Elaine used her keycard to enter the apartment lobby, where a security guard noticed her entry and smiled. "Good evening, Ms. Wolf. Long day?"
"Something like that." Elaine smiled, adjusting the straps of her bags on her shoulder. "Just heading up."
"Before you go." The guard picked up some large bags of takeout. "A delivery came for Ms. Davies about five minutes ago."
Elaine approached the desk, nodding. "Thank you, I'll grab it for her."
She glanced at the bags while waiting for the elevator. How much did she order? She was tempted to look in the bags when the elevator dinged. She walked inside and swiped her ID card. The doors rolled closed, the elevator hummed, dinging when it reached the fifth floor. Elaine exited, walking on the freshly polished tile to her apartment.
"There you are!" Eleanore exclaimed from the kitchen when she opened the door and stepped inside. "Where have you been all day? I was about to send a search party."
"At the studio," Elaine replied, setting all the bags down to untie her boots in the doorway. "By the way, your food delivery was at the security desk."
"You and your music." Eleanore sighed dramatically before sauntering over, collecting the bags of food. She balanced the straps in both hands, lifting them. "I swear, you vanish for hours, then come back smelling like coffee and insomnia."
"It's called dedication."
"Girl." Eleanore turned on her heels, staring at Elaine with her hands on her hips, "No, it's called obsession." She sighed, going back to taking all the food out of the bags, "Anyway… I wasn't sure what you wanted to eat, so I ordered Mexican and Thai, take your pick."
"Hm," Elaine set her keys in the bowl, "Thai sounds good."
"Perfect." Eleanore clapped her hands together, then set the Thai food on one side of the table for Elaine, "We are so watching Soul House tonight. Don't argue either."
Elaine chuckled, settling into her seat. "That's the one where the performer and florist accidentally get married, right?" She jokingly questioned. She had introduced Eleanore to the show a year ago.
Eleanore gasped. "Accidentally married and accidentally fell in love." She leaned forward with her hands on the table, "It's a cinematic masterpiece."
Elaine laughed before digging into her Pad Thai while Eleanore ate her Enchiladas. She wiped her mouth, "So," she swallowed a bite, "My professor assigned a new project. We're supposed to design an outfit inspired by emotion. So, like… joy, love, sadness…"
"Oh, that's neat." Elaine commented, "What'd you pick?"
"Anxiety." Eleanore snorted.
"That…" Elaine covered her smile with a napkin, chuckling, "That actually fits your brand."
"Rude… but accurate." Eleanore agreed, puffing up her cheeks before exhaling. "I'm doing a sketch that looks perfect until you notice everything's just a little bit off. Uneven stitching, patched color fabrics that are just a bit different in color than the main fabric."
"That's genius." Elaine smiled, "I honestly would have designed something that looks like it's falling apart."
Eleanore giggled, bobbing her head up and down with her lips pursed. "I expect nothing less."
Elaine shook her head, finishing off the rest of her meal before clearing her side of the table.
"Other than the normal. You've been working on something too, right?"
"Yeah." Elaine confirmed, "It's a sound design piece. Basically merging field recordings with instrumental layers."
"Oh, cool." Eleanore nodded, finishing off her meal. "You need me to grade it?"
"Maybe later." Elaine laughed, settling on the couch with Eleanore sitting on the other side, "I do need your help with some visual concepts, though."
"Deal." Eleanore grinned, picking up the remote to tune the television to Soul House. "Oh, speaking of dramas… Wanna hear about the drama in the design department?"
"Always."
"Okay, so," Eleanore shuffled, crossing her legs to turn her frame to face Elaine, "Maya and Kendra were arguing about who got paired with Ben for the project revealing. Ben's this total hottie in class, though I'm pretty sure Simone is more his type than Maya or Kendra… Anyway, Ben pretended to be clueless, or was he clueless? He's such an innocent man… Well, Simone-"
"Stepped in and made it worse?" Elaine finished her sentence with a guess.
"Exactly!" Eleanore groaned, "Anyway, now Maya's giving Kenra the silent treatment, which is rich by the way, because they were just bragging about their unbreakable sisterhood last week."
Elaine snorted. "I expect nothing less."
"You're lucky, you know?" Eleanore looked at Elaine, who raised a brow. "You don't deal with this kind of nonsense in the music department."
"Oh, you'd be surprised." Elaine scoffed, leaning back to get comfortable. "The egos are just louder."
"Speaking of egos," Eleanore grinned, "What about boys? You've been suspiciously quiet on that front."
Where did she get boys from egos? Elaine blinked, furrowing her brows. Ah, never mind, got it. "Boys?" Elaine questioned.
"Oh, don't play innocent." Eleanore scoffed. "You're in music production… Half your classmates probably have guitars and God complexes."
"That's… painfully accurate," Elaine murmured dryly.
"So, any crushes?"
Elaine stared at her with a blank expression before sighing, "No, not really."
"What?" Eleanore gasped, "No celebrity crush? No professor crush? No mysterious guy in the corner of the library?"
"What is this? A romance novel with a weird love interest?" Elaine covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. "I'm not interested in anyone."
"Fine." Eleanore pouted for all of three seconds, "Oh, since that was a bust… We're playing twenty questions! Well, you're answering twenty questions."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes!"
Elaine groaned, sprawling out with her feet on Eleanore's legs. Eleanore grinned, "Alright… Let's start easy. Favorite color?"
"It depends on the lighting," Elaine sighed. "Usually deep blue."
"Favorite food?"
"Depends on the mood."
"You're impossible." Eleanore stared at her. "Fine. Dream city?"
"Chicago."
Eleanore's brows furrowed in a mixture of confusion and surprise, "Wait, really?"
"Yup." Elaine nodded, "There's something about the architecture. It's kind of like the city's alive."
"Huh…" Eleanore nodded, "Never thought of it that way… Okay, uh… Ideal type?"
Elaine's brows furrowed before she tilted her head back to look at the ceiling. "Never really thought about it."
"Why not?" Eleanore squealed, "How have you never thought about it? What do you like in a guy?"
"Well…" Elaine tilted her head, "I kind of just go with the flow, but I guess someone who doesn't mind a little noise."
"That's so boring." Eleanore pouted, "Okay. Favorite song?"
"Oh, that's difficult." Elaine hummed, "I think I'd have to say Drop It by Day of Insanity."
Eleanore grinned, "What's your favorite work from Premise of Design?"
"You have an obsession with them after that show." Elaine glanced at Eleanore, "From them… Dreamcatcher."
"Ooh. Who's your favorite member?"
"I don't have a favorite," Elaine answered. After today, these questions are a bit… weird.
Eleanore stared at her like she had grown a second head. "How do you not have a favorite? Everyone has a favorite."
Elaine slowly shook her head with her lips pursed. "I do not."
Eleanore's jaw dropped, dumbfounded by what she had just heard. "I don't understand… Do you not find Lucian attractive? What about Casen? Rylan? Or is Enzo more your type?" She paused. "Or was it Luca?"
"Like I said, El, I don't have a favorite member." Elaine sighed.
"Fine." Eleanore groaned, giving up. "Favorite hobby? Wait- no! Favorite scent?"
"Music and I like earthy smells," Elaine answered both then gave a smile like she'd just won a contest. "That's your twenty questions, now," she pulled her legs off Eleanore and stood up.
"What?" Eleanore exclaimed, "It was not!"
"Yup, I counted your follow-ups." Elaine laughed, "I need a shower, so I'm going to do that and turn in for the night."
"Ugh, fine!" Eleanore fell over dramatically, hugging a decorative pillow.
Elaine shook her head, chuckling on the way to her room, and shut the door. After a quick shower, she sat on the edge of her bed with her phone.
She scrolled through a few social media posts before lying back against her pillows, exiting the apps to text Luca.
╭────────────╮
{Elaine} (Text)
Thanks again for today. It was an amazing experience.
╰────────────╯
Elaine blinked when the message was read almost instantly. He's quick.
╭────────────╮
{Luca} (Text)
No problem. You did great.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Elaine} (Text)
I still feel like I owe you.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Luca} (Text)
You don't. You're good at what you do, Elaine. You helped out a lot.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Elaine} (Text)
That's sweet of you.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Luca} (Text)
Just being honest.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Luca} (Text)
Oh right. Want me to add you to a group chat with the rest of the band?
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Elaine} (Text)
Sure, if that's okay with them.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Luca} (Text)
Yeah, it's fine. One sec.
╰────────────╯
Elaine tilted her head, placing her earbuds to listen to a few songs while she settled to go to sleep.
Ding.
She clicked the message and laughed at the name at the top of her screen.
[Premise of Disaster 🖤✨]
╭────────────╮
{Lucian} (Text)
Welcome to the circus.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Casen} (Text)
ELAINNNNNEEEEEEE HI HI HI HI 🔥
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Rylan} (Text)
Ignore Casen. He just had three energy drinks 🤦
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Casen} (Text)
LIES!!! IT WAS FOUR 😡
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Enzo} (Text)
…Hi.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Elaine} (Text)
Hello everyone. Looks like the chaos hasn't died down.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Lucian} (Text)
You've been officially corrupted.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Luca} (Text)
She's been around us all day; that happened hours ago
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Rylan} (Text)
That's fair.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Casen} (Text)
wait does that mean she gets memes now??????
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Elaine} (Text)
Depends on the memes.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Lucian} (Text)
Oh, she's in trouble.
╰────────────╯
What? Casen proceeded to send about fifteen memes, causing Elaine to laugh. "Oh, that's what he meant." She shook her head. He's so full of energy even at this hour, huh?
╭────────────╮
{Elaine} (Text)
Casen, it hasn't even been a minute. How did you find so many memes?
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Rylan} (Text)
He's got a folder labeled "For Emergency Chaos." 😅
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Casen} (Text)
WRONG ❌❌❌ i got three folders
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Enzo} (Text)
…You made subcategories?
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Casen} (Text)
YUP
mild
medium
and lucian will kill me 💀
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Lucian} (Text)
Guess which one you're in right now,
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Elaine} (Text)
Should I be scared or impressed?
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Luca} (Text)
Both. Definitely both.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Enzo} (Text)
I give her two days before she mutes us.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Elaine} (Text)
Too late. I already muted Casen.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Casen} (Text)
WAIT WHAT 😱
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Rylan} (Text)
🤣🤣🤣🤣
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Lucain} (Text)
Smart girl.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Luca} (Text)
She's adapting quickly.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Enzo} (Text)
Survival instincts. 🐺
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Casen} (Text)
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Lucian} (Text)
I'm revoking his phone privileges for tonight. Goodnight, Elaine.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Rylan} (Text)
NIGHT WOLF ✨
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Enzo} (Text)
Goodnight, Wolf.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Elaine} (Text)
Goodnight, everyone.
╰────────────╯
Elaine shook her head, pulling her comforter over herself. They are an interesting group. She was about to set her phone down when another message dinged in the darkness. It wasn't the group chat this time but a message from Luca directly.
╭────────────╮
{Luca} (Text)
Don't forget about tomorrow.
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Elaine} (Text)
I wouldn't dream of it.
╰────────────╯
She watched the typing indicator appear, then vanish. She lifted her free hand to her mouth as she yawned and placed her phone on the nightstand. Goodnight.