corner. Or was it? What about that swing set she’d passed earlier, was it that way or that way? Shit. She was lost. 

“Fuck,” 

[charliesghosts]

skelewrite​:

-

“ You just walked in the door, I don’t know. I wouldn’t be honest that quickly. ” Darcy interjected in her own defence, hand to her chest to emphasise her position and why she was re-asking questions. She sighed lightly when asked how she wanted Sofia to feel. At surface level, she didn’t want Fia to feel anything just because she wanted her to. But deeper, yeah, she’d like for Sofia to be scared. Because she was fucking terrified. She’d like to know that someone else was scared with her. But as soon revealed, not the case. She looked down again, mind processing that news. Even if she had taken a second to think about who Fia was, how she had responded to anything ever, then it wouldn’t be news at all.

She watched Fia’s hand land on her leg, looking up again a moment later. Have a drink, she said. She relaxed her features and reached for the glass that was shifted towards her. She didn’t drink from it, rather just holding it in her hands. Resting against her thigh, she watched the liquid move in the glass. Light reflecting off ripples before they disappeared into still dark red liquid. “ Pride and Prejudice. ” She answered, looking up once more. A sort of amusement coming to her features at the ridiculousness of it. “ I thought the whole thing would be like distracting and interesting– turns out it’s just like, easy to let it be background noise. Kiera Knightly has a voice that is really easy not to listen to. ”

-

“What does that mean?” Darcy had said she couldn’t handle any more fakeness, yet a moment later she begged that Sofia bridle her feelings until it felt more appropriate to share them. The hypocrisy bothered her but she chalked it up to the fact that Darcy wasn’t coping - or, she wasn’t coping as well as Sofia would have liked, at the very last. 

She raised her eyebrows, an expression marking her features that may have been just a little judgemental. She hadn’t watched Pride and Prejudice since junior high, if she recalled correctly and she didn’t think she had liked it very much either. “If you’re looking for something interesting, my advice is to stay away from anything that involves hoop skirts,” it was personal preference but she spoke with conviction, as she so often did, that made it sound like fact. 

Sofia watched the wine glass remain idle in Darcy’s hand but gave it a moment or so before she spoke up, “Just say it,” she encouraged, “If you have something to say, just say it,” she continued, “You wouldn’t be that honest that quickly- be honest now,” it was practically an instruction. She looked at the fence, bordering the neighbours house before she looked back to Darcy, scooting a little closer, “Unless you think you can’t?” she queried suspiciously, her voice almost a whisper now. 

[charliesghosts]

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-

“ Asking. ” Darcy answered. Sure, of course there was an answer she would prefer. The one that would make her feel like less of a train about to go off the rails. The one that would make her less like she was about to get run over by the train about to go off the rails. But what use was a lie right now? How the fuck would that help either of them? “ The last few days have been full of so much bullshit, ” she seemed to be stuck on that word, maybe it was because it was all she could think about everything she’d said to everyone but Sofia. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. “ I don’t think I can take another ounce of fake-ness right now. ” Eyes lingered on the liquid for a moment but she left it untouched for now.  So, ” She looked to Fia again. “ Is this an act? ” 

-

“Okay,” she allowed the word to drag as it linger on the tip of her tongue, “Well since you last asked- all of five minutes ago- the answer remains unchanged,” she prefaced and then waited a beat, wondering if Darcy had really failed to absorb Fia’s answer the first time around or whether she was hoping, despite denying it, that the answer would be different this time. At the question that followed, Sofia corrected her posture, sitting up straight as her shoulders strained stiffly. She was calculating her next words, digesting the look on the other girl’s face. “What do you want me to feel?” she asked, leaving her wine untouched, “Scared? Remorse? Regret?” she asked, raising an eyebrow, 

“I don’t,” she said plainly. If she had anticipating feeling any of that, she might have hesitated when she met Arielle’s silhouette on the tennis court that morning.  “Have a drink,” she insisted as she placed a hand on the other girl’s knee then, a moment of tenderness despite her icy resolve. Her eyes remained trained on her friend while her hands moved, the contact broken as she slid one glass closer to Darcy and picked up the other up for herself, pressing her lips to the rim and taking a small, conservative sip. “What movie were you watching?”

[charliesghosts]

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-

The slight crackle as she held lighter over the end of the pipe was calming before anything had time to take effect. Combined with the quiet night air and the moonlight, Darcy could almost imagine this was any other night. That her life hadn’t changed drastically a few days ago. She leaned forward, placing pipe and lighter on the table alongside the glasses Fia had brought. Two. Of course, two. Again that sense of it being just another night hit her, that they were just letting loose after a stressful day. Or not even. Just hanging out. Until she spoke. Darcy looked to her. Silent a moment longer before she replied. “ Are you, like, actually not spooked? At all. Or is this some bullshit act? ” She asked. Voice quieter than normal. More genuine. Real Darcy, not performance Darcy. 

-

“Are you asking me the question or are you prompting me to give you the answer you want to hear?” some questions elicited candid answers, some questions were the first part of a scripted dialogue and Sofia knew that all too well. Arielle had been like that, she had often asked questions she knew the answer to, particularly if the answer made the person delivering it squirm. Her jaw tightened with that thought in mind and she ripped the cork out of the neck of the bottle with violent force. A moment passed and Sofia’s taut muscles loosened once more, the blood red liquid from the wine bottle spilling into the bottom of the wine glass she’d set before Darcy. It looked oddly familiar.

[charliesghosts]

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-

Darcy raised her brows for a brief second. The fact that she wanted to indulge so much, that was more telling of Sofia’s state, positive or negative, than everything else she was saying. Celebration or desperation. Darcy knew which side of the scale she fell on. Even if she did think her life would be better once this all blew over. If it did. “ Sure, go nuts. Hit all three if you really wanna. ” She offered, holding back a sarcastic comment about her grieving process. Still too soon for that, she thought. Circumstances considered, it might always be too soon for that. “ I’ll meet you out back, ” She said, stepping backwards for a few steps before she turned again. She’d intended on saying what she wanted to say, talk about what she felt she needed to talk about the moment she walked through the door. But now she was faced with that, after a hit was sounding a whole lot better. 

She was loading up pipe before she even got there, using elbow to slide glass door open and flick on porch light. She didn’t even bother closing door behind her, her parents knew. And similarly to Sofia, she was being cut a lot of slack by them in the face of a death of a classmate. Even one as horrible as Arielle. Lighting up as she flopped down into outdoor sofa, looking back to the house as she breathed out, waiting for her partner in crime. Literally.

-

“Maybe I do, “ she conceded, though as she drifted toward the kitchen to fetch the bottle of wine and a couple of glasses to go with it, she decided she’d reel it in for now, lest she end up puking her guts out by the time Darcy’s parents had had enough lighthouse excitement for one evening.

With two wine glasses gracefully cradled between her fingers and the wine bottle not as elegantly in her palm, Sofia followed Darcy’s path to meet the other girl in the back yard. It was quiet, save for the sounds of various bugs and beetles calling the moon as it hung overhead, casting a ghostly light on the pair. “Penny for your thoughts?” Fia chimed as she slid the glass door closed behind her and set the wine bottle and glasses down on the table in front of them, eventually matching Darcy’s position on the couch.

[charliesghosts]

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-

No. Again, it wasn’t what Darcy was expecting but similarly she thought that maybe she should have. Just like the doorbell and the not ringing it. She stayed silent following it, a lack of things to say in the face of no, Fia didn’t feel the way she did. Or she did but didn’t want to admit it not even in front of Darcy. But she thought the former was more likely. A soft humourless laugh escaped through her lips at what she said next. “ Help yourself, there’s wine in the fridge. ” She answered, before nodding to a liquor cabinet off the dining room. “ Stronger stuff in there. ” She said, moving past Sofia as she spoke and deeper into the house. Heading towards the back door. She turned as she walked, just as she passed the other, a few steps backwards as she revealed the purple glass pipe from her pocket. “ Or, I was gonna smoke up. ” She slowed her walking, just for a moment, should Sofia want to take her up on the offer. “ Take your pick. Mi casa es su casa, all that. ” She allowed with a small wave of her hand, pressing lips into a pursed sort of smile before she continued moving towards the back door. 

-

She ran her tongue across the enamel surface of her teeth as she considered the offering. Typically she wouldn’t smoke on weekdays, that stuff stayed in the system and God forbid her coach requested a random drug test, she’d be fucked. She didn’t have practice this week, however, all things considered her club had decided that it was best to stay off of the court for a while. It was a fair enough assessment, Fia had agreed, making sure that for all intents and purposes she appeared to emotionally fragile to even pick up a tennis racquet in the wake of her partner’s sudden and tragic demise.

“Is it one or the other or can I indulge a little? I’m usually on best behavior during the week but to nobody’s surprise, I’m getting cut a whole hell of a lot of slack right now,” she spoke as if there wasn’t a gut-wrenching reason behind it, as if she was merely on vacation or something.

[charliesghosts]

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-

The lighthouse. That sounded about fucking right– wait could she still be disgusted by the way people reacted to things in this town? Darcy nodded, pushing back the thought of what she could and could not morally do. “ That’s right. Heritage lighthouse plaque thing. ” She repeated Fia’s words in a more clunky summarised way as she stepped away from the door.  “ They’ll find any reason to put on an event around here. ” She wondered silently if Arielle’s family would still go. If her brother would. Would it be expected of them? Or would an appearance earn nothing but a bunch of whispered words and judgements.

Her head lifted and looked to her again, lifting hand to tuck hair behind her own ear. “ Well– sort of, I guess. ” She started, with a small shrug. “ Not, you know, in the same way I was trying to make it sound. ” As in, she wasn’t worried about some murderer breaking in to her house while she was alone. Because one murderer was already there, and she’d just invited the other one inside. “ But still spooked. ” She repeated the word. It felt a little funny coming out of her mouth. The only person in the world who had a possibility of understanding her was standing right in front of her. And it was a small possibility considering all their differences. “ Aren’t you? ” She asked. 

-

“Yep,” he answered fairly distantly, it was clearly not a topic of conversation she was all that invested in. Not to mention, her thoughts had started to wander already. The next big event in town would likely be Arielle’s funeral. What would she wear? She’d have to make sure it was something breathtaking, certain that people would be lining up to offer their condolences to Sofia once they had addressed the Hawthorne family. Sofia was practically family after all, wasn’t she? She had been her doubles partners for years and the pair had shared the court for many years more than that before they had joined forces. They had known each other inside and out, they could anticipate almost every move the other would make. Almost. That was what had made it so fucking easy, in the end. 

Then Darcy was answering Sofia and the brunette realised she owned her friend a response. “Right,” she concurred, pretending as if she had caught more than just the tail end of what was being said. 

Fia steeled, a cryptical plain expression as she shook her head and uttered a simple “No,” as if the answer was obvious. She waited a beat before moving on, “Are you going to offer me a drink or am I going to have to beg for one?” she asked, her previously stony expression melting into a casual smile at Darcy’s expense.